New NGO “Pets In Europe” Launches Welfare Campaign for Pets Across Europe

National Pet NGOs gathered in Brussels on 3 May 2007 to join the newly created organisation, Pets In Europe (PIE), officially beginning their campaign to improve pet welfare across Europe via the European Institutions.

Chris Laurence from Dogs Trust, UK, the new Chairman of PIE, kicked off the inaugural meeting of the organisation saying that “it is past time for pet NGOs across Europe to come together to form a common front to ensure that all European pets receive the same high standards of welfare. To do this, actions taken individually and at a purely national level are simply not enough.”

New members of PIE acknowledged that there is a high variation in the level of protection for pets in the different Member States, with some Member States failing to enforce even the most basic legislation and standards of care for pets.

The new Vice-Chairman, Max Ferrugia from International Animal Rescue in Malta, explained that “Indeed, the objective of Pets in Europe will be to push the European Institutions to adopt legislation requiring all Member States, not only to introduce a high standard of care for pets, but also requiring them to enforce this legislation, taking incompliant Member States to the European Court of Justice if necessary.”

The official inauguration of Pets In Europe was topped off by the presence of Portuguese Socialist MEP, Paulo Casaca, ex-President of the Parliamentary Intergroup on Animal Welfare, who not only provided his full support for the PIE initiative, but also indicated that while it may be an upward battle with the EU Institutions, he has full confidence that PIE will ultimately prevail in the end, attaining a high European standard for the protection of pets.

Members of the Exective committee are as follows:

Chairman: Chris Laurence, Dogs Trust
Vice Chair: Max Farrugia, International Animal Rescue in Malta
Secretary: Steve Goody, Blue Cross, UK
Treasurer: Holly Lee, Kennel Club,UK
Executive Committee:

Miriam Anderson ANVIL Ireland,
Dorothea Friz, Lega Pro Animale, Italy
Ben Noreikis, Lithuanian Society for the Protection of Animals
Ana Halmageanu, SPCA, Romania
Urska Markelj, Society for the Protection of Animals of Ljubljana, Slovenia