The involvement of NIK in the activities related to animal welfare improvement correspond with the issues comprised in the work plan of the European Court of Auditors for 2017. That is why President of ECA Klaus-Heiner Lehne and Polish ECA Member Janusz Wojciechowski are very much interested in the issues related to protection of animal rights that transpire form NIK’s audit findings, and in the initiatives of the Council. The Council is a consultative body composed of representatives of circles dealing with animal protection and NIK staff members. The ECA is willing to cooperate with the Council with a view of improving animal welfare in Poland.
‘I insisted on having animal welfare audit in the work plan, and such audit has been included; it will start in June, and the results should be ready by the end of 2018,’ said Janusz Wojciechowski at the press conference. ‘It is an important moment, because then the new rules of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2020 will be set.’
Janusz Wojciechowski emphasised that a large part of European spending is related to ensuring appropriate standards of animal treatment.
Over the last years, NIK conducted many audits in the field of animal protection. NIK examined, among others, supervision of sales and slaughter of animals, the conditions of farm animals transportation, the conditions and functioning of animal shelters, and how municipalities met their duties in this respect. The audits concluded that the supervision was insufficient, and most of the audited municipalities lacked programmes for taking care of stray animals. There were also numerous irregularities with regard to breaches of the binding regulations, or the regulations were not comprehensive. It must be emphasised that NIK audits did not aim to detect irregularities in the area, but rather to inspire positive changes, both in the law and in the practices of those responsible for protection of animal rights.
Those initiatives gathered momentum with the establishment of the Council for Animal Protection Support Measures by the President of NIK. President of the European Court of Auditors Klaus-Heiner Lehne was informed that the Council initiates and supports activities aimed at improving animal welfare, for instance through proposals for systemic solutions and by indicating issues that can be potentially audited. In 2016 and in January 2017, in several Polish cities, a series of conferences were held under the auspices of regional governors, regional veterinarians and the Supreme Audit Office, dedicated to prevention of animal homelessness. While dealing with the issue of stray animals, the Council suggested that legislative works should be started to give the municipalities the right to pay for sterilisation of animals that have owners. The Council also supported the initiatives aimed at having these issues clearly regulated through appropriate amendments to the act on animal protection. The new law was adopted in November 2016, and President of Poland Andrzej Duda signed it on 6 January 2017.
There are many other achievements of the Council, for example, it voiced its opinion on the assumptions of the NIK audits in the field of animal protection, such as those on preventing animal homelessness, supervision of transportation and slaughter of farm animals, and the use of animals in scientific research. The members of the Council presented proposals for the organisation and scope of the audits, and participated in meetings dedicated to developing audit concepts.
The Council has also examined the standards of animal welfare in zoos, the issue of ill-treatment of animals in circuses, and gave opinion on the projects on protection of animal rights announced by the Ministry of National Education.
The Council cooperates with non-governmental organisations, universities and professional organisations. On the Council’s initiative, an important conference on the state of animal protection in Poland was organised, aimed at evaluating the actual state of animal protection and at presenting recommendations as for the measures to improve animal welfare in the country. The Council also initiated the ”Friend of Animals” award granted by the President of NIK. The laureates are persons, bodies or organisations that support, undertake or promote activities aimed at preventing animals from being homeless.
