The Future of Animal Market Sales: The Impact on Rabbits, Chickens, and Guinea Pigs in Walloon Region

2023-11-13 18:50:00

Is the sale of rabbits, chickens and other guinea pigs on the markets experiencing its final days? If the current Walloon animal welfare code already prohibits the marketing of dogs and cats in public places including municipal markets or animal markets, it does not prohibit, on a Walloon scale, to market chickens or rabbits.

But the Walloon Minister of the Environment and Animal Welfare Céline Tellier (Ecolo) indicated to parliament “that a reflection on the need to prohibit or condition the sale of animals on markets at the level of the territory of the Walloon region might be attacked.”

Several localities already apply this ban. This is the case of the city of Liège. “In matters of animal welfare, the Municipal College considers that the conditions of detention of animals are not always observed, despite the controls carried out by the Animal Welfare Unit of the City of Liège. The conditions of transport of animals to fairs or markets may also not respect the welfare of animals and controls during transport are complicated to put in place at the municipal level,” justifies the city.

“As things currently stand, the norm is the sale of chickens, rabbits, birds, guinea pigs or any other species between fruit and vegetable stalls. Several Walloon municipalities prohibit it on their own initiative but this only concerns a small proportion of the territory. The sale of animals on markets presents several problems. We can cite the risk of compulsive buying, the risk of spreading infectious animal diseases, transport conditions generating stress for animals, cramped and unsuitable spaces during transport and the market etc.”, pointed out MP Anne Kelleter in parliament.

Owning a cat or dog has almost become a luxury: increases on products sometimes go up to 50%!
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