Scandal in the largest dairy farm: cows suffer from brutal animal protection!

Scandal in the largest dairy farm: cows suffer from brutal animal protection!

The heart of Bavaria's milk production beats in Bad Grönenbach, but not everything that glitters is gold. An animal protection organization has published frightening images from the largest dairy farm in the Free State. These show cows living in acute suffering and have sparked a storm of public outrage. Despite an indictment against the operators, there has so far been no legal proceedings. The disturbing picture of animal cruelty could be made even worse, as experts believe the number of unreported cases in Bavaria is much higher than the current figures suggest. According to a survey by bayerische-staatszeitung.de, only about a fraction of the more than 50,000 livestock farmers in the Free State are actually checked.

Statistically speaking, a company in Bavaria is only checked every 48 years, which makes the monitoring activity appear more than questionable. A request from the FDP in 2018 clearly illustrated this problem. In the meantime, Bavaria and its government representatives have reacted. The creation of the Bavarian Food Safety and Veterinary Control Authority (KBLV) is intended to guarantee closer monitoring of large companies and slaughterhouses. Nevertheless, the staffing of veterinary offices remains a sensitive issue. There are currently 500 veterinarians available for around 50,000 farms, which in many regions leads to an average inspection frequency of just once every ten years.

The reality of controls

How often are agricultural animal husbandries inspected in Germany? This question concerns many people, especially in view of the alarming evidence of violations of animal protection law. In 2023, of 404,205 companies subject to inspection, only 75,530 were actually checked, i.e. only around 19 percent, as [landwirtschaft.de](https://www.landwirtschaft.de/tier-und- plante/tier/nutztiere-general/wie-oft- Werden-tierhaltende-betriebe-kontroller) reported. Violations occurred in almost a quarter of the companies inspected. This casts a worrying light on the effectiveness of existing controls.

The Animal Protection Act, which has existed in various forms since 1933, is intended to ensure that no one causes pain or suffering to an animal without a reasonable reason. Nevertheless, numerous expert opinions and the demands of animal protection organizations show that the reality is often different. They call for an increase in the frequency of inspections, ideally at least once a year. However, real progress in this area requires that human resources actually be increased. Nevertheless, veterinary offices complain about a chronic shortage of staff, which often means that the necessary controls cannot be carried out to the extent that would be desirable.

Political reactions and outlook

In the political space, there are different views on the effectiveness of surveillance and the need for further reforms. While CSU state parliament member Petra Loibl makes it clear that 100% surveillance is not feasible and that educational work is necessary instead, Green party state parliament member Paul Knoblach sees the urgency as greater. He calls for more specialist knowledge in the authorities and criticizes the problems with the admissibility of violations in court. An earlier bill to reform the animal protection law, which, among other things, provided for comprehensive video surveillance in slaughterhouses, recently failed. This topic remains on the political agenda, but no new impulses are currently visible.

There is no question that improving animal welfare in Bavaria should be a top priority. How the situation will develop in the next few years remains to be seen. However, one thing is certain: monitoring of animal husbandry must be optimized as soon as possible in order to reduce animal suffering and promote sustainable agriculture. Clear and consistent control is the be-all and end-all for the welfare of the animals and the trust of consumers in Bavarian agriculture.