Sharing this here quickly, as I have been made aware of it, and it seems very important to publicise. Please complete/share it where relevant.
The EU is currently in the process of revising its animal protection policies and using a survey to collect input between 15 October 2021 and 21 January 2022.
I have been told that it is one of the most significant opportunities for animal welfare progress on a legislative level ever seen in the EU.
Anyone can participate, including research institutions.
In many countries, there have been relatively few responses. Only 21 people in Ireland have responded to the survey, for instance. People from these countries can potentially have a more outsized response on their representatives or local policy. [Not sure how it works, but I imagine EU representatives will be particularly sensitive to responses from their citizens.]
To participate, you need to sign up for an account by email. It took about five minutes from asking to create an account, to being sent the sign-up email and arriving at the survey page.
How should I fill out the survey?
Conor Spence has written a Google doc guide showing how to fill in the survey with screenshots. This is based on the content below.
Alternatively, please see this guide from Anima International, or contact animal advocacy organisations in the Open Wing Alliance (OWA) and Eurogroup for Animals (EfA) networks (the links show who the member organisations in your country are). [Thanks to Neil Dullaghan for making me aware of the organisations and initiatives].
Neil also suggests: In the last section "14. Is there any other comment you would like to add?", which the video doesn't cover, one may want to use that space to address other issues such as requesting bans on octopus farming and fur farming (though I personally am a little sceptical the EU can/will outright ban an entire sector).
Acknowledgements
I'd like to thank Cian Mullarkey from EA Ireland for making me aware of this opportunity.
I created a short blurb for use on social media posts. Feel free to use it:
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This is probably the most impactful action you can take for animals this year!
The European Union (EU) is currently conducting what may be the most important survey ever created for animals.
The EU is revising its animal welfare laws and is using this survey to collect input. Some countries have very few responses so far, and so this seems a particularly low effort way to influence major policy decisions at the EU level. It doesn’t take long to complete and is worth doing even if you are not an EU citizen.
EU Survey:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12950-Animal-welfare-revision-of-EU-legislation/public-consultation_en
Here’s a text guide with suggested responses for the survey.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13q0Oya3CpuBuzF2zuBsFf6vmjdrYaJeLeiAB1nrrOks/edit?usp=sharing
These suggestions are taken from the Anima International video guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9rpDREdp10 which are based on advice from EU animal advocacy experts.
Photo by Sam Carter (Unsplash)
More details you can add (if needed):
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Most of the questions are simple ‘clickable’ answer choices, but the final question gives you an opportunity to write further comments / make requests if you like. For example, you could ask for:
It’s best if you write these comments IN YOUR OWN WORDS... (read more)