On Wednesday, activists demonstrated in front of the Sejm to reject the presidential veto, the so-called Chain Act. The participants of the demonstration were supported on site by the Speaker of the Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, as well as parliamentarians from the KO, Left, Polska 2050 and PSL clubs.
The participants of the demonstration demand the rejection of the presidential veto of the so-called Chain Act – an amendment to the Animal Protection Act, which was to introduce a ban on keeping dogs on chains.
Parliamentarians from the KO, Left, Poland 2050 and PSL clubs came out and spoke to the demonstrators. The Speaker of the Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, also appeared on stage.
– I must tell you that I feel absurd that we are fighting for such an obvious issue and we cannot break through the wall on this matter – said Czarzasty.
He appealed to Law and Justice MPs who had previously voted for the adoption of the bill not to change their minds on this matter. He emphasized that regardless of whether the veto is rejected, the cause is still a winner because more and more people are concerned about it and show empathy. Czarzasty also turned to President Karol Nawrocki.
– I appeal to President Nawrocki, open your heart – he said.
Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Dorota Niedziela (KO) said that “what happened is a disgrace.” She emphasized that the vetoed bill was the first difficult compromise in almost thirty years, which parliamentarians had been working on for a year.
– We call on the president (Jarosław Kaczyński – PAP) to act as he said during the Five for Animals. Any decent person will vote to override this veto. So Mr. President Kaczyński and the 48 MPs who voted with you, let's just reject this veto, she said.
The president of OTOZ Animals, Ewa Gebert, noted that the organization she represents annually carries out over seven thousand interventions regarding inhumane treatment of animals. She emphasized that the interventions were carried out in both rural and urban areas.
– It is the president who stigmatizes the village because the president wants the village to look like it did in the 19th century – she noted.
Representative of the Viva! Foundation attorney Katarzyna Topczewska, in turn, recalled that in 2011, instead of banning dogs on tethers, the Sejm introduced the regulations in force today, according to which the length of the tether cannot be shorter than 3 meters. – Those dogs who were waiting to be free from chains are no longer alive today – she emphasized.
She emphasized that minimum standards are established for all animals, and the presidential project on this matter does not introduce such standards.
The participants of the demonstration chant the slogans: “reject the veto” and “put the veto in the bin.” They also carry banners with slogans: “a state that harms dogs harms everyone”, “your veto, their suffering” and “reject the veto, break the chains”.
The demonstration will last until the vote on the rejection of the veto in the Sejm, which is scheduled for the voting block at 18.
At the beginning of December, President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the amendment to the Animal Protection Act, the so-called chain law. He emphasized that although the intention to protect animals was right and noble, in his opinion the act was poorly written.
Nawrocki's objection was caused by the provisions contained in the act regulating dog kennels, including: their structure or minimum surface area. Justifying the veto, he emphasized that the standards for pens proposed in the act were completely unrealistic.
The vetoed regulations included regulations on kennels in which dogs are kept. Their surface area was determined in relation to the size of the animal, as well as their construction. The smallest playpen had an area of 10 square meters. (for a dog weighing less than 20 kg), and the largest one is 20 sq m. (over 30 kg).
The presidential bill has also been submitted to the Sejm, which prohibits keeping all pets tethered. However, there are no regulations regulating the issue of pens. (PAP)
kblu/ agz/
