Senate approves animal protection bill

Also on Thursday, the Czech Senate approved a new animal rights bill which restricts livestock transportation and outlaws the use of live animals for the purpose of training hunting dogs. The bill was presented to the Senate by Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovič, who said that it introduced a number of ‘significant changes that improve the treatment of animals’. Livestock must now be transported for no longer than eight hours in total. Fines will be imposed for those who not only maltreat animals, but also fail to prevent the maltreatment of animals. The bill was previously rejected by the Senate, whose members were unhappy with the clause banning the use of live animals when training hunting dogs. But the Agriculture Minister revised the bill slightly, and on its second reading, it passed.