General information
According to the Animal Welfare Act, animals must be kept and cared for in a species-appropriate manner and may not be tortured, abandoned or killed.
The authority responsible for monitoring compliance with animal welfare regulations is the department as the lower animal welfare authority. In the event of suspected criminal offenses, the police investigate on behalf of the public prosecutor's office.
Contact the department and, if necessary, the police with your observations. For reasons of documentation, your report should be made in writing (also by e-mail or fax).
In the event of cruelty to animals, you should be able to provide precise details about the place, time, nature and course of the incident and, if known, about the persons involved. If there are any witnesses other than yourself, they should also personally record their impressions. If you can provide photos of the incident or a drawing, this is usually helpful.
If animals have died, the district office can arrange for a free necropsy to be carried out by the CVUA Stuttgart (state examination office) to determine the cause of death. If possible, animal carcasses should be kept refrigerated, but not frozen, until they are handed over to the District Office.
In the case of inappropriate husbandry, you should explain exactly why you assume that the animals are not being kept in an appropriate manner or what specific observations you have made. If you are unable to provide a postal address for the location of the animals, precise directions are required so that an inspection can be carried out by the official veterinarian.
The official veterinarian will inspect the animal husbandry in accordance with animal welfare regulations. If any shortcomings are confirmed, instructions will be given in the case of minor shortcomings or, if necessary, orders will be issued and/or fines imposed on the animal keeper responsible for the shortcomings. If a criminal offense is suspected, the case is handed over to the police/public prosecutor's office for investigation and prosecution.
In serious cases of animal cruelty or neglect, the animals can also be taken away from the owner and housed elsewhere at the owner's expense. The specialist department will then decide whether the animals can be returned once conditions have been met. If there is a risk of recurrence, the district authority can also issue an official ban on keeping animals and, if necessary, forcibly terminate the keeping of the animals (e.g. by expropriation and sale of the animals). In the event of a criminal conviction by a court, a ban on keeping animals is also possible as a secondary consequence of the conviction, irrespective of the official ban.
The reporter's personal data will always be treated confidentially, but it is helpful if you provide your address and telephone number on the report in case of queries. The District Office will also investigate anonymous reports if sufficiently specific facts are described in the report. The report can also be made via an animal protection association so that the person making the report remains anonymous to the District Office.
Please state in your report whether you are prepared to confirm the facts you have reported in any fine and administrative proceedings, even if this means that your identity becomes known to the animal owner.
In the case of abuses that cannot be proven by individual inspections or are difficult to prove (e.g. observed mistreatment, lack of exercise), the district office is often dependent on the naming of witnesses. In the case of permanent abuses (e.g. lack of dog kennel, kennel too small, failure to provide treatment), these are usually discovered during an inspection by the official veterinarian, so that it is not necessary to name the reporting party to the animal owner for further action.
Please note that there is no right to confidentiality for reports in which false accusations are knowingly made and that knowingly making false accusations can constitute a criminal offense of defamation.
The animal owner's data is also protected. The department can therefore not provide the reporting party with any information on the result of the inspection and the measures taken. If the deficiencies have not been remedied after a reasonable period of time, the department can be notified accordingly for the purpose of a follow-up inspection.
