FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bernd Halling
IFAH-Europe
Communications Director
Rue Defacqz 1, B-1000
Phone: +32 2 543 75 75
Fax: +32 2 537 00 49
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
European Pet Night 2007: Companion animals take over the European quarter
BRUSSELS, 22 November 2023 – Horses, assistance dogs
and a teacher dog came to
A broad variety of organisations representing the
animal welfare and animal health sectors jointly organised European Pet Night
2007. MEPs Neil Parish (
Highlighting the multifaceted benefits of animals to people, European Pet Night opened the stage to lively testimonies by police horses, by Galia, an assistance dog and her owner, and by primary school teacher Mrs. Denis and Shana, a dog in the classroom. These presentations reminded European decision-makers of the importance of animal welfare and animal health for society at large.
MEP Neil Parish, who currently chairs the Intergroup on animal welfare, highlighted the importance of animals for human well-being: "As chair of the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals, I am delighted to see vivid examples of just how important animals can be for human well-being – like in the case of the Brussels horse police that creates trust through the mere presence of animals."
MEP Paulo Casaca noted: "It is a positive sign that the European Commission launched the Common Animal Health Strategy in September 2007. We now need to ensure that the political will is translated into concrete actions to improve the health and welfare of animals. The success of Pet Night shows that citizens take a keen interest in animal health and welfare. So animals might not only be good for human health, they might also bring the European Union closer to its citizens.”
Declan O'Brien, Managing Director of IFAH-Europe, representing the animal health industry expressed his satisfaction for the outcome of Pet Night: "The success of this event highlights a keen interest of politicians, interest groups and citizens in the animal cause. Animals are important to society, so we should work together to protect their health and welfare.”
European Pet Night is planned as an annual event to heighten public awareness on the complex issues surrounding animal welfare and allow politicians to have a genuine exchange of views with the animal health stakeholders.
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The following associations have co-organised European Pet Night 2007:
ADEu - Assistance Dogs Europe, www.assistancedoseurope.org
FVE - Federation of Veterinarians of Europe, www.fve.org
FRDI - Federation of Riding for the Disabled International, http://www.frdi.net/
IFAH-Europe - European Federation of the animal health industry, www.ifaheurope.org
IAHAIO - International Association of Human-Animal Interaction Organisations, www.iahaio.org
IRO - International Rescue Dog Organisation www.iro-dogs.org
IFAH-Europe
(International Federation for Animal Health-Europe) is the organisation
representing manufacturers of veterinary medicines, vaccines and other animal
health products in Europe and comprises 16 Member Companies and 19 National
Associations throughout