The Party for the Animals was established in 2002. However, the idea for such a party dates back much further. In 1992, Niko Koffeman (currently a member of the Dutch senate for the Party for the Animals, and a passionate animal protectionist since he was 18) already believed that there should be a political party, which primarily promoted the interests of animals. At the time, animal welfare hardly played a role in politics. Economic interests always won out over animal interests. The animal protection organisations had failed to change this to any great extent.

Ten years later, the time was ripe. Marianne Thieme (our current party leader and chair), Lieke Keller (the current director of our party bureau) and Ton Dekker (current party board member) set up the Party for the Animals. This was around two months before the Dutch national elections of January 2003 took place. At first, the new party was greeted with a fair degree of criticism and derision. What do you mean? A party that exclusively stands up for the interests of animals? However, there were also a lot of positive responses. We received countless e-mails from people (both at home and abroad) who finally saw a new gleam of hope for achieving a more humane and respectful treatment of animals.

To the great surprise of our critics, we just missed a seat in the national parliament by a hairbreadth in the elections that were held shortly after our formation. That was a real achievement, given the short preparation period and the lack of financial means to run the election campaign. In November 2006, new elections were held after the government fell. This time we succeeded where we had once failed: the Party for the Animals was elected to parliament. Not just to fill one, but instead two of the 150 seats in the Dutch House of Representatives.

Election victory 2006: Marianne Thieme
addresses fellow party members

In 2007, the elections for the Provincial States were held. In these elections, people vote for their representatives at a provincial level. We gained a total of nine seats in eight provinces. We also secured one of the 75 seats in the Dutch Senate.

In the meantime, working groups have also been set up at various locations throughout the Netherlands. They deal with animal welfare issues at a municipal or regional level, and work to influence animal welfare policy. In the long term, these working groups may develop into party branches, which may participate in municipal elections. In this way, it is possible that we will eventually also be represented at a municipal level.

The Party for the Animals has a scientific bureau (the Nicolaas G. Pierson Foundation) and a youth organisation (PINK!).