Humans keep, exploit and kill animals in enormous numbers. At the very least, these animals have a right to housing and care, which is specifically adapted to their nature and behaviour. Raising the norms for animal housing and care serves two purposes: firstly, the improvement of animal welfare and, secondly, to counteract the enormous (economic) competitive advantage that may be gained by treating animals poorly. This also creates greater opportunities for the development of alternatives that require no animals or whereby the animals are better treated.

The national, provincial and municipal governments have a duty to advance animal welfare. They should increase the respect for animals and nature through, for example, education. The national government should also seek to structurally improve the position of animals within the EU and in the framework of foreign aid. Furthermore, there should be support for animal shelters, not just for companion animals, but also exotic animals, birds and other animals.

An animal police force is necessary to ensure effective protection against abuse and neglect. They must be given sufficiently far-reaching powers to be able to liberate animals from their terrible plight and to effectively punish perpetrators.

Each year, around 500 million animals are bred and killed in the Dutch livestock farming industry. During the short space of their lives, the way in which these animals are kept usually falls completely short of the mark. Only in organic farming and some hobby farms does the housing and care come close to being considered acceptable. The Party for the Animals wants the government to strongly promote more animal and environmentally-friendly forms of livestock keeping by, for example, introducing a 0% VAT rate and subsidising SKAL (the Dutch inspection and certification organisation for organic farming), so that organic products are better able to compete with the products of the factory farming industry. The government should also no longer provide any support to companies that produce animal products under standards that are below the ecological norm. Livestock farming should be extensive and localised; factory farming must be eradicated. The norms for keeping and caring for livestock must be radically improved. The EU should not permit the import of animal-unfriendly produce from outside the EU on ethical grounds, even in the event of appeals to WTO agreements.

Cruel capture and killing methods are used in the commercial offshore fisheries. Annually around 90 million tons of fish are caught worldwide, which amounts to several hundred billion fish. In addition, around 45 million tons of fish are bred under conditions strongly resembling those in the factory farming industry.

There is no consideration for the welfare of fish within the fishery sector, even when fish is caught using ‘sustainable’ methods. The way in which fish are caught and killed subjects them a long-drawn-out and painful death-struggle. The Party for the Animals believes that there should be regulations to ensure that the pain and stress related to killing fish is kept to a minimum.

The Party for the Animals wants to put an end to all animal experiments. However, as long as animal experimentation is not prohibited, laboratory animals – just like farm and companion animals – should be kept and cared for under optimal conditions that are appropriate to their nature and behaviour.

Laboratory animals that are no longer used after the completion of experiments should, if their physical and psychological condition permits, be re-homed with new owners via specialised animal shelters that are funded by the vivisectors.

The habitat of wild animals must not be further compromised. Wherever possible, it should be restored so that the animals are able to re-establish themselves in their natural biotope. Moreover, the continued existence of wild animals must not be further endangered. The mass extinction of animals and plants and the huge trade in exotics, which has grown to an alarming extent, should be vigorously combated.

Where wild animals and people live in close proximity, animals should be allowed to lead their own lives as far as possible, according to natural processes and without human intervention. If animals cause unacceptable nuisance to people, then all animal-friendly options must be used to reduce this inconvenience to an acceptable level. Nuisance must never be dealt with by hobbyists (such as hunters) with a personal vested interest.

Although many companion animals are well kept and cared for, there are still many welfare problems associated with pet-keeping. There are a variety of reasons for this. Much animal suffering is the result of pet-owners’ ignorance. The government should, therefore, strongly promote education about animal care. There is also a commercial aspect to pet-keeping. Unfortunately, animal breeding, the pet trade and the recreational use of animals also often goes hand in hand with animal suffering. The government must control these activities through strict regulations and inspection. The breeding of animals with physical defects with a view to achieving particular breed characteristics should be banned.