United front against a “positive list”

In the last few years, a “positive list” for keeping pets has already been introduced in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. In Germany, German agriculture minister Cem Özdemir has made it known in an interview that he is intending to do the same, a move which has attracted a lot of public criticism.

Norbert Holthenrich, president of the Zentralverband Zoologischer Fachbetriebe (ZZF), the association representing German pet product retailers, considers the initiative by Özdemir to be wrong: “A ‘positive list’ is nothing other than a basic prohibition on pet owning.” Other associations representing the pet sector, such as the German Society for Herpetology and Herpetoculture and the Bundesverband für fachgerechten Natur-, Tier- und Artenschutz (German Federal Association for Professional Conservation and Protection of Species, BNA) also reject the minister’s proposals.

Prominent representatives of zoos and animal parks are also opposed to the move by the agriculture minister. The director of the respected Wilhelma Zoological-Botanical Garden in Stuttgart, Thomas Kölpin, points out that “positive lists” would also impact those who are competent pet handlers. The biologist believes that an obligatory certificate of competence when acquiring a pet would be more useful, as this would prevent people making spontaneous purchases or getting pets that were  fashionable. Kölpin also states that tarantulas and corn snakes are easier to keep as pets than many dogs and cats.