Last week, the Swedish Board of Agriculture presented a proposal for new rules for, among other things, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, snakes, and domestic fowl.
One of the proposals was that the animals should have more space to move around. For example, it was suggested that rabbits should have ten square meters to move around on and that snakes should be able to stretch out to their full length.
The criticism of the proposal has been extensive – and now the Swedish Board of Agriculture announces that it is "making a reassessment".
"The purpose of the inquiry was precisely to gather opinions broadly. But the reactions were much greater than we expected, and the proposal has also created anxiety and anger. This does not provide good conditions for moving forward", says the Swedish Board of Agriculture's Director-General Christina Nordin in a press release.
The Swedish Board of Agriculture, however, emphasizes the need to develop new rules, as the current regulatory framework is almost 30 years old.
"Our goal is to develop regulations that are good for both humans and animals. Unfortunately, we see from the reactions that there are many misconceptions about the proposal, and we assess that we need to be clearer and work even more with dialogue and anchoring before we can present a new proposal", says Annett Kjellberg, head of the Swedish Board of Agriculture's animal division.
