Brussels, 03/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - Even if a charitable body does not intend to make profits by transferring dogs from one member state to another in order to place them with new owners, they are obliged to respect European rules on animal protection and health during transport.
This was decided in a decision by the European Court of Justice on Thursday, 3 December, in a case (C-301/14) involving the German charity Pfotenhilfe which is responsible for transporting dogs that do not have owners, particularly in Hungary, to Germany. This charity requests a small charge from the new owners, with possible profits obtained used to fund finding new homes for other animals. According to the charity, its activities covered by Regulation 998/2003 on the transport of non-commercial household pets.
This opinion was not shared by Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston (see EUROPE 11387) and the judges at the Court of Justice have now followed her line. The charitable body Pfotenhilfe is involved in economic activities, even though it is a non-profit organisation. It should therefore, respect more binding obligations, such as Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and directive (90/425/EEC) on declaration and registration, due to the fact that an intra-community exchange of animals is being carried out by the operators. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)