Activist urges Estonia to recognise animals’ rights in law

Animals should not be treated as things and their rights should be set out separately in law, Farištamo Eller of the animal advocacy organisation Loomus said on ERR’s Terevisioon.

Estonian legislation has so far treated animals as things, Eller said. While the law does not require this approach, it allows animals to be treated that way.

She cited the example of a man who wanted to take out life insurance for his animal but discovered that its value was considered only to be the amount paid for it. If an animal is injured, the case is treated similarly to damage to human property, such as a table, Eller said.

Animal advocates say animal welfare does not receive enough attention in Estonia. They will hold a march on August 30 at 1 p.m., starting in Tammsaare Park in Tallinn and moving towards Snelli Pond.

Eller said the march was intended to raise animal welfare issues ahead of the elections, so that campaign debates would not focus only on taxes.

She said attention was also needed for animals that remain largely unseen, including farm animals and animals used in testing. The organisers also want to highlight how people talk about animals and the ways in which they are used.

Eller said activists had also raised concerns about catching and serving European eel, which she described as a critically endangered species. Restaurant owners had told them that they followed the law and would continue serving the fish unless legislation directly prohibited it.

Animal rights activists often hear the argument that anything permitted by law will be done, Eller said.

She added that she would continue speaking for animals as long as she had the ability and opportunity to do so, because animals were suffering even more.