Party for the Animals
The Dutch Party for the Animals is the first successful political party in the world that does not put the short-term interests of man above all, but instead the entire planet and all her inhabitants. A fundamentally different approach than the traditional parties, which focus on the short-term interests of people and in particularly on money and economic growth without thinking about the consequences for humans, animals, nature, and the environment. All our work and all our solutions have a planet-wide focus. And that makes us unique!
On 22 November 2006 the Dutch Party for the Animals was elected to the House of Representatives with 2 of the 150 seats. A worldwide first! On 17 March 2021 the Party for the Animals won 6 seats, an increase of 200 per cent. The party now has 92 elected representatives at European, national, regional and local level.
The main driver of our party is to protect the interest of the weakest against the alleged right of the strongest. In all this, the animals are the most vulnerable and often come in last in a world focused on short-term interests. The mistreatment of animals and the destruction of their home take place on a larger scale than ever seen before, including factory farming, animal testing, and in nature itself. After the liberation of slaves and women, and giving rights to children, the next logical step is to take the interests of animals seriously.
In our work we use four principles: compassion, sustainability, personal freedom and personal responsibility. The changes we wish to see call for different choices to be made, such as:
- no factory farms, but a respectful treatment of animals
- no intensive farming industry, but organic farming
- no hunting, but increase of nature
- no coal plants or nuclear energy, but real sustainable energy (like solar and wind energy)
- no additional highways, but good public transportation and bicycle paths
- reduction of taxes on labour, increase of taxes on raw materials
- regulation when necessary, freedom of choice where possible
- strong action to combat climate change and fight the loss of biodiversity
- aid to people fleeing from famine, persecution, or violence
Catalyst
The Party for the Animals raises important issues that are ignored by other parties. We promote the values that matter most: compassion, sustainability, and the respectful treatment of people and animals. In response to our arrival in the House of Representatives, the parties in office started to pay increasingly more attention to animals, nature and the environment. And we underline again and again that the current crises concerning climate, food, economy, energy, animal welfare, and biodiversity are connected – and can therefore only be tackled in connection with each other. Our call to no longer see economic growth as a goal in itself but to look beyond it, is getting more and more response. We are determined to continue to play a driving role in this and to continue to feed the political and social discussions on these topics.
Political instruments
We make ample use of the instruments that parliamentarians can make use of. We file motions, apply for debates and vote on laws. We ask many Parliamentary Questions, which the Minister concerned is compelled to answer. This enabled us to draw attention to matters that would not be on the agenda otherwise and to force the Minister concerned to give his opinion. Also, we write initiative policy documents on, for example, ritual slaughter without stunning and the banning of hobby hunting.
Action party
We are also active besides the political institutions. We take action, for example, against megastables, against the selling of nature by the previous cabinet, against international trade treaties such as TTIP and CETA, and for a stronger climate policy. In collaboration with our scientific bureau, the NGPF, we make books and films such as One Single Planet, Méér!, Meat the Truth, and #Powerplant. And we are strengthening the international movement of parties for the animals and our planet with the Animal Politics Foundation.
Youth wing
In 2006, the youth wing of the party, PINK!, was created. The youth wing fights in a number of ways for a better world: by organising actions and events, developing lesson programs, writing articles and training its young political activists.