President rejects as unjustified proposals to restrict protection of animals

Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski has rejected a draft amendment to the animal protection bill. "I refuse to sign the bill, since it limits the protection of animals in an unjustified and unnecessary way," the President said in explaining his decision. He described the proposed amendments as inconsistent with EU regulations, and questionable from both the ethical and the humanitarian points of view. The amended bill would have eased the restrictions on the use of animals in experiments and tests, and would have permitted the free use of wild and homeless animals for the purpose. People with no medical background would have been permitted to administer veterinary treatment, and certain controls would have been lifted on the private slaughter of animals. The amendments were strongly opposed by animal rights' activists. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.4) M. S.-C.