Flanders' Animal Welfare Minister Ben Weyts has revealed that 6,517 animals were taken into protection throughout the region in the past year.
The Flemish Government's figure averages out to 540 animals per month that were taken off their owners and put into shelters. Other governmental figures, released in October of last year, showed that Flemish shelters had taken in a record 48,000 animals in 2021.
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Ben Weyts stated that his government was "present in more and more places to allow quicker reports of animal abuse and neglect." The minister explained that "by recruiting additional inspectors, we also manage to carry out more and more checks," which he believes has paid off.
Animal welfare checks in Flanders were thus carried out more than ever before with 6,802 in total last year, with the number of official reports having also gone up to 936 in 2021. "We continue to take decisive action where necessary," Weyts concluded.
