| In Germany, many stables are constructed with subsidies from the Farm Investment Scheme (FIS), a measure of the EU Rural Development Programme. The FIS is considered to be “the most important measure for the promotion of investments into welfare friendly housing systems” by the Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. We evaluated the effect of the FIS on animal welfare in dairy and pig farms, applying and adapting an environment based method. Information on animal housing conditions before and after the investments was gathered in a telephone survey carried out in 2007. The farms were selected in a random disproportional sample, stratified according to the federal states. The sample sizes amount to 18 % of the population of assisted... |
