Belgium gets official animal police

Flemish minister for animal welfare Ben Weyts has announced that Belgium's Animal Welfare service will expand from 19- to 30 full-time jobs, thus becoming a full-fledged animal police. The new animal police will carry out more thorough checks on reports of animal cruelty across the country, and work to halt puppy farming and other cruel intensive breeding practices.

Animal Welfare in Belgium received 3,551 reports of suspected animal cruelty in 2015, an increase of 85% over the previous year. The expansion of the service is therefore fully justified, according to Weyts. Every month, there are about 200 abused or neglected animals seized in the Flemish region alone.

"We are victims of our own success,” says Weyts (pictured). “To be able to enforce our firm policies, we absolutely need additional inspectors. Even in times of austerity, it is a very conscious investment, which greatly increases our chances of catching animal abusers."