Every year on 4 October, international animal welfare is celebrated with the aim of drawing attention to the suffering of animals and sensitizing people to species-appropriate husbandry. The Austrian Armed Forces are the “employer” of 225 animals throughout Austria and therefore bear a great deal of responsibility for the training, keeping and deployment of these four-legged friends.
“In the Austrian Armed Forces (-> here you can find the latest news from the armed forces) we place a special focus on the appropriate care and training of our military animals in accordance with the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act. Ensuring high-quality veterinary care in all areas of deployment is a top priority. In addition, the respectful and caring treatment of our animal comrades is of great importance, as they make a significant contribution to the safety of our soldiers,” emphasizes Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner. Pack animal center in Hochfilzen
The pack animal center at the military training area in Hochfilzen is home to a total of 58 pack animals, 50 Haflingers and eight donkeys. The pack animal center was restructured in 2007 after the four pack animal teams were merged and a new infrastructure was built in accordance with the latest animal husbandry criteria and in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act. The mission of the pack animal center is to support the armed forces with the pack animals in particularly difficult terrain conditions, taking into account deployment in low and high mountains. https://militaeraktuell.at/saab-stellt-erstes-saab-340-aew-fuer-polen-vor/ Military dog center in Kaisersteinbruch
The military dog center in Kaisersteinbruch is the armed forces’ facility for breeding, training and further training, deployment and testing of service dogs throughout Austria. There are a total of 167 military dogs in 20 units and they are handled by 127 military dog handlers. Over 40 percent of the staff at the Military Dog Center are women. Around 60 dogs are kept directly in Kaisersteinbruch as young and breeding dogs. The military dogs make a not inconsiderable contribution to minimizing risks for soldiers on missions at home and abroad. At the 2022 World Rescue Dog Championships in Romania, military dog handler Andreas Hauk and his service dog “Rocket” were runners-up in the rubble search category. On Tuesday, October 10, the annual animal pilgrimage will take place at the Bruckneudorf military training area. Departure is at 10.00 am at the war memorial. The destination is the Spittelwald Chapel on the military training area with an animal blessing, organized by the Burgenland military parish. Bees in barracks
In some barracks, such as the Maria Theresa Barracks in Vienna, the Schwarzenberg Barracks in Salzburg and the Belgian Barracks in Graz, honey bees are also looked after responsibly by soldiers.
