The cabinet is sticking to the plan to ban deer camps. That is what Minister Piet Adema of Agriculture said today in the House of Representatives. “The animal is meant to run free in nature.” It’s about the welfare of the animals, he emphasized.
Deer are not on the list of hobby and pets that can be kept. There are thirty animals that can be kept. The list has been compiled on a scientific basis and will be introduced on 1 January next year. This means that deer may no longer be bred.
To accommodate the few hundred deer parks in the country, businesses don’t have to close by that date just yet. They may remain open until all the animals have died.
There is support for Adema in the Chamber. SGP and PVV turned against the decision during the debate. Roelof Bisschop (SGP) does not find the story convincing. According to him, fallow deer have been kept in deer camps for centuries. He finds the list of animals that may be kept arbitrary and opaque.
Yesterday, Frederiek Dilling, chairman of Stichting Hertenkamp Rolde, said it would be a pity if deer camps had to disappear, because they have a social function in the village. “A lot of people come here to feed the animals. Mentally disabled people from the Trans also come here every working day to feed the animals. And we also have a group of volunteers. People also learn how to deal with the animals here. you can feed them, but you also have to keep your distance from the animals.”