A review by Denmark’s Ministry of Justice has found that around 1,500 follow-up animal welfare inspections from 2025 and the first half of 2026 were never carried out. Justice Minister Nicolai Wammen has announced an emergency package to strengthen the control system.
According to reporting by DR on September 8, 2026, the ministry has completed a so-called kasseeftersyn of the animal welfare control area. The review found roughly 1,500 missing follow-up inspections from 2025 and the first six months of 2026. Follow-up checks from earlier years also remain undone.
Responsibility for the area now sits with the Ministry of Justice. It was previously held by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and the Ministry for Green Tripartite. In a press release, Wammen said it is clear that there have been problems for several years, both with animal welfare in the barns and with the inspections.
The minister said the situation is simply not good enough and that controls must be strengthened markedly. He announced an emergency package but did not give details of its contents. Per his statement, it will dedicate more resources to inspections and sharpen sanctions against herd owners who do not care properly for their animals.
Control target will not be met
The review also shows that the planned control coverage of 20 percent in pig and cattle herds cannot be reached in 2026. That figure was set in the animal welfare agreement “Sammen om Dyrene 2024-2027”. Control coverage refers to how frequently or extensively inspection visits are carried out.
The Ministry of Justice attributes the shortfall to staff shortages and an unusually high number of avian influenza outbreaks. Both factors have drawn inspection resources away from planned visits, according to the ministry.
Inspection of pig welfare was criticized sharply in April 2026 by Statsrevisorerne, the state auditors’ oversight body. Its role is to check whether the state and companies use taxpayers’ money efficiently, correctly and in line with the law. The criticism pointed to several problems that create a risk that poor animal welfare is not detected and stopped.
The animal welfare organization Dyrenes Beskyttelse called the missing checks an egregious failure of the animals. Director Britta Riis described the findings as deeply shocking, but said they were not surprising, as the organization has raised the issue repeatedly.
Riis said the previous SVM government took a very lax approach to follow-up inspections. She added that the new government has set a different direction, and that the plans for an emergency package show the justice minister has understood the seriousness of the situation.
Dyrenes Beskyttelse said it is now awaiting the emergency plan for the area. The Ministry of Justice has not published a date for when the package will be presented, according to DR.
