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National Socialist conceptions of humanity’s relationship with nature informed numerous policies relating to environmental protection. Those policies included the introduction of new laws outlining the treatment of animals within the Reich. The Animal Protection Law [Tierschutzgesetz], introduced in November of 1933, was the first nation-wide law explicitly protecting animals to be enacted within Germany. The law identified and prohibited a range of mistreatments, including overworking labor animals, exhibiting, filming or otherwise publicly displaying animals in conditions that would lead to negative health effects, and even grooming restrictions, such as a prohibition against the docking (clipping) of a dog’s ears or tails after the animal reached two weeks of age. The law also specifically set strict limitations on animal experimentation, outlawing any practice or experiment that would endanger the life or well-being of an animal. Although the law itself contained no explicit antisemitic statements or prohibitions, the restrictions on animal experimentation did speak to the antisemitic belief that “Jewish” experimental science represented an affront to the “natural” laws governing the relationship between humans, animals, and nature. In this way, the Animal Protection Law, outlined here, also formed an important part of the larger propaganda effort to create and cultivate cultural links between National Socialism and (German) nature.
https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/nazi-germany-1933-1945/animal-protection-law-november-24-1933