Agriculture Minister wins animal rights organization's "biggest liar of 2024" award

BBB Minister Femke Wiersma of Agriculture was elected the Biggest Liar of 2024 for her claim that animal suffering in the Dutch livestock industry is “portrayed worse than it is,” animal welfare organization Wakker Dier announced. She was the only candidate left in the running. The other four corrected the statements that got them nominated.

According to Wakker Dier, 46 million animals in the Netherlands died before they arrived at the slaughterhouse last year. “The Minister knows full well that the suffering is often underestimated, but chooses to tell reassuring fairy tales,” Leonie Vestering of Wakker Dier said.

Partly due to the withdrawal of all other candidates, Wiersma received 80 percent of the 15,000 votes.

Iglo was Wiersma’s last opponent in the Wakker Dier election. The company informed Wakker Dier that it would remove the “responsible fish” statements from its packaging and website. Before that, Albert Hiejn promised to adjust false claims on its dairy and Greenfields beef packaging, and Muscle Meat, a manufacturer of ready-meals with battery-farm chickens, removed its claim that it was “leading the way in animal welfare” from its website.

“Politicians like Wiersma can take an example from companies that dare to correct their mistakes,” Vestering said.

This is the first time in 15 years of Wakker Dier’s Biggest Liar Award that only one candidate remained in the election. “This makes this edition the most successful to date,” the organization said.

With the award, Wakker Dier aims to expose misleading claims about animal welfare. “These confuse consumers and ruin the market for truly animal-friendly products.”