Polish Party of Animal Protection

Polish Party of Animal Protection (Polish: Polska Partia Ochrony Zwierząt, PPOZ) is an animal rights party in Poland founded in 2018 by animal rights activists such as Andrzej Olszewski, Katarzyna Sowa, Dorota Strug, Andrzej Ochman, Andrzej Czerniak and Joanna Pawlikowska. The party brings together animal protection groups from all over Poland, initially coming from an animal foundation Pod Psią Gwiazdą in Kłodzko. The party cites the Dutch Party for the Animals as one of its inspirations and wishes to improve the animal protection in Poland by political activism. Apart from Polanica-Zdrój, the Polish Party of Animal Protection also has party structures in Gdynia, Wrocław, Katowice and Poznań, and the party does not rule out running in the next parliamentary election.

The party is made up of animal lovers and activists associated with animal protection and no-kill pet shelters. Main objectives of the party include improving the living conditions of pets and farm animals, as well as phasing out meat production in favour of vegetarianism. The party fields activists of animal advocacy organisations, arguing that the politicians of the Sejm had failed to bring about any change in terms of animal rights. The PPOZ wants animal owners to be more accountable and introduce harsher penalties for animal torture and abuse. The PPOZ mainly addresses and campaigns against chained dog abuse, mass cattle and poultry farming, fur farming, animal slaughter, animal use in circuses and laborations, climate change and hunting.