No animal left behind.
A wave of evidence has fueled the report, proving that EU legislation for farm animals does not meet the needs of animals: laying hens, broilers, sows, dairy cows, as well as Other "forgotten species" such as rabbits, ducks, geese and quail, are all raised, transported and slaughtered in ways that are not suitable to ensure them a decent life.
The reports were launched at an event with key stakeholders from the EU institutions, including a presentation by Maria Noichl, MEP, a video message from Carola Schouten, Minister of Agriculture and Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands , and with an intervention by Lucie Carrouée, Deputy Head of the Animal Welfare and Antimicrobial Resistance Unit of DG Sante.
The European Commission will soon open a public consultation on Fitness Check , a process to assess the effectiveness of current animal welfare laws, compare them to current scientific standards and assess their impact on the ground.
Over the past few months, the Eurogroup for Animals, with the help of its eighty-one members, has worked to gather information on the gaps that leave millions of animals unprotected and to raise awareness among the public to this process through a pan-European campaign.
This research has led to the creation of two key publications: the No Animal Left Behind report which highlights key examples of cases where current EU directives fail farm animals (general breeding, broilers, pigs). and laying hens), and the white paper No Animal Left Behind: The need for a new Kept Animals Regulation , where we offer a solution to the shortcomings detailed in the report.
The animals of the European Union deserve more than this: a good life, whether they are farm animals or pets, they deserve the opportunity to have positive experiences that make them feel
good. In addition, animal welfare is of increasing concern in all areas of society and good animal welfare practices also have wider benefits for the environment, public health, the economy. and contribute to sustainability goals.
The European acquis in the field of animal welfare needs a serious and in-depth review.
Before this review, some farmers are already going beyond the EU minimum animal welfare standards, demonstrating that higher animal welfare farming can be economically viable and sustainable. During the event , we had the opportunity to engage directly with the farmers described in the case studies.
“ The current EU animal welfare legislation is not suited to its purpose. It does not meet the needs of animals kept or used for commercial purposes and no longer conforms to scientific research. EU law urgently needs to be reformed to ensure that it takes into account all farmed species and all aspects of their well-being: health, nutrition, environment, behavior and mental states ” a commented Roberto Bennati, General Manager of LAV who made a presentation at the event.
“Ensuring that the standards meet, at a minimum, the Five Domains model would be a bold and qualitative step forward in terms of the legal protection afforded to all animal species that are raised for commercial purposes. That is why we are calling for an ambitious and state-of-the-art new regulation on kept animals, ” added Reineke Hameleers, CEO of the Eurogroup for Animals.
The European Commission has the opportunity to provide, in line with its ambitions contained in the Farm to Fork strategy, a sustainable legal basis for evidence-based standards that enable all animals to experience a positively affected mental state, thereby enabling them to lead a life that is truly worth living
lived.
“Any farming practice that cannot meet such requirements should, in fact, be phased out. In doing so, Europe would remain a world leader in animal welfare standards, citizens' expectations would be met and no animal would be left behind ” concluded Hameleers.
Remarks :
Download the No Animal Left Behind report No Animal Left Behind report also available in French.
Download the white paper No Animal Left Behind: The nedd for a new Kept Animals Regulation
Watch the opening video of the event Learn more about the campaign.
No animal left behind
Both documents use the five domains model, an assessment tool applied worldwide for well-being, and more recently as a framework for legislative codes of social protection. It is a paradigm shift from the Five Freedoms model, which relies on eliminating negative experiences and, anthropocentrically, does not provide freedom from hunger and thirst, discomfort, pain, injury or disease, fear and distress, or coercion allowing the expression of natural behavior only to a degree that humans find acceptable, while animals continue to suffer. Instead, according to the five realm model, animal welfare is the balance between positive and negative experiences and feelings, and this mental state is a direct result of health, environment. , the animal's nutrition and behavioral interactions, and whether the animal has appropriate opportunities to meet its wants and needs.
These can include environment-oriented exploration, food acquisition activities, as well as animal-to-animal interaction, all of which can generate various forms of comfort, pleasure, interest, confidence and a sense of control.
Posted on 2021-10-05 11:56
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