Animal Welfare and the European Union

Abstract

The protection of animals on the farm, in the laboratory, in international trade, and in nature is today a matter for European legislation. European Community laws now govern the keeping of pigs, calves, and battery hens. They set conditions for the humane slaughter of farm animals, and for the transportation of all kinds of animals. They control the use of animals in experimentation. They ban commercial trade in endangered species. From the northernmost to the southernmost borders of the European Union, they give the same basic protection both to wild birds and animals, and to the habitats they depend upon. All this is so in principle at least, since implementation of Community laws is dependent on the individual Member States.