Oie Fact Sheet - Animal Welfare
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Fact sheet Fact sheet
Animal Welfare Animal Welfare
Animal health is an essential component of animal welfare. In the absence of any normative framework to promote animal welfare and at the request of its Member Countries, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) decided to develop, from 2001, the first international standards in this field. These standards are, as always, science-based.
The issues
An international Working Group
Animal welfare is a complex subject with scientific, ethical, economic, cultural and political dimensions. Today, animal producers are increasingly taking animal welfare into account and some have come to see it as a standard of quality. There is growing consumer interest in animal welfare worldwide, making it an inevitable economic issue on the world market for animals and animal products.
To cover all aspects of animal welfare and especially to deal with scientific issues, the OIE set up an international Working Group on Animal Welfare in 2002. Its eight permanent members, representative of the geographical and cultural diversity of the organisation, gather veterinary experts selected on the basis of their scientific excellence.
The challenges The perception of what does or does not constitute an act of cruelty to animals differs from one region or culture of the world to another. The main challenge is to reach a consensus among 170 countries to establish science-based guidelines. Furthermore, animal welfare is a concept of veterinary ethics and must be considered as an area of expertise in its own right. It is therefore a priority to integrate animal welfare as a core subject in any veterinary syllabus. As a result, the OIE Collaborating Centre in Teramo, Italy, has been designated to conduct training and capacity-building missions for Member Countries requesting help in this field. Lastly, research in this field must be stepped up to provide the scientific basis for any legislative or normative framework.
Representation is also drawn from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), a consortium of non-governmental organisations and from the agri-food industry and producers‘ associations. On a rotational basis, one industry representative is a full member and the other two participate as observers. In 2007, the International Dairy Federation (IDF) seated as the member. In 2008 and 2009 membership respectively falls to the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and the International Meat Secretariat (IMS).
«Addressing the issue of animal welfare in agriculture is a major undertaking since standards must take religious and cultural diversity into account: slaughter for human consumption may for example be ’halal‘ or ’kosher‘. Likewise, recommending a particular type of animal housing may place some countries in difficulty by necessitating additional costs that they are unable to meet»: Prof. Hassan Aidaros, member of the OIE Working Group on Animal Welfare and Professor of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banha University, Cairo, Egypt.
1
Fact sheet Fact sheet
Animal Welfare Animal Welfare Towards the application of animal welfare standards throughout the world
The 2nd Global Conference on Animal Welfare will be held in Cairo, Egypt, on October 2022 2008. The Conference is organised with the support of the Egyptian government and will give the OIE an opportunity to check on the progress made by Veterinary Services of Member Countries since 2004 to integrate animal welfare standards into their actions.
http://www.oie.int/fr/fr_index.htm
The 1st Global Conference The Global Conference on Animal Welfare, organised by the OIE and held in February 2004, helped to rally the support of representatives of governments, private sector stakeholders and NGOs on animal welfare related issues and to determine the most effective ways of working together. The Conference acted as a trigger for the elaboration of normative texts at the OIE as well as new legislation in many Member Countries. In 2005, the International Committee of the OIE adopted four chapters, now included in the Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
Ex: Depopulation and animal welfare
Recent BSE, foot and mouth disease and avian influenza sanitary crises filled our screens with images of thousands of animals killed for disease control purposes. Depopulation is applied with the aim of controlling the spread of infection to healthy animals and in some cases to humans, but it must be done in appropriate conditions. Standards and guidelines adopted by the OIE on the slaughter of animals, including birds, recommend methods that cause neither pain nor distress in animals.
A major step forward: development of legislation in countries where it was previously lacking Following the Conference in Paris, several OIE Member Countries developed or improved their animal welfare legislation, in particular countries that are members of the Regional Commissions for Africa and the Middle East.
Work in progress - Stray dog control - Laboratory animals
OIE’s guiding principles in the field of animal welfare
1) that there is a critical relationship between animal health and animal welfare 2) that the internationally recognised ‘five freedoms’ (freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from physical and thermal discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; and freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour) provide valuable guidance in animal welfare 3) that the internationally recognised ‘Three Rs’ (reduction in numbers of animals, refinement of experimental methods and replacement of animals with non-animal techniques) provide valuable guidance for the use of animals in science 4) that the scientific assessment of animal welfare involves diverse elements which need to be considered together, and that selecting and weighing these elements often involves value-based assumptions which should be made as explicit as possible 5) that the use of animals in agriculture and science, and for companionship, recreation and entertainment, makes a major contribution to the well-being of people 6) that the use of animals carries with it an ethical responsibility to ensure the welfare of such animals to the greatest extent practicable 7) that improvements in farm animal welfare can often improve productivity and food safety, and hence lead to economic benefits 8) that equivalent outcomes (performance criteria), rather than identical systems (design criteria), be the basis for comparison of animal welfare standards and guidelines.
Priorities - Inclusion of animal welfare in veterinary education - Terrestrial animal housing and production
In the OIE Code (2008) Chapter 3.7.: - Slaughter of animals for human consumption - Killing of animals for disease control purposes - Transport of animals by air - Transport of animals by land - Transport of animals by sea Code: http://www.oie.int/eng/normes/mcode/en_sommaire.htm
World Organisation for Animal Health / www.oie.int / Contact: [email protected] - 2008
2
Animal Welfare Animal Welfare
Animal health is an essential component of animal welfare. In the absence of any normative framework to promote animal welfare and at the request of its Member Countries, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) decided to develop, from 2001, the first international standards in this field. These standards are, as always, science-based.
The issues
An international Working Group
Animal welfare is a complex subject with scientific, ethical, economic, cultural and political dimensions. Today, animal producers are increasingly taking animal welfare into account and some have come to see it as a standard of quality. There is growing consumer interest in animal welfare worldwide, making it an inevitable economic issue on the world market for animals and animal products.
To cover all aspects of animal welfare and especially to deal with scientific issues, the OIE set up an international Working Group on Animal Welfare in 2002. Its eight permanent members, representative of the geographical and cultural diversity of the organisation, gather veterinary experts selected on the basis of their scientific excellence.
The challenges The perception of what does or does not constitute an act of cruelty to animals differs from one region or culture of the world to another. The main challenge is to reach a consensus among 170 countries to establish science-based guidelines. Furthermore, animal welfare is a concept of veterinary ethics and must be considered as an area of expertise in its own right. It is therefore a priority to integrate animal welfare as a core subject in any veterinary syllabus. As a result, the OIE Collaborating Centre in Teramo, Italy, has been designated to conduct training and capacity-building missions for Member Countries requesting help in this field. Lastly, research in this field must be stepped up to provide the scientific basis for any legislative or normative framework.
Representation is also drawn from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), a consortium of non-governmental organisations and from the agri-food industry and producers‘ associations. On a rotational basis, one industry representative is a full member and the other two participate as observers. In 2007, the International Dairy Federation (IDF) seated as the member. In 2008 and 2009 membership respectively falls to the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and the International Meat Secretariat (IMS).
«Addressing the issue of animal welfare in agriculture is a major undertaking since standards must take religious and cultural diversity into account: slaughter for human consumption may for example be ’halal‘ or ’kosher‘. Likewise, recommending a particular type of animal housing may place some countries in difficulty by necessitating additional costs that they are unable to meet»: Prof. Hassan Aidaros, member of the OIE Working Group on Animal Welfare and Professor of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banha University, Cairo, Egypt.
1
Fact sheet Fact sheet
Animal Welfare Animal Welfare Towards the application of animal welfare standards throughout the world
The 2nd Global Conference on Animal Welfare will be held in Cairo, Egypt, on October 2022 2008. The Conference is organised with the support of the Egyptian government and will give the OIE an opportunity to check on the progress made by Veterinary Services of Member Countries since 2004 to integrate animal welfare standards into their actions.
http://www.oie.int/fr/fr_index.htm
The 1st Global Conference The Global Conference on Animal Welfare, organised by the OIE and held in February 2004, helped to rally the support of representatives of governments, private sector stakeholders and NGOs on animal welfare related issues and to determine the most effective ways of working together. The Conference acted as a trigger for the elaboration of normative texts at the OIE as well as new legislation in many Member Countries. In 2005, the International Committee of the OIE adopted four chapters, now included in the Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
Ex: Depopulation and animal welfare
Recent BSE, foot and mouth disease and avian influenza sanitary crises filled our screens with images of thousands of animals killed for disease control purposes. Depopulation is applied with the aim of controlling the spread of infection to healthy animals and in some cases to humans, but it must be done in appropriate conditions. Standards and guidelines adopted by the OIE on the slaughter of animals, including birds, recommend methods that cause neither pain nor distress in animals.
A major step forward: development of legislation in countries where it was previously lacking Following the Conference in Paris, several OIE Member Countries developed or improved their animal welfare legislation, in particular countries that are members of the Regional Commissions for Africa and the Middle East.
Work in progress - Stray dog control - Laboratory animals
OIE’s guiding principles in the field of animal welfare
1) that there is a critical relationship between animal health and animal welfare 2) that the internationally recognised ‘five freedoms’ (freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from physical and thermal discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; and freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour) provide valuable guidance in animal welfare 3) that the internationally recognised ‘Three Rs’ (reduction in numbers of animals, refinement of experimental methods and replacement of animals with non-animal techniques) provide valuable guidance for the use of animals in science 4) that the scientific assessment of animal welfare involves diverse elements which need to be considered together, and that selecting and weighing these elements often involves value-based assumptions which should be made as explicit as possible 5) that the use of animals in agriculture and science, and for companionship, recreation and entertainment, makes a major contribution to the well-being of people 6) that the use of animals carries with it an ethical responsibility to ensure the welfare of such animals to the greatest extent practicable 7) that improvements in farm animal welfare can often improve productivity and food safety, and hence lead to economic benefits 8) that equivalent outcomes (performance criteria), rather than identical systems (design criteria), be the basis for comparison of animal welfare standards and guidelines.
Priorities - Inclusion of animal welfare in veterinary education - Terrestrial animal housing and production
In the OIE Code (2008) Chapter 3.7.: - Slaughter of animals for human consumption - Killing of animals for disease control purposes - Transport of animals by air - Transport of animals by land - Transport of animals by sea Code: http://www.oie.int/eng/normes/mcode/en_sommaire.htm
World Organisation for Animal Health / www.oie.int / Contact: [email protected] - 2008
2
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