Breaking Free: Europe’s Animal Welfare Crises and the Brighter Future Within Reach

Types: Position
Published: 21 May 2024
Size: 8.31 MB

The link between animal welfare and the wellbeing of our environment is becoming ever more widely accepted and recognised. From greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to water pollution and the degradation of vital soils, current levels of intensive animal rearing – an industry defined by extreme and widespread suffering – sits at the root of multiple threats to our planet, our health, and the very foundations of EU participative democracy.

In this position paper, the first such publication produced by the EEB on this topic, we explore the policy history and background of animal welfare in the EU, the current state of affairs, and the specific demands from EU citizens – and the pan-European consensus on the need to improve things. It presents an outline of specific policy changes needed, for the benefit of animals, our planet, and our society at large.