6. What Protection Do Farmed Animals Get?

In some countries, there are laws intended to protect farmed animals from ill-treatment. However, in general, farmed animals tend to be given less protection by law than other animals (e.g. companion animals). “Food animals” may be excluded from being covered by certain animal protection laws altogether. Fish in particular receive little or no protection from laws in most countries. Where laws that cover farmed animals do exist, enforcement can be challenging due to the huge numbers of farms and individual animals involved.

World Animal Protection (WAP) has devised a useful tool called the Animal Protection Index (API). The API ranks 50 countries from all over the world according to their legislation and policy commitments to protecting animals. The findings can be useful to find out how your government can help improve the lives of animals in your country.

Although not enforceable by law, there are some global guidelines that have been drafted which provide recommendations for the minimum standards that should be met to ensure acceptable health and welfare of certain animals used by humans. Perhaps the most notable are those provided by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE). This is an intergovernmental organisation that aims to disseminate information on animal diseases, improve animal health, and build a safer, healthier, and more sustainable future.

The WOAH issues and updates its yearly Terrestrial Animal Health Code (TAHC) with the aim of providing a standard for the improvement of the health and welfare of terrestrial animals worldwide. Chapter 7 of this code includes guidelines for farmed animals, and includes recommendations about farmed animal living conditions, husbandry practices, transportation and slaughter. The Code makes reference to the Five Freedoms.

For aquatic animals, the WOAH issues its Aquatic Animal Health Code (AAHC), which includes guidelines related to the welfare of farmed fish.

These guidelines and recommendations in the TAHC and AAHC can potentially be used as a starting point by governments when drafting laws to protect farmed animals.