According to the Eurobarometer, animal welfare is important to most Europeans.

Protecting animal welfare is “essential” for more than eight in ten Europeans, a Eurobarometer survey shows.

84% of Europeans believe that farm animal welfare must be protected in their own country are better than now, and the same number (83%) support limiting the time for transporting animals.

In the case of Spain, the figures are similar to the EU average, as 80% of those surveyed think farm animals should be protected “better”, 83% think they should limit the time of movement of live animalsand 74% also believe that pets should be protected more, according to a note from efeverde.com.

More than 90% of Europeans believe that farming and breeding methods should be consistent with “basic ethical requirements” such as providing the animals with sufficient space, food and water, an environment adapted to their needs (dirt, straw, etc.), and ensuring “proper management.” (Read in With livestock context: Animal protection, animal husbandry’s best ally)

The Eurobarometer also showed high levels of concern about animal welfare in slaughterhousesas three-quarters of respondents consider the practice of killing male chicks after birth to be “unacceptable.”

For their part, in Spain, 87% of respondents showed high concern for animals in slaughterhouses, which is only one point different from the EU average of 88%.

Concerning food imports 84% of Europeans from non-EU countries believe that the current situation with animals “must change” either by applying EU animal welfare standards to food imports or by labeling food products according to applicable standards. (Read in With livestock context: 7 important aspects of animal protection)

60% of respondents indicated that they would ready to pay more for products from animal-friendly agricultural systems.

New legislation

On December 7, the European Commission (EC) proposed a new law improve conditions for transporting animals in the European Union and represents the largest European animal welfare reform in two decades and will affect the 1.6 million animals that are transported into the EU each year.

In the area of ​​animal transport, Brussels is paying particular attention to tightening the conditions under which the movement of animals can take place. temperature, duration of trip or vehicle condition, criteria that will also depend on the species being transmitted and will be adapted for unweaned calves, pregnant females and hens at the end of their production cycle. (Read in With livestock context: Follow best practices for transporting livestock in Colombia)

As a rule, transport is only possible at night if the temperature exceeds 30°C; When the temperature drops below 0°C, vehicles will have to be covered and there will be air circulation control in the compartment in which animals travel. If the temperature drops below -5°C, the trip cannot last more than nine hours.

These standards, which will apply to pigs, cows, goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits and horses, also stipulate that for most animals trips last a maximum of 21 hours with at least one hour of rest after ten o’clock; After this period, the animals must be allowed to rest for 24 hours outside the vehicle with water and food. For animals destined for slaughter, the maximum travel time is nine hours.