Let’s make animal welfare count in 2021

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AnimalsEU

Let’s make animal welfare count in 2021

15 January 2021
News
With the European Commission breaking a decade of stalemate on animal welfare legislation in 2020, 2021 looks bright and full of opportunities to create a better future for billions of animals.

Looking back on our major success stories for animals in 2020, we are looking at 2021 with a lot of excitement and determination to make the lives of billions of animals better.

We are dedicated to fully exploit the window of opportunity opening in 2021 and 2022 by joining the “building back better” movement and striving for a Green Recovery.

Here’s a small glimpse of our major opportunities and activities for animal welfare in EU legislation and in Member States in 2021:

 
  1. The Green Deal: One of our major lobby campaigns this year will be focusing on the  farm animal welfare legislation and its fitness check. We will join forces with new and existing partners to pursue our long-term goal of sustainable food, agriculture and fishery sectors that respect animal welfare and are aligned with the EU Farm-to-Fork and the Biodiversity 2030 strategies.
 
  1. Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing our resilience: We demand a positive list for the trade of wild animals and an EU wide ban on fur farming, measures that will increase our resilience towards future pandemics and contribute to healthy societies and economies, and the well-being of people and animals. We call on the EU to develop a strategy for human relevant science without the use of animals, building on the experiences gained in the rush for a COVID-19 vaccine.  
 
  1. Strengthening the EU's role as a global actor in trade relations: We are putting animal welfare on the agenda in the context of EU-China and EU-India relations and keep working on blocking the ratification of the EU-Mercosur Trade deal
 

To further improve the well-being of animals in Europe and in the world we engage on:

We are demanding species-specific rules for the transport of horses and donkeys and call for the end of long-distance transport. We ask for a harmonised mandatory identification and registration for cats and dogs. Many people have adopted companion animals during the lock-down period so that these measures are more crucial than ever.