European Union support for UDAW campaign
Mar 24, 2009
© WSPA
A global animal welfare campaign backed by 230 UK MPs and DEFRA has received a major boost from the European Union (EU), with all 27 countries voting unanimously in public support.
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) applauds the EU for being the first regional forum to formally pledge its support for the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW) and thanks all the British MPs and government contacts who have backed the campaign to date, for their invaluable support in the UK.
Click here for a full list of MPs who have signed up to support this campaign.
Why is this important?
The development of a worldwide agreement on the importance of animal care and treatment – which a WSPA-led campaign seeks to see enshrined in a Universal Declaration – would show nations that animal welfare is connected to global development issues such as food security, human health and disaster management.
The EU’s unanimous support is a fantastic breakthrough for the WSPA-led campaign to achieve global recognition for animal welfare. Currently, no official global acknowledgement of animal welfare as an issue of importance exists.
This campaign aims to see the development of a worldwide agreement on the importance of animal care and treatment protected in a Universal Declaration.
Global recognition by the UN of animal welfare would not only protect animals and reduce unnecessary suffering, but also show nations that animal welfare is connected to the development of a country; whether reducing poverty and hunger, improving human health, preparing for and recovering from natural disasters, or helping the environment.
Strong voices for animals
WSPA’s campaign to see animal welfare recognised as an issue of worldwide concern has already been endorsed by the UK government, as well as Fiji, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Palau, the Seychelles, Cambodia, Sweden and Switzerland. The campaign is also supported by the British Veterinary Association and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
John Gray, WSPA UK Regional Director said: “With this announcement, the EU has acknowledged the strong links that animal welfare has with other established global development issues such as climate change, food security, human health and poverty reduction.”
A worldwide concern
European Union nations have well-established animal welfare legislation in the world; when they vote as one (as a bloc) they have shown their commitment to improving animals’ lives.
But respecting animals’ needs is no western luxury: members of the G77 group of developing nations recently invited WSPA to brief their UN ambassadors on how good welfare can benefit the world’s poorest people, who rely on animals for their livelihoods.
From Europe to the UN
A Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare must be endorsed by the United Nations if it is to have any impact.
The announcement includes a commitment to ‘give active support to the development of … [the] Declaration at the United Nations’, meaning many more countries will be advocating for animals at the highest level.
This will help WSPA to explain the benefits of good animal welfare – for animals, humans and the environment – to other UN member states, and finally take the UDAW to the floor of the General Assembly.
For more information and to add your voice to the campaign
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