CHARTER OF THE FARM ANIMALS WELFARE

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The Prince Laurent Foundation for the welfare of domestic and wild animals



See the charter of the farm animals welfare





The Prince Laurent Foundation for the welfare of domestic and wild animals aims at sustaining all initiatives intended to promote the welfare of animals of whatever kind they may be and whatever part assigned to them by men

CIn order to achieve this objective the Foundation takes it at heart to denounce and combat all situations providing evidence of animal distress, while exposing the difficult conditions to which the animals may be subject .

In this respect we only want to recall its position adopted with regard to the unspeakable way young seals were being battered to death, as well as the abusive use of wild animals in circuses, the ill-treatment inflicted upon live-stock in some slaughter houses, or certain cattle markets or stock-breeding farms.

These are precisely the unacceptable situations which have led the Prince Laurent Foundation to be moved by the situation of certain live-stock animals and seek ways to offer them more acceptable living conditions.
At the same time it wanted to promote and give recognition to the actors in this field of animal production for positive initiatives going beyond the legally imposed requirements.

In order to create better understanding and establish a constructive dialogue between all elements of the sector of animal production, on the one hand, and the associations for the protection of the animals eager to improve their living conditions , on the other hand, the Prince Laurent Foundation decided to lay the groundwork for a Charter which would bring together the various actors involved in the problem : stock-breeders, merchants, truckers, slaughters, distributors, consumers, animal protectors and the competent authorities .

Many months of fruitful discussions among the various parties gave birth to the Charter for the Welfare of Farm animals, which we are welcoming today with the outspoken ambition that it will provide a reference guide for all those who, on a voluntary basis, have the intention to differentiate their productions by way of concrete measures in favour of animal welfare and give it more value,, while in a second stage, by providing it with a label and offering it recognition on the basis of a list of specifications and conditions, with controls to be carried out by an independent body.

The Charter for the welfare of Farm animals should have its place in the new durable development, being a global approach by the creation of the necessary harmony between the respect for mankind, for the animals and that of the environment. The changes it intends to develop should also take into account, in time and space, the social equity, the workers' health, the safety of our food, the economic viability and the safeguard of the environmental balances.

In order to achieve these objectives, the Charter in a well constructed and finalized document, presents the general guidelines, common for the entire sector, as well as specific guidelines for those possessing animals, for the merchants and truckers transporting animals, for the slaughter houses, for the distribution, for the consumer organisations, for the association for the protection of the animals, as well as the authorities.

The Prince Laurent Foundation has, in this way, endeavoured to integrate, on the one hand, the longing of public opinion to improve the welfare of live-stock animals, beyond the statutory requirements, and on the other hand constructive steps initiated by the sectors linked to live-stock breeding. The Foundation intends to stimulate the consciousness of the community to the economic cost it will engender.

The Charter, covering all sectors involved as well as balanced is the outcome of a consensus negotiated at length which today September 20th has received its final touch with the solemn signature by all intervening parties in the Royal Greenhouses in Laeken (Brussels)

The Preamble to this charter being that of the Foundation, it does not directly bind the signatories, but simply sets forth the context of its creation and the drafting of its contents.