 Eager to create a better understanding between the all those interested by the proecttion of animals, as well as the agricultural world and all the friends of the animals, and furthermore avoid in the future to have to witness any more scenes of cruelty towards the animals and other ways in which the welfare of livestock animals is slighted, the Prince Laurent Foundation wants to make a firm contribution to the improvement of living conditions for these animals, by helping to map out a binding charter for all the actors concerned by this problem, being the animal protection societies, the stock-breeders, the merchants, the truckers, the slaughter-houses, the distributors, the consumers and the competent authorities.
The Charter intends to lay the groundwork for a discussion about the ways to secure the progress which the Foundation deems necessary to achieve its objective in the field of animal welfare. It is the Foundation's ambition to provide a reference position for all those, which on a voluntary basis are willing to diversify their productions through concrete initiatives in favour of animal welfare, valorising them, should the occasion arise, by granting them a label or a certificate of authenticity
| The Charter of livestock animal welfare should be seen in the larger framework of durable development, i.e. a global approach comprehending the harmony between respect for mankind, for the animal world and for the environment. The changes which this Charter intends to develop will in due time and space take into account, the social equity, the workers health, food safety, economic viability and the preservation of the environmental balances. |
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By its Charter, the Prince Laurent Foundation aims at integrating, on the one hand, the wish of public opinion to improve the welfare of livestock animals, beyond the plain regulatory demands, and, on the other hand, constructive steps taken by the livestock sector. It wants to make our society fully aware of the economic costs this will entail.
The Prince Laurent Foundation has set itself as objective to present a balanced and pluralistic Charter that all those concerned by this matter will be willing to apply.
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For this reason the Charter will be elaborated not only by members of the Board of Directors of the Foundation, but also by representatives of all ministerial departments directly involved (Federal Minister for Public Health, Flemish and Walloon departments of Agriculture). It will be conceived, considered and meditated by experts in the field of animal welfare and representatives of the farming community in both the Northern and Southern part of the country. |
The discussions will therefore centre on the elaboration of a text which should lead to a better respect, or better still plain respect for livestock animals. It should, however, also touch upon a variety of problems just as indispensable as the regulations guaranteeing a better management of the stock-breeding farms, transportation conditions, requirements to be strictly observed in the slaughter-houses, not forgetting the problem raised by confiscated animals. |
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