Animal cruelty as defined by law includes, “Acts of violence or neglect perpetrated against animals.” (USLegal, 2011) Considering that we have the definition of animal cruelty in our legal dictionary we should have a more thorough law that protects animals from such acts. Coincidentally, our government can learn from others in how to go about having laws in place at the federal level rather than a state-by-state basis. In learning from others on what laws are in place we should examine the laws drafted by the European Union regarding animal welfare. Specifically, the United States needs to take the laws in place under the European Union and implement them into United States federal law.
“The European Union is a supranational organization currently composed of 25 European countries who have decided to cooperate on a number of issues (economic, monetary, security, etc) and adopt uniform laws” (Library, 2011). The European Union has been around for a long time and has a credible history of laws and economical improvements including but not limited to the Animal Welfare Act. Within this act there are several detailed explanations of how animals should be treated on a farm. Guidelines for the farm under the E.U’s Animal Welfare Act include laws and minimum standards for housing, transportation, humane slaughtering (involving treatment before, during and after slaughter), animals used for fur (specifically dogs and cats), wild animals in zoos, animals used for experimental and scientific purposes, as well as guidelines set forth for the trade of seal products (Union, 2010).
The Animal Welfare Act was entered into the European Union on Dec. 1, 2009 and has taken the place of the older and out-of-date amendments, treaties, and laws for animal welfare. This act is new and improved because it states species specific regulations for each amendment, furthermore, each member of the union is expected to abide by all minimal standards stated within this treaty. An example of how specific the minimal standards are in this treaty we will discuss the requirements laid out in the “transportation of animal’s” (Union, 2010) article. Within this amendment the specifications for transportation of animals includes the sizes of containers that shall be used. Specifically written in the document, “Sufficient floor area and height is provided for the animals to their size and the intended journey” (Union T. C., 2004). Other standards include ventilation, breathability, air quality, all the down to the types of construction materials that should be used on the containers (flooring, roofing, etc). Furthermore it has detailed explanations of the type of records that must be reported including who is transporting, what is being transported, the number of animals and much more ( (Union, 2010). Given that this amendment is a full 22 page document, we will not go further in detail. The subject of what laws the U.S government does have in place for the protection of animals will be examined next.
Our federal government has a law in place regarding animals referred to as “the Animal Welfare Act.” Perhaps one may consider it an animal welfare act if that person never read the amendment, however, the agenda for this amendment is anything but animal welfare. This law has been revised and updated as of February 1, 2010 and still does not include farm animals. The only animals this law protects are the humans, the companion animals and animals used for testing, research, and science (Government, 2010). In fact, most of the language within this act is regarding the sale, auctions, licensing dealers and handlers of animals within the testing, science and research industry. Very little is explained in this amendment that animals should be given proper housing, food, water, etc (anything regarding the actual welfare of the animal). The United States Welfare Act states several times, “to insure that animals intended for use in research facilities or for exhibition purposes or for use as pets are provided humane care and treatment; and to assure the humane treatment of animals during transportation in commerce…etc” (Government, 2010). The problem with this language is that it can be interpreted many different ways by many different people.
When the European Union’s Animal Welfare Act is put up against the United States Animal Welfare Act, it is obvious that our government’s laws and amendments regarding animal safety, protection and welfare are not up to par. As one can see it is important that laws are defined, with specific guidelines and standards. Considering the fact that our country has no laws regarding farm animals and other specifications in regards to testing, research, and companion animals (and all other types of animals) further action should be made. It would be a start for our government to study foreign laws in regards to this matter because the European Union is more up to date with today’s expectations and humane treatment of animals. One must realize however, that both our United States and the European Union still does not recognize poultry as an animal that should be protected under law.
Unfortunately, under the European Union’s Animal Welfare Act it does specifically exclude chickens, or “poultry.” Chickens are also animals which mean they are sentient beings; the chicken does suffer from pain, it can feel pain, furthermore the chicken does have the capacity to suffer from emotional and violent distress and abuse. The fact that chickens are not included in the E.U’s Animal Welfare Act leaves us with one similarity to that of the United State’s Animal Welfare Act. Consequently, though, it still leaves us with the biggest difference in our laws to that of the European laws. The United States government must begin to make their laws regarding animal welfare for the actual welfare of the animals, not for the welfare of humans. (Tomaselli, 2003)
Works Cited
Government, U. S. (2010, February 1). National Agriculture Library: Animal Welfare Information Center. Retrieved October 4, 2011, from United States Department of Agriculture: http://awic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=3&tax_subject=182&topic_id=1118&level3_id=6735&level4_id=0&level5_id=0&placement_default=0
Library, G. L. (2011, September 23). Georgetown University Law Center. Retrieved October 4, 2011, from Georgetown Law Library: http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/guides/internationalanimallaw.cfm
Tomaselli, P. M. (2003). Animal Legal & Historical Center: International Comparative Animal Cruelty Laws. Retrieved October 4, 2011, from Michigan State University College of Law: http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ddusicacl.htm
Union, E. (2010, December 1). Animal Welfare main Community Legislative References. Retrieved October 4, 2011, from Food Safety-From the Farm to the Fork, European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/welfare/references_en.html
Union, T. C. (2004, December 22). Official Journal of the European Union. Retrieved October 13, 2011, from http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_003/l_00320050105en00010044.pdf
USLegal. (2011, October 4). USLegal. Definitions. Animal Cruelty Law and Legal Definition. Retrieved October 4, 2011, from USLegal.com: http://definitions.uslegal.com/a/animal-cruelty/
