Leaked EU Draft Proposes Substantial Animal Welfare Improvements
By Ben_West @ 2023-04-21T19:15 (+126)
This is a linkpost to https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/draft-impact-assessment-good-start-ambitious-legislation
- Phase out of cages for all species
- Increase space allowance for all species
- Ban the systematic culling of male chicks
- Introduce welfare requirements for the stunning of farmed fish
- Ban cruel slaughter practices like water baths and CO2 for poultry and pigs
- Ban mutilations, like beak trimming, tail docking, dehorning or surgical castration of pigs
- Limited journey times for the transport of animals destined to slaughter
- Apply the EU’s standards to imported animal products in a way that is compatible with WTO rules
It claims the document was leaked by Agra Facts, which is a subscription service I don't have access to. Confirmation of what was actually included from someone who has access to the underlying document would be appreciated.
Metaculus forecast for the cage free portion:
Previous discussion:
Ariel Simnegar @ 2023-04-22T05:28 (+11)
That's incredible, if it's a true leak. I assume the prior for leaks of this kind being true should be quite high? There doesn't seem to be much incentive for anyone to create and distribute a false leak of animal welfare standards.
Neil_Dullaghan @ 2023-04-22T21:46 (+8)
Good sign.
Still has to go through a lot of negotiations and industry will obviously seek to water it down by claiming it's not economically feasible to do at all, or at least anytime soon. Also see the secondary Metaculus question- conditional on the European Union agreeing to ban cages, when will the phase out for cages end?
Duarte M @ 2023-04-27T12:04 (+5)
This is really fantastic news overall! 👏
Not sure on the dehorning and beak trimming though, that sounds like virtue signalling more so than an evidence based policy.
Bella @ 2023-04-24T11:25 (+5)
Wow.
Banning CO2 slaughter and mutilations seems... way ahead of anything I would have guessed might happen soon. I would've guessed that at least a ban on dehorning is way outside the range of plausible things that would be done for animal welfare.
Bella @ 2023-04-24T11:26 (+13)
Are we worried beak trimming ban is net neg? Because of increased pecking/deaths from cannibalism & infected wounds.
Drew Magness @ 2023-04-27T13:53 (+9)
Seems net-neg. Research here using 10 commercial farms who each kept a flock of beak-trimmed hens and non-beak-trimmed hens.
"omitting beak trimming had negative consequences for the condition of plumage, skin, and keel bone, and tended to increase mortality, highlighting the risk of reduced welfare when keeping layers with intact beaks."
Duarte M @ 2023-04-27T12:02 (+7)
Not sure dehorning would be a good thing considering the deaths and mutilations caused by animals using their horns.
Constance Li @ 2023-04-23T21:36 (+1)
This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this. I agree with Ariel that there is not much incentive to leak fake animal welfare standard changes so this is very promising. This seems like a great time for groups in other countries to ride off the momentum and take the opportunity to create higher and more uniform welfare standards internationally.
Constance Li @ 2023-04-25T03:27 (+3)
Further evidence that the leak is genuine. The alleged new standards are consistent with recent known statements from the EU.