Animal rights by country or territory

Animal rights vary greatly among countries and territories. Such laws range from the legal recognition of non-human animal sentience to the absolute lack of any anti-cruelty laws, with no regard for animal welfare.

As of November 2019, 32 countries have formally recognized non-human animal sentience. These are: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.[citation needed] It has been proposed that the United Nations (UN) pass the first resolution recognizing animal rights, the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, which acknowledges the importance of the sentience of animals and human responsibilities towards them.[citation needed]

The Great Ape Project is currently campaigning to have the United Nations endorse a World Declaration on Great Apes, which would extend to non-human great apes the protection of three basic interests: the right to life, the protection of individual liberty, and the prohibition of torture.[citation needed] Six countries currently ban the use of great apes for scientific research, and Austria is the only country in the world to ban experiments on lesser apes.[citation needed]

In 2009, Bolivia became the first country to banish animal abuse and harm in circuses.[1] The United States of America is the only country in the world that has banned killing horses for consumption,[citation needed] and India have banned killing cows for consumption in some of its states.[citation needed]

Cow is the national animal of Nepal and cow slaughter is a punishable offense as per the prevailing law.

In 2014, the Jain pilgrimage destination of Palitana City in Indian state of Gujarat became the first city in the world to be legally vegetarian. It has banned buying and selling meat, fish, and eggs, as well as related jobs, such as fishing and animal farming.[2][3][4][5]

Global animal rights maps

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Food production
Clothing and cosmetics
Entertainment

Council of Europe convention maps

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Principal laws on animal rights

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General Legislation
Country Recognition of animal sentience Recognition of animal suffering Anti-cruelty laws meet OIE standards[10] Any laws against animal cruelty Support at the

United Nations [a]

  Algeria[11][12] No No No Yes -unenforced No
  Angola[13] No No No No No
  Argentina[14] Yes Yes Yes Yes No
  Australia[15] Yes Yes Partial - varies internally Yes No
  Austria[16] Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial - support from various internal departments
  Azerbaijan[17] No No No No No
  Belarus[18] No No No No No
  Belgium[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Bosnia and Herzegovina[21] No Yes No Yes No
  Botswana[13] No No No Yes No
  Brazil[22] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
  Bulgaria[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Cambodia[23][24] No No No No Yes
  Canada[25] Yes Yes No Yes Yes
  Chile[26] Yes Yes No Yes Yes
  China[27] No No No No No
  Colombia[28] Yes Yes Yes Yes No
  Costa Rica[29][30] No Yes Unknown Yes Yes
  Croatia[20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes No
  Cyprus[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Czech Republic[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Democratic Republic of Congo[13] No No No No No
  Denmark[31] Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Food
  Egypt[32][33][34] No Yes No Yes -unenforced No
  Eritrea[35] No No No No No
  Estonia[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Ethiopia[36] No No No Yes No
  Fiji[37][38] No Yes No Yes Yes
  Finland[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  France[39] Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Germany[40] Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Greece[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Food
  Hong Kong[41][42] No Yes No Yes — (China responsible for foreign affairs)
  Hungary[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  India[43] No Yes No Yes Partial - support from the Animal Welfare Board
  Indonesia[44] Partial - mental health recognized Yes No Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Iran[45] No No No No No
  Ireland[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Italy[46] Yes Yes No Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Japan[47] No Yes No Yes No
  Kazakhstan[48] No No No Yes No
  Kenya[49] No Yes No Yes No
  Latvia[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Lebanon[50][51] Partial Yes Yes Yes No
  Lesotho[13] No No No Yes -unenforced No
  Lithuania[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Luxembourg[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Madagascar[13] No No No No No
  Malawi[13] No Yes No Yes - unenforced No
  Malaysia[52] No Yes No Yes Yes
  Mali[53] No No No Yes No
  Malta[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Resources
  Mauritius[13][54] No No No Yes No
  Mexico[55] Partial - varies internally Yes No Yes No
  Mongolia[56] No No No No No
  Morocco[57][58] No Yes No Yes -unenforced No
  Mozambique[13] No No No No No
  Myanmar[59] No Yes No Yes No
  Namibia[13] No Yes No Yes No
  New Zealand[60] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
  Netherlands[61] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
  Niger[62] No Partial - domesticated animals only No Yes No
  North Korea[63] No No No Yes No
  Norway[64] Partial - mental health recognized Yes No Yes No
  Pakistan[65] No Yes No Yes No
  Paraguay[66] No Yes No Yes No
  Peru[67] No Yes No Yes Yes
  Philippines[68][69] Partial - mental health recognized Yes No Yes Partial - support from various internal departments
  Poland[70] Yes Yes No Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Portugal[19][20] Yes Yes No Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Romania[71] Yes Yes No Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Russia[72] No No No Yes No
  Saudi Arabia[73] No Yes No Yes No
  Seychelles[13][74] No No No Yes Yes
  Singapore[19][20] No Yes Unknown Yes Unknown
  Slovakia[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Slovenia[19][20] Yes Yes Unknown Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  South Africa[75] No Yes No Yes No
  South Korea[76] No Yes No Yes No
  Spain[77] Yes Yes No Yes Partial - support from the Minister for Agriculture
  Swaziland[13] No Yes No Yes -unenforced No
  Sweden[78] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
  Switzerland[79] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
  Tanzania[80] Partial - some animals excluded Yes No Yes Yes
  Thailand[81] No Yes No Yes Partial - support from various internal departments
  Turkey[82] Partial - mental health recognized Yes No Yes No
  Ukraine[83] No Yes No Yes No
  United Kingdom[84] Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial - support from various internal departments
  United States[85] Partial - varies internally Yes Partial - varies internally Yes Partial - support from various internal departments
  Uruguay[86] No Yes No Yes No
  Venezuela[87] No Yes No Yes No
  Vietnam[88] No No No No No
  Zambia[13] No Yes No Yes No
  Zimbabwe[13] No Yes No Yes No

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ These countries have pledged to support the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare

References

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  2. ^ "Culture / society | Worldcrunch - Real news. True sources. Seriously international". Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
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  4. ^ "Jain monks want a ban on the sale of non-vegetarian food". The Independent. 6 July 2014. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  5. ^ van Popering, Ruben (2015). Jain Vegetarian Laws in the City of Palitana : Indefensible Legal Enforcement or Praiseworthy Progressive Moralism?. Linköping University, Department of Culture and Communication, Centre for Applied Ethics.
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  86. ^ "Uruguay | World Animal Protection". api.worldanimalprotection.org. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  87. ^ "Venezuela | World Animal Protection". api.worldanimalprotection.org. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  88. ^ "Vietnam: country profile". Worldanimalprotection.org. Retrieved 29 January 2019.