Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare
Encyclopedia
The Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW) is a proposed inter-governmental agreement to recognise that animals are sentient, to prevent cruelty and reduce suffering, and to promote standards on the welfare of animals such as farm animals, companion animals, animals in scientific research, draught animals, wildlife animals and animals in recreation.
It is proposed that a UDAW be adopted by the United Nations
. If endorsed by the UN (as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was) the UDAW would be a non-binding set of principles that acknowledges the importance of the sentience
of animal
s and human responsibilities towards them. The principles were designed to encourage and enable national governments to introduce and improve animal protection legislation
and initiatives.
It has been argued that a UDAW is consistent with, and could help secure the achievement of, the UN Millennium Development Goals.
This should not be confused with the Universal Declaration on Animal Rights (UDAR).
(WSPA), which now acts as its Secretariat. It is supported by four main partners: the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(ASPCA), Compassion in World Farming
, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(RSPCA) and the Humane Society of the United States
(HSUS).
In 2003, the Manila Conference on Animal Welfare was attended by 19 government delegations with the European Council
, United States
and Saipan
as observers. A foundation text for a UDAW was agreed.
In 2005, the UDAW inter-governmental steering committee was formed and representatives of the governments of Kenya
, India
, Costa Rica
, Czech Republic
and the Republic of the Philippines agreed to champion the initiative.
They lead a group of governments whose officials have stated support in the following years, including Australia
, Cambodia
, Fiji
, Latvia
, Lithuania
, New Zealand
, Poland
, Slovenia
, Tanzania
, and the UK.
In 2007, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) decided to support a UDAW, as did the Commonwealth Veterinary Association (CVA) and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE). In August 2008, the national veterinary associations of Chile
, New Zealand
, the UK, the Philippines
, Thailand
and Colombia
have all given public backing for a UDAW.
In April 2008, Eric Martlew MP put forward an early day motion
in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom that “calls upon the Government to give its full and publicly-stated support for this initiative, including active support within the European Union and the United Nations.”
The lack of success in shaping internationally binding charters on animal rights has not been for want of trying. People in modern times have attempted to identify and advance the rights of animals at least since the 18th century. Credit usually goes to Henry Salt (1851 - 1939) for writing the first book on animal rights, published in 1892 and subsequently. And Salt traces efforts back to John Lawrence (1753 - 1839), one of the earliest modern writers on animal rights and welfare. Lawrence argued in his 1796 book, A Philosophical and Practical Treatise on Horses and the Moral Duties of Man Towards Brute Creation (T N Longman: London), that we have to care for animals and common law should support this principle in practice
The 20th century saw a number of international declarations supporting animal rights. Perhaps the most prominent venture was the announcement (The Times, 17 October) in 1978 by the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) of the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights. Among the Declaration's pronouncements were that all animals have the same rights to existence, no animal shall be ill-treated or subject to cruelty, animals shall command the protection of law, and dead animals shall be treated with respect. The Declaration, however, waned and faded away before it could reach significant levels of international agreement
More recently some of the world's leading animal welfare organisations have started campaigning for the United Nations to adopt a new declaration. This time the declaration is on the welfare of animals: the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare. Why welfare and not rights? Probably because welfare is a softer option than rights and therefore easier for people to accept. Thus it has a better chance of endorsement and of enduring.
The animal organisations behind this new declaration envisage that signatory countries to the document will recognise animals as sentient beings. They hope their declaration will make animal welfare an important global issue, pioneer the way for legally binding international agreements on animal welfare and hasten a better deal for animals worldwide. Their declaration would also underscore the importance of animal welfare as part of the moral development of humanity. So far a number of United Nations member states are acting as a steering group to advance the initiative at the UN. See Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, below, for a draft copy.
The principles of the declaration are:
, becoming the official one millionth signatory and hosting celebrations in San José, Costa Rica
in March 2008.
As opposed to DUBA: organizations that defenders animal's rights around the world hope that the UN approves the DUDA (Universal Declaration of Animal Rights) that differs from the UDAW arguing that animals have rights and not only freedoms , this including to the state's duty to preserve those rights and not just the owners of these animals banishing population control using euthanasia.
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It is proposed that a UDAW be adopted by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. If endorsed by the UN (as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was) the UDAW would be a non-binding set of principles that acknowledges the importance of the sentience
Sentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
of animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s and human responsibilities towards them. The principles were designed to encourage and enable national governments to introduce and improve animal protection legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
and initiatives.
It has been argued that a UDAW is consistent with, and could help secure the achievement of, the UN Millennium Development Goals.
This should not be confused with the Universal Declaration on Animal Rights (UDAR).
History
The UDAW was conceived by the World Society for the Protection of AnimalsWorld Society for the Protection of Animals
The World Society for the Protection of Animals is an international non-profit animal welfare organization and also a federation of such organisations and active in over 150 countries with more than 1000 member societies.- Organization :...
(WSPA), which now acts as its Secretariat. It is supported by four main partners: the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing cruelty towards animals...
(ASPCA), Compassion in World Farming
Compassion In World Farming
Compassion in World Farming is a campaigning and lobbying animal welfare organisation, with headquarters in the UK, branches in eight European countries and international representatives in China, Australia and South Africa...
, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. In 2009 the RSPCA investigated 141,280 cruelty complaints and collected and rescued 135,293 animals...
(RSPCA) and the Humane Society of the United States
Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States , based in Washington, D.C., is the largest animal advocacy organization in the world. In 2009, HSUS reported assets of over US$160 million....
(HSUS).
In 2003, the Manila Conference on Animal Welfare was attended by 19 government delegations with the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
as observers. A foundation text for a UDAW was agreed.
In 2005, the UDAW inter-governmental steering committee was formed and representatives of the governments of Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
and the Republic of the Philippines agreed to champion the initiative.
They lead a group of governments whose officials have stated support in the following years, including Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, and the UK.
In 2007, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) decided to support a UDAW, as did the Commonwealth Veterinary Association (CVA) and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE). In August 2008, the national veterinary associations of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the UK, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
have all given public backing for a UDAW.
In April 2008, Eric Martlew MP put forward an early day motion
Early day motion
An Early Day Motion , in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament for debate "on an early day" . Controversial EDMs are not signed by Government Ministers, PPS or the Speaker of the House of Commons and very few are debated on the floor...
in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom that “calls upon the Government to give its full and publicly-stated support for this initiative, including active support within the European Union and the United Nations.”
The lack of success in shaping internationally binding charters on animal rights has not been for want of trying. People in modern times have attempted to identify and advance the rights of animals at least since the 18th century. Credit usually goes to Henry Salt (1851 - 1939) for writing the first book on animal rights, published in 1892 and subsequently. And Salt traces efforts back to John Lawrence (1753 - 1839), one of the earliest modern writers on animal rights and welfare. Lawrence argued in his 1796 book, A Philosophical and Practical Treatise on Horses and the Moral Duties of Man Towards Brute Creation (T N Longman: London), that we have to care for animals and common law should support this principle in practice
The 20th century saw a number of international declarations supporting animal rights. Perhaps the most prominent venture was the announcement (The Times, 17 October) in 1978 by the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) of the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights. Among the Declaration's pronouncements were that all animals have the same rights to existence, no animal shall be ill-treated or subject to cruelty, animals shall command the protection of law, and dead animals shall be treated with respect. The Declaration, however, waned and faded away before it could reach significant levels of international agreement
More recently some of the world's leading animal welfare organisations have started campaigning for the United Nations to adopt a new declaration. This time the declaration is on the welfare of animals: the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare. Why welfare and not rights? Probably because welfare is a softer option than rights and therefore easier for people to accept. Thus it has a better chance of endorsement and of enduring.
The animal organisations behind this new declaration envisage that signatory countries to the document will recognise animals as sentient beings. They hope their declaration will make animal welfare an important global issue, pioneer the way for legally binding international agreements on animal welfare and hasten a better deal for animals worldwide. Their declaration would also underscore the importance of animal welfare as part of the moral development of humanity. So far a number of United Nations member states are acting as a steering group to advance the initiative at the UN. See Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, below, for a draft copy.
Overview of the proposed declaration
A draft text of the declaration calls for:- Recognition that animals are living, sentient beings and therefore deserve due consideration and respect
- Recognition that animal welfareAnimal welfareAnimal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
includes animal health, and that veterinarians have an essential role in maintaining both the health and welfare of animals - Recognition that humans inhabit this planet with other species and other forms of life and that all forms of life co-exist within an interdependent ecosystemEcosystemAn ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
- Recognition of the importance of the ongoing work of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in setting global standards for animal welfare
- Agreement that the term ‘stateState (polity)A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
’ includes people and civil societyCivil societyCivil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal... - Acknowledgment that many states already have a system of legal protection for animals, both domestic and wild
- Seeking to ensure the continued effectiveness of these systems and the development of better and more comprehensive animal welfare provisions
- Acknowledgement that the humane use of animals can have major benefits for humans
- Awareness that the Five Freedoms (freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from physical and thermal discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; and freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour) and the Three Rs (reduction in numbers of animals, refinement of experimental methods and replacement of animals with non-animal techniques) provide valuable guidance for the use of animals
- Recognition that the provisions contained in this declaration do not affect the rights of any state.
The principles of the declaration are:
- The welfare of animals shall be a common objective for all states
- The standards of animal welfare attained by each state shall be promoted, recognized and observed by improved measures, nationally and internationally
- All appropriate steps shall be taken by states to prevent cruelty to animals and to reduce their suffering
- Appropriate standards on the welfare of animals will be further developed and elaborated, such as those governing the use and management of farm animals, companion animals, animals in scientific research, draught animals, wildlifeWildlifeWildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
animals and animals in recreation.
Public campaign
The public campaign to gain support for a UDAW, branded ‘Animals Matter’, was launched in June 2006. It reached one million signatures in December 2007 with the President of Costa Rica, Sr. Oscar AriasÓscar Arias
Óscar Arias Sánchez is a Costa Rican politician who was President of Costa Rica from 2006 to 2010. He previously served as President from 1986 to 1990 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to end civil wars then raging in several other Central American countries.He is also a...
, becoming the official one millionth signatory and hosting celebrations in San José, Costa Rica
San José, Costa Rica
San José is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica. Located in the Central Valley, San José is the seat of national government, the focal point of political and economic activity, and the major transportation hub of this Central American nation.Founded in 1738 by order of Cabildo de León, San...
in March 2008.
As opposed to DUBA: organizations that defenders animal's rights around the world hope that the UN approves the DUDA (Universal Declaration of Animal Rights) that differs from the UDAW arguing that animals have rights and not only freedoms , this including to the state's duty to preserve those rights and not just the owners of these animals banishing population control using euthanasia.
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Further reading
Appleby, M.C. and Sherwood, L. (2007) Animal Welfare Matters to Animals, People and the Environment: The case for a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, London: WSPA.See also
- Animal lawAnimal lawAnimal law is a combination of statutory and case law in which the nature—legal, social or biological—of nonhuman animals is an important factor. Animal law encompasses companion animals, wildlife, animals used in entertainment and animals raised for food and research...
- Animal welfareAnimal welfareAnimal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
- List of Animal Right reports
- List of Human Right reports