How EU pays “full regard to the welfare requirements of animals”
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1998:
LONDON, BRUSSELS––A year after the 15
European Union member nations on June 18, 1997 signed a
binding protocol requiring them to recognize animals as “sentient
beings,” and to “pay full regard to the welfare requirements
of animals,” the practical value of it remains unclear.
No aspect of the protocol has been backed, as yet,
by tough new international animal care and handling standards.
But neither has the protocol been shoved into a file
drawer and forgotten. Diplomats are dickering daily over a proposed
phase-out of battery caging for laying hens. Negotiations
also continue over livestock transportation requirements.
The outcome on each topic may be much less than
animal advocates seek, and perhaps even expect.