Second Eurobarometer on Animal Welfare
FOUR PAWS urges the Commission to listen to European citizens’ concerns on animal welfare.
A new Eurobarometer on the Attitudes of EU Citizens towards Animal Welfare (Eurobarometer 442) has been published by the EU Commission. This is the second special EU survey on this matter of particular importance for European citizens since March 2007. The main goal of the Eurobarometer is to assess among European citizens how much Animal Welfare matters in their daily lives.
The last Eurobarometer revealed that Europeans take care of animal welfare, for instance – a majority of the respondents was willing to change their shopping habits in order to make more animal welfare-friendly purchases. The outcomes of the current Eurobarometer proved that Europeans are even more eager to buy animal welfare friendly-products. According to the Eurobarometer, more than 59% of EU citizens mentioned they would be prepared to pay more. But the Eurobarometer also reveals that 47% of respondents consider that the choice of animal welfare-friendly food products in shops and supermarkets is currently not sufficient.
Moreover, for the first time, the Eurobarometer also addressed the question of companion animal welfare and more than 74 % of respondents believe that the welfare of companion animals should be better protected than it is now.
In order to help consumers to make animal welfare choices, VIER PFOTEN/ FOUR PAWS has launched its own voluntary animal welfare label called 'Tierschutz-kontrolliert Gütesiegel’ awarded to products to which good animal welfare standards have been applied during breeding, transport and slaughter.
See the results of the Eurobarometer here:
FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organisation for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them. Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler, the organisation advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding. FOUR PAWS’ sustainable campaigns and projects focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, farm animals and wild animals – such as bears, big cats, orangutans and elephants – kept in inappropriate conditions as well as in disaster and conflict zones. With offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK, the USA and Vietnam as well as sanctuaries for rescued animals in twelve countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid help and long-term solutions. www.four-paws.org