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 welfare 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 ecosystem
- 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 ‘state’ includes people and civil society
- 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, wildlife animals and animals in recreation.
Read more about this topic: Universal Declaration On Animal Welfare
Famous quotes containing the words proposed and/or declaration:
“On the 31st of August, 1846, I left Concord in Massachusetts for Bangor and the backwoods of Maine,... I proposed to make excursions to Mount Ktaadn, the second highest mountain in New England, about thirty miles distant, and to some of the lakes of the Penobscot, either alone or with such company as I might pick up there.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It is an axiom in political science that unless a people are educated and enlightened it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty or the capacity for self-government.”
—Texas Declaration of Independence (March 2, 1836)