Summary Description
- Sets general principles to ensure minimum welfare levels for farmed animals during slaughter.
- TopicThe topic of the legislation or policy covered by the text
- Animal healthAnimal welfare
- SpeciesThe animal, or type of food production, covered by the text
- Farmed animals
- JurisdictionCountry or geographical area where the text applies
- Council of Europe
- Sub-jurisdictionCountry or state where the text applies
- N/A
- Type of ActWhether the act is a law, regulation, or policy, or another type of text
- International Convention
- StatusIndicates whether the act is in force or not
- In force
- Legal ValueWhether the text is binding or not
- Voluntary
- Date enactedDate the text was adopted
- 1979
- Date updatedDate when the entry was last updated by the CALF team
- June, 2023
- Official citation
- Council of Europe, European Convention for the Protection of Animals for Slaughter, May 10, 1979, E.T.S. 102
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Strengths
- Sets general principles on procedures (reduced waiting periods after unloading to the slaughterhouse, stunning recommended) and buildings (no slippery floors, pens with minimum space).
- Weaknesses
- Only regulates the treatment of animals at slaughter, and not killing in general (which include depopulation and emergency killing).
- Only sets general rules, with no engineering standards.
- Does not prohibit slaughter without stunning, but slaughter without stunning is regulated as an exemption to the general obligation to stun animals before bleeding them.