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User:JesseClifton/Animal welfare and rights in Italy

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Animal welfare and rights in Italy is about the treatment of and laws concerning nonhuman animals in Italy. [1]

Regulations

The Italian Criminal Code prohibits killing an animal cruelly or unnecessarily, cruelly or unnecessarily causing injury to an animal or subjecting it to torture, behavior or overwork, and abandoning pets or animals which have altered their behavior through being in captivity. The anti-cruelty provisions of the Criminal Code apply to farmed animals, and the government has implemented the European Union legislative requirements on farm animal welfare. Legislative Decrees issues in 1992 and 1993 regulate animals used for experimental purposes, aiming to reduce the number of experiments and animals used in experiments. Animal experiments are required to be authorized by a competent authority, and it must be demonstrated that there are no alternatives to animal use and the research will minimize pain, suffering, distress, or lasting harm.[1]

Animal issues

Animals used for food

Animal agriculture

Figures on the number of animals used for food in Italy each year include:

  • 2.59 million bovine animals slaughtered (2014)
  • 10.93 million pigs slaughtered (2014)
  • 2.52 million sheep slaughtered (2014)
  • 133,000 goats slaughtered (2014)
  • 560.67 million poultry animals slaughtered (2014)[2]
  • 191,000 tons of wild-caught aquatic animals (2015)
  • 149,000 tons of aquaculture animals (2014)[3]
  • 49.53 million egg laying hens in flock (2011)[4]

A number of investigations of Italian farms have found instances of animal cruelty. Investigations by Animal Quality conducted in 2014 and 2015, produced images of, for instance, lambs slaughtered without stunning, piglets being crushed, animals hung from their limbs (which causes fractures), and animals with severe untreated diseases and injuries.[5] Footage taken in 2014 by the organization Four Paws showed buffalo raised for mozzarella production starving and starved to death, bludgeoned to death with hammers, and suffering from untreated wounds. Evidence from this and other investigations shows that male buffalo are allowed to die from neglect or killed by illegal methods.[6]

Veganism

A 2016 survey by Euripses found that 7.1% of respondents self-identified as vegetarian, and 1% self-identified as vegan. Of those who identified as vegetarian or vegan, 46.7% cited health and well-being as a main reason, 30% cited concerns about the animals, and 12% cited environmentalism.[7]

Animals used for clothing

Mink are the main animals raised for fur in Italy. In 2014, 125,000 mink were killed for fur in Italy.[8] A 2008 decree requires that mink be given an "enriched environment" allowing them to express natural behaviors such as climbing, digging, and swimming. These strict requirements may eventually phase out fur farming.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b World Animal Protection (November 2, 2014). "Italy". Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  2. ^ Eurostat (April 2016). "Meat production statistics". Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  3. ^ Eurostat (September 2016). "Fishery statistics". Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  4. ^ Compassion in World Farming. "Statistics: Laying hens" (PDF). Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  5. ^ Animal Equality. "Investigations". Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  6. ^ Tom Rawstorne (October 28, 2014). "Exposed: The cruel farms across Italy where buffaloes are subjected to appalling treatment". Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  7. ^ Probios (February 15, 2016). "Euripses-Italy 2016 Report: Vegetarians and Vegans Increasing". Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  8. ^ The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals (July 2014). "International Fur Farm Statistics" (PDF). Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  9. ^ Fur Free Alliance. "Overview over national legislation on fur farming in Europe" (PDF). Retrieved November 25, 2016.