Europeans have a history of valuing animal welfare

Protecting and caring for animals is nothing new to the European populace.

Laws were put into place as early as 1635 with Ireland’s Act against Plowing by the Tayle, and Pulling the Wooll off Living Sheep.

Even German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer commented about Europeans “awakening more and more to a sense that beasts have rights.”

We’ve certainly come a long way since 1635.

Today, with the Treaty of Lisbon, animal welfare has a central place in the European Union. But there’s still more that can be done.

The current European ban on the importation of commercial seal products is threatened at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) staff has been pouring over hours of video footage showing the inherent cruelty of the hunt and compiling expert reports to help the European Union (EU) Commission in defending this landmark legislation.

Members of the European Parliament often report that they receive more letters from citizens on animal welfare than on any other issue.

Let’s keep vocal and let the WTO know that we need to keep the seal ban in place.

To keep up to date on the WTO case and IFAW’s animal welfare priorities don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates on our efforts for animal welfare.

--SVT