Using WOAH Standards to support animal welfare in the region

World Organisation for Animal Health Animal Welfare Webinar 2023: Using WOAH Standards to support good animal welfare in Asia and the Pacific

Background

Animal welfare is a complex and multi-faceted subject with scientific, ethical, economic, cultural, social, religious and political dimensions. Perceptions of animal welfare differ from one region to another and between one culture and another, as do in the ways animals contribute to human society.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE) has developed and published international standards since 1968. The Terrestrial Animal Health Code (the Terrestrial Code) provides standards for the improvement of animal health, animal welfare and veterinary public health worldwide. WOAH Members and partners use these standards to set up measures for prevention, early detection, reporting and control of pathogenic agents in terrestrial animals, including zoonotic agents. Implementing recommendations in the Terrestrial Code ensures the safety of international trade in animals and animal products, while avoiding unjustified sanitary barriers.

At the regional level, the Regional Animal Welfare Strategy (RAWS) for Asia and the Pacific was established in 2008. RAWS provides guidance and framework for the implementation of WOAH animal welfare standards in the region and improving animal welfare through a range of activities including communication, education, regulation and research and development.

Objectives

• To allow participants from WOAH Members and partners to share their experiences (i.e., success stories, challenges, recommendations) and implications of the WOAH Standards for animal welfare, on the proposed topics:
  • transport of animals by land
  • dog population management
  • slaughter of animals, and
  • killing of animals for disease control purposes.
• To emphasise roles of RAWS for Asia and the Pacific in supporting WOAH Members and partners in the implementation of WOAH Standards for animal welfare, and
• To reiterate WOAH Standards for animal welfare focused on the proposed topics.