Executive Summary

Argentina’s Animal Protection Law 14346, dating back from 1954, prohibits abuse and cruelty to animals. While the law does not explicitly recognise animal sentience, a landmark court ruling in 2016 has granted a writ of habeas corpus to a chimpanzee kept in a zoo, recognising that animals are bearers of rights and therefore should be considered persons under the law. This ruling could be used as a precedent in further court cases. In addition, initiatives at the municipal level are positive for animal welfare. Notably, the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the province of Mendoza have prohibited euthanasia as a mean of stray animal population control. Over 20 cities, including Buenos Aires, have also banned the use of wild animals in circuses. Regarding wild animals, the Wildlife Conservation Law establishes that the protection of wild fauna is of public interest, and therefore all citizens have a duty to protect it. Since the API was first published, a Bill was proposed by Senator Ordarda prohibiting the sale of new cosmetic products and their ingredients tested on animals. At the time of writing, it is unclear whether this Bill has been adopted.

However, there is room for improvement in many domains related to animal welfare. Notably, Law 14346 does not cover a failure to act in case of animal cruelty and does not define a positive duty of care onto animal owners. Furthermore, Argentina does not ban the worst forms of confinement in animal farming, and still allows for the religious slaughter of animals without prior stunning. There are only basic welfare standards for animals kept in captivity, and Argentina does not ban fur farming. Legislation surrounding the use of animals in research is also far from aligned with international standards, since the Three Rs principles – Replacement, Reduction, Refinement – are not enshrined in legislation.

Animal welfare falls under the responsibility of the National Service of Health and Quality of Agricultural Food (SENASA), an organ of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. In 2004, a National Commission for Animal Welfare was created, which comprises representatives from animal welfare organisations. There are no apparent limits to the issues that this Commission may address, but since its creation in 2004, it appears to have focused only on producing norms relating to the use of animals in farming.

The Government of Argentina is urged to recognise animals as sentient beings in legislation and to improve its anti-cruelty legislation through mandating a duty of care onto animal owners. Regarding farm animals, the Government of Argentina is urged to mandate the humane slaughter of all farm animals, without any exemptions for religious slaughter. The worst forms of confinement in factory farming should also be banned. The Government of Argentina is also strongly encouraged to ban fur farming, which is inherently cruel and causes pain, distress and suffering to animals. The Government of Argentina is encouraged to mandate the humane treatment of stray animals at the national level, as well as to ban the use of animals for cruel forms of entertainment, such as circuses. The use of animals for scientific research should be more tightly regulated, with ethics committees able to weigh the interest of the experiments with animal welfare concerns. Overall, the Government of Argentina is strongly encouraged to align its current legislation with OIE standards. The scope of responsibilities of the National Commission for Animal Welfare should be extended to all animal species. Further legal and policy recommendations are associated with each indicator and contained in the relevant sections of this report.