This country's score has stayed the same since 2014.
Recognition of animal sentience and prohibition of animal suffering
This goal assesses whether animal sentience has been recognised in legislation and explores the core legislative protections granted to animals, such as the prohibition of animal cruelty.
There is no policy or legislation recognising animal sentience.
Analysis
As it stands today, there is no formal evidence or signal from the Government to recognise the concept of sentience as an independent issue that will inform discussions of animal welfare in the country. As such, sentience is not formally included and does not inform public policies that could be potentially linked to animals (such as environmental or sustainable production policies).
The Algerian constitution’s Article 68 (reformed in 2016) establishes the right of citizens to a healthy environment and provides that the law should define duties and obligations of individuals and legal entities to protect the environment. Although this is a step towards the right direction for animal conservation as part of the environment, there is no reference in regards of animal sentience and the prevention of suffering for animals as a principle.
There is a partial application of animal welfare in the Government’s ‘New Model for Economic Growth 2016-2019’ – which constitutes a triennial policy to promote the growth of the Algerian economy, particularly focusing on the agri-food industry – through the development and modernisation of the animal industry to produce milk, meat, eggs and apiculture and other animal products. Specifically, this document provides policy indications regarding veterinary health, sanitary protection and vaccination for animals and animal product. However – with the exception of three regional veterinary centres being built in different locations– there is no indication of the particular measures that would be adopted in line with the Five Freedoms principle. Moreover, this policy only applies to animals used for products and does not apply to other categories (i.e. wild animals in captivity or research). It is encouraging that these partial measures have been acknowledged, but it continues to be concerning that the Government does not consider animal welfare to be an important issue for regulation, despite the country’s membership of the OIE.
Enforcement Mechanisms
There is limited policy or legislation relevant to this indicator. The 'New Model for Economic Growth 2016-2019' only provides information in regards to the modernisation and empowerment of production quantities and facilities but provides no information regarding the enforcement of animal welfare measures. However, for what concerns animal health, in 2016 a Ministerial Decree provides for the creation of three regional laboratories in the locations of Bechar, Batna and El Oued. This provides a considerable improvement but is limited to the health of animals and product sanitation. No policy or legislation relevant to the application of other animal welfare principles is available.
Key Recommendations
• Given the extensive body of scientific evidence proving that animals are sentient, the Government of Algeria is urged to recognise that all animals for whom there is scientific evidence – at a minimum, all vertebrates, cephalopods and decapods crustaceans – are sentient beings and to enshrine this principle into legislation. Recognising animals as sentient will underpin further animal welfare considerations.
Law 88-08 of 1988 on veterinary activities and the protection of animal health includes a Chapter on animal protection and the control of animal health and animal products (Title IV). Article 58 establishes a prohibition against those who practice ‘bad treatments’ towards domestic and tamed or captive wild animals. The article provides for secondary regulations to be produced, which will also include measures against the abusive use of animals in various circumstances; however, no evidence was found of any secondary legislation in relation to this article. Article 60 establishes that people keeping animals (owners and keepers in general) should keep said animals in a good state of health and establishes a series of obligations with regards to health authorities.
In February 2015, Law 88-08 of 1988 was modified through Executive Decree No. 15-70, in regards of the conditions of exercise of veterinary medicine. Article 13 of said Executive Decree establishes that a veterinarian exercising in a private capacity may be suspended as a precautionary measure by the national veterinary authority if found not respecting the welfare of an animal. This constitutes the first explicit reference to the principle of animal welfare, nevertheless, no definition or reference to the Five Freedoms principle in line with the OIE has been provided.
In addition, the Penal Code contains three articles which cover some specific punishable conducts such as poisoning animals (Article 415), causing death and injuries, overloading working animals, working with ill animals and accidents caused by use of weapons and poor keeping conditions (Article 457), and mistreatment of domestic and tamed or captive wild animals (Article 449). The wording of Article 449 of the Penal Code is very similar to that of Law 88-08. For Article 415, there is a narrow list of species covered, which include mostly domestic and working animals along with fish.
Analysis
The relevant provisions of the Penal Code are quite specific and limited to circumstances by which the animal’s integrity is severely compromised or the animal is killed. As such, it is very difficult to promote welfare in the country as no attention is given to a wide range of conducts, negligent acts and other attitudes and behaviours that could compromise animal welfare without causing death or injury. Welfare is understood as physical pain, but there is no mention of attention being paid to the mental wellbeing of animals. Moreover, there is a minimal duty of care for animal owners towards their animals, in Article 60. This duty of care should explicitly protect the Five Freedoms of the animal.
The existing specialised legislation (Law 88-08 of 1988) is framed within provisions on the veterinary profession and, in general, on the health of animals. While health is an important component of welfare, there are other aspects that are not covered by said legislation and as such, the issue does not appear to have significant independence in legislation that would allow the concept of animal welfare to become a mainstream concern of society. The general mandate is reduced to avoid mistreatment of animals, but no indication is given of the extent and scope of this circumstance or an indication of what constitutes mistreatment, making the measure difficult to apply.
There is no indication of human or financial resource dedicated to animal welfare. Provisions in Law 88-08 are detailed in relation to veterinary services and in relation to control of diseases and spreading of diseases. Whilst some of these provisions are helpful with respect to animal welfare, they are not sufficient to improve animal welfare in the country. A first step towards the importance of animal welfare is included through a single mention within Executive Decree No.15-70. However, there still is a lack of recognition of the importance of animal welfare as an issue separate to those of animal health and disease control is a considerable barrier to progress.
Enforcement Mechanisms
Article 58 of Law 88-08 establishes that infractions to the Article will be punished in accordance to the three articles of the Penal Code mentioned above. The conducts described in Articles 415, 449 and 457 have different degrees of punshment (fines and/or imprisonment) in the Algerian system with poisoning (Articel 415) as the most severe.
Key Recommendations
• The Government of Algeria is encouraged to amend Executive Decree No. 15-70 to include a definition of animal welfare, in line with the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code and explicitly promoting the Five Freedoms. Animal welfare should encompass physiological and mental wellbeing.
• In addition, the Government should include sanctions in the Penal Code for cases of negligence and animal mistreatment, or any other behaviours that would compromise animal welfare in addition to behaviours that may cause injury and death. Furthermore, a duty of care for animal owners should be enshrined in legislation, which would protect the Five Freedoms of the animals.
Presence of animal welfare legislation
This goal explores animal protection laws in relation to various categories of animals, namely: farm animals, animals in captivity, companion animals, working animals and animals used for entertainment, animals used for scientific research and wild animals.
Rearing
The basic provisions for the protection of animals appearing in Law 88-08 and in the Penal Code, as detailed above, are applicable to animals used in farming.
Article 58 of Law 88-08 provides that regulations will be made to protect animals from suffering in various methods of rearing, housing, transport and slaughter. The subsequent Executive Decree 04-82 , published in 2004, governs conditions for establishments associated with animals and animal products, and for the transport of animals. Article 6 provides that establishments for rearing animals must be constructed in order to ensure the well-being of the animals. However, this is referenced to sanitary measures such as housing being easy to clean.
Rearing – pigs
No legislation has been found specifically relating to the rearing of pigs.
Rearing – broiler chickens
No legislation has been found specifically relating to the rearing of broiler chickens.
Rearing – egg-laying hens
No legislation has been found specifically relating to the rearing of egg-laying hens.
Rearing – dairy cattle and calves
No legislation has been found specifically relating to the rearing of dairy cattle and calves.
Transport
Article 15 of Executive Decree 04-82 provides that transport methods must be designed to preserve the life and well-being of animals. Beyond this provision, no further legislation regulating animal transport has been found.
Slaughter
Executive Decree No. 91-514 forbids to slaughter some animals, including some young animals or pregnant females. No other legislation has been found relating to the slaughter of animals.
Algeria’s New Model for economic growth 2016-2019 constitutes a policy to ensure the growth of the Algerian economy from 2016 to 2019. It includes measures to promote growth through the development and modernisation of the animal industry for the production of milk, meat, eggs and apiculture. The Model mentions modernising slaughtering facilities by improving capacity, but no reference is made to avoid animal suffering.
Analysis
The existing legislation has several provisions that relate to the health of farming animals. However, these are limited and lacking in detail and do not consider the overall welfare of the animals concerned. There is a clear lack of legislation regulating welfare standards for farm animals during the phases of rearing, transport and slaughter.
With regards to rearing, the Government of Algeria should establish strict species-specific standards, banning the worst forms of confinement of farm animals. The Five freedoms of animals should also be preserved during transport, with limitations on the maximum duration of transport. In addition, the Algerian legislation should mandate humane slaughter to be carried out, with prior stunning.
Enforcement Mechanisms
Infringement of the provisions set out in executive decree 04-82 is, through the primary legislation Article 58 of Law 88-08, punishable under Articles 415, 449 and 457 of the Penal Code with fines and/or imprisonment.
Key Recommendations
• The Government of Algeria is urged to enact legislation detailing specific welfare requirements for the rearing of farm animals during the phases of rearing, transport and slaughter. Such requirements should be legally binding and species-specific. Regular inspections onto farms and slaughter establishments should be carried out with a special focus on animal welfare.
• In addition, the Government of Algeria is urged to ban the worst forms of confinement for farm animals. In particular, the use of farrowing crates, sow stalls, and cages should be banned. The stocking density of broiler chickens should also be reduced to maximum 30 kg/m2 or lower. Surgical operations, such as piglet mutilations and beak trimming for egg-laying hens, shall not be performed except under anaesthesia and with analgesics.
• The Government of Algeria is urged to mandate the humane slaughter of all farm animals. Animals should be instantaneously rendered unconscious and insensible to pain and distress prior to slaughter. Today, there is growing consensus amongst religious authorities worldwide that pre-slaughter stunning is compatible with religious principles. Humane halal slaughter allows for the animal to be temporarily rendered unconscious via stunning prior to slaughter, as long as the animal's skull remains intact and the animal would regain consciousness in time should slaughter not occur. Therefore, animals should be unconscious before being bled, and no further processing should occur until irreversible loss of consciousness is confirmed. No animal should be forced to witness other animals being slaughtered as this is inherently distressing.
• Legislation regarding the transport of animals shall protect their Five Freedoms. Due to the significant animal welfare concerns associated with long distance transport, the Government of Algeria is strongly urged to ban the export of live animals for long distances (i.e. over than eight hours) and replace it with a meat only trade. Long distance transport is inherently cruel as it involves chronic stress for all animals and, for some species and modes of transport, it may involve overpopulation, exhaustion, excess heat or cold, inadequate ventilation and/or access to food and water, leading to disease, pain, injury or death.
Zoos
Provisions for the protection of animals appearing in Law 88-08 and in the Penal Code are applicable to animals in captivity. Article 58 of Law 88-08 and Article 449 of the Penal Code make reference to ‘domestic, tamed and wild animals in captivity.’
Beyond these basic provisions, and a mention of animal welfare as part of Decree 15-70, there is no evidence of legislation or policy dealing specifically with the welfare of animals in captivity.
Private keeping of wild animals
No legislation has been found specifically relating to the private keeping of wild animals.
Fur farming
No legislation has been found specifically relating to fur farming.
Analysis
There is no evidence of legislation or policy acknowledging specific problems arising from holding animals in captivity. Both sets of provisions in Law 88-08 and the Penal Code are vague as most conducts are undefined. There is no correlation between the existing punishable conducts and problems associated with captivity of animals.
There is no indication or evidence of existing financial or human resource allocated to develop policy and legislation relevant to this indicator. The lack of recognition of the importance of animal welfare as an issue separate to those of animal health and disease control is a considerable barrier to progress. The Government is encouraged to develop independent legislation addressing other aspects of animal welfare.
Enforcement Mechanisms
Infringement of the provisions in Law 88-08 and in the Penal Code, referred to above, is punishable by fines and/or imprisonment under Articles 415, 449 and 457 of the Penal Code.
However, since no legislation has been found on the private keeping of wild animals or fur farming, there are no enforcement mechanisms associated to this category of animals.
Key Recommendations
• The Government of Algeria is encouraged/urged to develop a Positive List of domesticated species, and implement detailed legislation specifying the conditions under which wild animals may be kept in captivity. Such regulations should include requirements with regards to housing, feeding, handling and husbandry and should promote the Five Freedoms of all individual animals. In particular, the Freedom to express normal patterns of behaviours should be respected.
• The Government of Algeria is encouraged to mandate regular inspections to be carried out at zoos. Results of such inspections should be made publicly available.
• The Government of Algeria is urged to fully ban fur farming. Fur farming is inherently cruel and causes pain, distress and suffering to animals.
Care of companion animals
Provisions for the protection of animals appearing in Law 88-08 and in the Penal Code are applicable to companion animals. Article 58 of Law 88-08 and Article 449 of the Penal Code refer to domestic animals. Article 60 creates a minimal duty of care for animal owners, who must keep their animals in a good state of health.
Beyond these basic provisions, there is no evidence of legislation or policy dealing specifically with the welfare of companion animals.
Stray animals
Legislation on rabies control permits government culling of feral dogs and wild animals within areas where there are rabies cases, with no welfare considerations. However, it appears that in 2018, the Government of Algeria has made progress by considering a mass vaccination programmes for stray dog.
Analysis
There is no evidence of legislation or policy presenting mandates or guidelines on the responsible care of domestic animals. The provisions in Law 88-08 and the Penal Code are vague as most conducts are undefined. There is no correlation between the existing punishable conducts and problems associated with the welfare of domestic animals. There is no indication or evidence of financial or human resource available to develop policy and legislation relevant to this indicator.
There is a lack of regulations promoting the humane treatment of stray animals. It is positive that the Government of Algeria engages with international partners to investigate solutions to the spread of rabies which do not cause the culling of stray dogs. However, humane solutions to rabies – such as mass vaccination programmes and spay-and-neuter campaigns – are not mandated in Algerian legislation.
Enforcement Mechanisms
Infringement of the provisions in Law 88-08 and in the Penal Code, referred to above, is punishable by fines and/or imprisonment under Articles 415, 449, 457 of the Penal Code.
However, since no legislation has been found on stray animals, there are no enforcement mechanisms associated to this category of animals.
Key Recommendations
• The Government of Algeria is strongly encouraged to introduce legislation to promote humane dog population management, which relies on promoting responsible ownership, mass dog vaccinations and reproduction control programmes. Culling is unnecessary, cruel and has been proven to be ineffective. The Government of Algeria should also implement education programmes on dog bite prevention.
• The Government of Algeria is encouraged to engage with the International Companion Animal Management (ICAM) coalition to learn about and implement their dog population management methodology. This methodology consists of a full cycle of action, addressing the root causes of conflict between roaming dog and communities. The document is helpful to governments to manage dogs humanely as well as to help communities live in harmony with dogs.
• The Government of Algeria should promote responsible pet ownership, including the adoption of companion animals over the purchase of commercially bred animals.
Animals used for entertainment
Provisions for the protection of animals appearing in Law 88-08, and in the Penal Code are applicable to animals used for draught or recreational purposes. Article 58 of Law 88-08 and Article 449 of the Penal Code make reference to ‘domestic, tamed and wild animals in captivity’. Beyond these basic provisions, there is no evidence of legislation or policies specifically addressing the welfare of animals used for recreational purposes.
Draught animals
The Algerian Penal Code contains three articles which cover some specific punishable conducts such as poisoning animals (Article 415), causing death and injuries, overloading working animals, working with ill animals and accidents caused by use of weapons and poor keeping conditions (Article 457), and mistreatment of domestic and tamed or captive wild animals (Article 449). There is a narrow list of species covered in Article 415, which include mostly domestic and working animals along with fish.
Analysis
There are no legislation or policies that provide for the welfare of animals used for recreational purposes or for draught to be discussed or developed in the country. There is no evidence in legislation that cruel forms of entertainment using animals – circuses, rodeos, animal fights, marine mammal shows, among others – are prohibited. Animal circuses regularly visit Algeria, as shown by the Amar circus which has come to Algeria at least four times There is no indication or evidence of financial or human resource available to develop policy and legislation relevant to this indicator.
Enforcement Mechanisms
Infringement of the provisions in Law 88-08 and in the Penal Code, referred to above, is punishable by fines and/or imprisonment under Articles 415, 449 and 457 of the Penal Code.
Key Recommendations
• The Government of Algeria is urged to enact an animal welfare act, which would prohibit the use of animals for entertainment purposes. Such a prohibition should cover circuses, rodeos, animal fights, animal races, rides on animals and all other forms of entertainment abusing animals. At a minimum, the Government should ban the use of wild animals in circuses, which is significant animal cruelty and can also be a human health risk.
• Furthermore, the Government of Algeria is strongly encouraged to adopt specific legislation to address the welfare of working animals, including working equids, following the requirements of the OIE’s animal welfare standards (Chapter 7.12). Working animals must be treated with consideration and must be given adequate shelter, exercise, care, food and water appropriate to their physiological and behavioural needs. Any condition which may impair their welfare must be treated promptly and, if necessary, they must not be worked again until they are fit. They must not be overworked or overloaded, nor must they be forced to work through ill-treatment.
Article 58 of Law 88-08 of 1988 includes a general prohibition of committing ‘bad treatments’ towards animals. Article 58 also states that the same prohibition applies in relation to animals used in biological, medical and scientific experiments, which experiments are required to be ‘limited to cases of strict necessity’.
Beyond this basic provision, there does not appear to be any further legislation dedicated to the welfare of animals used in scientific research.
Since the API was first published, the Algerian Association for Experimental Science (Association Algérienne des Sciences en Expérimentation Animale, AASEA) was established in 2015. AASEA outlines on its website that its main goals are, among others, ‘rationalise and improve the use of animals for the health of humans and animals’, ‘codify the ethics of their use’, and ‘promote the use of animals in research through the recognition of ethical principles and scientific responsibilities’. AASEA is working on a draft national charter for the ethical use of animals in experiments. Membership is reserved to scientists.
The use of animal testing for cosmetic products does not appear to be restricted in legislation.
Analysis
Legislative provisions relating to animals used for scientific research are limited in scope but do acknowledge that animal protection and the reduction of animal experimentation are intrinsically linked. As such, the legislation is based on one of the ‘Three Rs’ principles – Reduction – but there is scope for debate over what constitutes ‘strict necessity.’ There is no indication or evidence of financial or human resource available to develop policy and legislation relevant to this indicator.
Moreover, from its website it appears that the AASEA is a body favourably inclined to using animals for research. The organisation aims at codifying the ‘ethics’ of their use, but there is no information as to what these ‘ethics’ are. There is no mention of the Three Rs principles – Replacement, Reduction, Refinement. Moreover, the membership of AASEA is limited to scientists, whereas animal welfare organisations should have a say in determining the ethics of an experiment using animals, depending on the degree of animal suffering incurred.
It is detrimental to animal welfare that the use of animal testing for cosmetics does not appear to be restricted in legislation.
Enforcement Mechanisms
Infringement of the provisions in Law 88-08 and in the Penal Code, referred to above, is punishable by fines and/or imprisonment under Articles 415, 449 and 457 of the Penal Code.
Key Recommendations
• The Government of Algeria is urged to enact legislation which would protect all animals used in scientific research from unnecessary pain and suffering. The Three Rs principles – Replacement, Reduction, Refinement – should be enshrined in legislation, in addition to the Charter being drafted by AASEA.
• The Government of Algeria is encouraged to create ethics committees, in charge of scrutinising applications for animal research. Such ethics committees should be able to suspend the activities or revoke the registration of establishments which do not respect animal welfare criteria. Animals used for research should be provided with shelter, care, food and water in a manner appropriate to their physiological and behavioural needs. A nominated member of the laboratory staff, preferably a veterinarian, must have full responsibility for animal welfare at all times.
• Moreover, the Government of Algeria is strongly encouraged to create a national centre made of multiple stakeholders, including animal protection organisations, to promote the Three Rs principles and to develop alternatives to animal experimentation. This body could work in cooperation with AASEA.
• Furthermore, the Government of Algeria is urged to ban the testing of cosmetic products and their ingredients on animals.
There are several laws that apply to wild animals in Algeria introduced from a hunting or conservation perspective. Law 03-10 of July 2003 is the main environmental protection law, which includes prohibitions on destroying, capturing and trafficking certain species.
Law 04-07 of August 2004 regulates hunting. It specifies the administrative conditions by which a hunting licence can be obtained. The Act also regulates issues related to hunting by tourists. Hunting is permitted with restrictions regarding time, location and protected species. Article 54 provides that ‘animal species classified in the category of protected species are those known to be rare, endangered or the numbers of which have declined significantly’. Species recognised as protected species under Algeria’s national hunting legislation may not be hunted, captured, traded or detained.
Since the API was first published in 2014, an Order, published in November 2017, outlines the necessary training to obtain a certificate of authorisation to hold a hunting license. Despite a lack of mention of animal welfare, Article 3 this Order establishes the necessity of a knowledge of ethical hunting and the hunters’ code – designed to ensure ethical, safe and responsible hunting – without specific mention of the avoidance of suffering for animals. No evidence is provided on the enforceability and respect of these provisions, indicating ethical hunting is recommended but not enforced.
Analysis
The legislation relating to wild animals is designed to avoid animal destruction, to protect certain species and to regulate hunting activities. Regulations on tourist hunting in particular illustrate this point. While these provisions can be a step in the right direction for species conservation, references to the welfare of individual animals are limited. Since the 2017 Order, hunters need to be familiar with ‘ethical hunting’ to obtain a hunting permit. However, no definition of ethical hunting is provided, and no mention is made of animal welfare. In addition, this Order does not make the knowledge of ethical hunting – or the lack thereof – a mandatory precondition to obtain a hunting permit. Rather, the order simply states that ethical hunting will be addressed as part of the training hunters have to follow before applying for their hunting permit.
The Government has identified the need to preserve biodiversity by protecting certain animal species, since most legislations focus on the conservation of species. The Government of Algeria is now encouraged to consider introducing stronger legislation to protect the welfare of wild individual animals.
Enforcement Mechanisms
Infringement of the prohibitions in Law 03-10 and Law 04-07 is punishable with fines and imprisonment. However, the 2017 Order contains no enforcement mechanisms.
Key Recommendations
• The Government of Algeria is strongly encouraged to ban any form of hunting that does not directly support subsistence. Subsistence hunting operations must employ the least cruel methods of hunting and slaughter, and that all possible efforts should be made to reduce the time to death of animals killed in these hunts.
Establishment of supportive government bodies
This goal examines government commitment to animal protection. This includes whether there is allocation of responsibility, accountability and resources within government to protect animals.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fishing (MADRP) has political control over activities relating to veterinary medicine and farm animals. However, from the information publicly available, the protection of animals and advancement of animal welfare is not one of the stated aims of the Ministry. The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fishing’s mission has no mention of animal welfare, protection of animals or well-being.
Analysis
There are no indications that the Government has assigned responsibility for animal welfare issues to a specific government body.
Enforcement Mechanisms
The responsibilities of relevant government bodies are set out in legislation. However, no Ministry has direct responsibility for animal welfare.
Key Recommendations
• The Government of Algeria is urged to assign responsibility for animal welfare, in addition to animal health, to a Ministry. This Ministry should be responsible for enacting animal welfare legislation and for monitoring the implementation of animal welfare standards.
• In addition, the Government of Algeria is strongly encouraged to create a multi-stakeholder committee in order to effectively engage all actors involved in maintaining animals’ well-being to find solutions for welfare concerns. This committee would guide the country’s policies and strategies on animal welfare, in line with international standards. This committee should include representatives of animal welfare organisations.
Support for international animal welfare standards
This goal looks at whether the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)’s animal welfare standards have been incorporated into law or policy, and whether the Government is supportive of the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare.
The OIE Animal Welfare Standards focus on transport, slaughter, production systems (beef cattle, broiler chickens, dairy cattle, pigs), stray dog population control, the use of animals in research and education, and working equids.
As part of its plans to ensure economic growth and in the application of Law 88-08 on veterinary activities and the protection of animal health, the Algerian Government incorporated OIE recommendations for animal welfare only partially. This applies exclusively regarding veterinary medicine, sanitary protection and vaccination. All other OIE standards have yet to be transposed into legislation and policy in the country.
Analysis
The OIE’s standards on animal welfare not only represent a consensual position achieved by countries represented in the OIE, but also provide the necessary scientific background to produce sound policy and legislation on animal welfare. Algeria is a member of the OIE and along with all other members of the organisation, has supported the OIE’s animal welfare standards and guiding principles for animal welfare. The Government is encouraged to incorporate all the OIE’s standards and principles within policy and legislation, compared to its current narrow focus on animal health.
Enforcement Mechanisms
There are enforcement mechanisms for those of the OIE’s standards that are covered by provincial legislation.
Key Recommendations
• The Government of Algeria is strongly encouraged to implement the OIE’s animal welfare standards and principles within policy and legislation.
The Government of Algeria has not pledged in principle support for the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare.
Note: The UDAW is a proposed formal international acknowledgement of a set of principles giving animal welfare due recognition among governments and the international community. An expression of support for the UDAW demonstrates a government’s commitment to working with the international community to improve animal welfare.
Analysis
Support for the UDAW would be a first step towards integrating animal protection considerations into different discussion forums, becoming a soft-law source for decision makers interested in improving animal protection in the country.
Enforcement Mechanisms
There are no enforcement mechanisms relevant to this indicator.
Key Recommendations
• The Government of Algeria is encouraged to pledge in principle support for the UDAW. Support for the UDAW will likely underpin further animal protection measures.