Executive Summary

Brazil has a long tradition of incorporating animal protection in its legislation, since the main Decree relating to animal welfare dating back to 1934. Decree 24.645 establishes protection against cruelty and ill-treatment of animals. Environmental Crimes Law 9,605 of 1998 prohibits engaging in an act of abuse for domesticated or wild animals. Since the API was first published in 2014, this law has been strengthened to make it a crime to mistreat a domesticated animal. Furthermore, painful or cruel experiments on living animals, even if conducted for educational or scientific purposes, are considered crimes when alternatives resources exist. Furthermore, legislation on the slaughter of animals was improved in 2017, when Normative Instruction No. 12 of 2017 mandated humane slaughter to be carried out only by qualified establishments and employees. In 2017 and 2018, further legislation was enacted prohibiting cruelty during the transport of live animals. With regards to companion animals, federal legislation 13,426 enacted in 2017 regulates the humane dog and cat population management, through measures such as extensive spay-and-neuter campaigns.

However, there is still room for improvement in many animal welfare areas. Notably, while Senate Bill 351 of 2015 makes a breakthrough acknowledgement that animals are no longer considered things in law, their sentient status is still not clearly defined. Moreover, there is a clear lack of nationally applicable legislation with regards to the rearing of farm animals. The worst forms of confinement, such as sow stalls, farrowing crates and cages, are not prohibited in legislation, and halal slaughter is authorised without prior stunning. Brazil’s economy largely relies on its agricultural exports, and the live animal exports is inherently cruel. The use of animals for entertainment is still authorised, such as in circuses or rodeos, which causes animal cruelty. In 2017, an amendment to the Constitution specified that some sports using animals, such as rodeos and vaquejadas, could be exempt from cruelty consideration if considered of cultural importance. However, culture should never be an excuse for animal abuse. Furthermore, the use of animal testing for cosmetic products has not yet been banned.

 Animal welfare is institutionalised in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) through regulations, policies and committees dedicated to the subject. The National Council for the Control of Animal Experimentation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation oversees the use of animals in science and education. The Ministry of the Environment oversees issues concerning wild animals, although animal welfare is not an institutionalised subject within this Ministry. Its division, the Brazilian Institute for Environmental and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), is the relevant federal administrative agency responsible for policing and enforcing of federal environmental laws. The Ministry of Environment works throughout the country with partners, for example, with agencies such as Interpol and local police on issues such as illegal wildlife trade. However, acknowledging recent Decree 9962/2019, there may be ongoing changes at government level with regards to responsibility for animal welfare.

The Government of Brazil is urged to enshrine animal sentience in legislation, recognising that vertebrates, cephalopods and decapod crustaceans are sentient. With regards to farm animals, the Government of Brazil is urged to ban all slaughter conducted without prior stunning. Furthermore, the Government is highly encouraged to enact more detailed, species-specific legislation with regards to the rearing of farm animals, which would ban the worst forms of confinement for these animals. The Government of Brazil is furthermore highly encouraged to adopt a Positive List of species, specifying which animals can be kept as companion animals, based on clear criteria including animal welfare and other relevant concerns. Such a list would help with preventing the exotic pet trade, which negatively impacts wild animals. The Government of Brazil is also urged to ban fur farming, as well as the culling of stray animals. The Government of Brazil should also outlaw cruel practices which use animals for entertainment, such as circuses and rodeos. It is positive that hunting of animals is prohibited at the federal level, however, some States still allow recreational hunting. The Government of Brazil is thus highly encouraged to ban sports hunting throughout the whole country. Further legal and policy recommendations are associated with each indicator and contained in the relevant sections of this report.