Executive Summary

The main source of animal welfare legislation in Kenya is the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1962, revised in 2012, which applies to all vertebrates. Rodeos and animal fights are prohibited. The Act also prohibits placement of traps and snares that cause unnecessary suffering to an animal and failing to check on a trapped animal. Remarkably, the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013 forbids recreational hunting, which includes trophy hunting (Eighth Schedule, 10).

However, there is room for improvement in many domains related to animal welfare. In particular, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act allows for the slaughter of animals without stunning in certain circumstances. The Rabies Act 1967 previously authorised the culling of stray dogs. In 2019, the Control of Stray Dogs Act replaced the Rabies Act, yet this new law still authorises the euthanasia of stray animals considered dangerous, or whose owners are unknown or are unwilling to remove the animal.

Since the API was first published in 2014, an Animal Welfare and Protection Bill 2019 was drafted. If passed, this Bill will greatly improve the lives of animals. Notably, this Bill explicitly recognises all animals – not only vertebrates – as sentient beings. Moreover, it mandates the stunning of animals before slaughter and requires all animals used for experiments to be under the influence of anaesthetics. Therefore, the Government of Kenya is highly encouraged to adopt this Bill. In addition, the Kenya Veterinary Policy was updated in 2015 and a new Draft Livestock Policy exists since 2019, in both of which the protection of animal welfare has been specifically recognised.

In Kenya, the national government is responsible for the protection of wild animals in conservation areas while the county governments are mandated to ensure the welfare of domestic animals including livestock and companion animals. The Department of Veterinary Services, a sub-department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, is responsible for animal welfare. The Department aims to prevent and control animal diseases to safeguard human health, improve animal welfare, increase livestock productivity and facilitate domestic and international trade. The Kenya Wildlife Service is responsible for wildlife conservation. If passed, the Animal Welfare and Protection Bill 2019 will establish the creation of a County Animal Welfare Unit in each County Government. Where established, such units would be required to monitor and report on animal welfare matters and would include members from animal welfare non-governmental organisations.

The Government of Kenya is strongly encouraged to adopt as soon as possible the Animal Welfare and Protection Bill 2019, which recognises all animals as sentient. Furthermore, the Government of Kenya is urged to ban the current culling practices of stray animals, to rather implement humane stray animal populations programmes. Additionally, the Government of Kenya is strongly encouraged to implement a comprehensive ban for all animals to perform publicly, whether trained or untrained. Current Kenyan legislation would also benefit from outlining species-specific welfare standards with regards to farm animals and wild animals in captivity. Further legal and policy recommendations are associated with each Animal Protection Index (API) indicator and contained in the relevant sections of this report.