The Constitution of Egypt mandates the protection of animals and places overall responsibility for their protection on the State. The Agriculture Law (1966) combined with the Egyptian Penal Code provides some protections for animals. Legislation prohibits the killing of certain animals and the overworking of draught animals. There are some protections for specific species in Egypt such as some species of reptiles and amphibians.

Animal welfare protections in Egypt are limited. There are a few anti-cruelty provisions provided in existing legislation, such as the Agriculture Law (1966), however, there is no specific animal welfare law. Many animals are left without any protections, for example, animals in scientific research or animals in the wild. Similarly, there are no secondary regulations or laws mandating appropriate housing, care, transport or slaughter for farm animals or animals in captivity. There are also no supplementary regulations regarding the care of both owned and stray companion animals.

The Ministry of Agriculture is assigned responsibility for animal health in Egypt. However, no Government Ministry has been assigned overall responsibility for animal welfare.

Since the 2014 edition of the Animal Protection Index there have been limited changes to animal welfare legislation in Egypt. While the Constitution was amended in 2014 to include the protection of animals as a responsibility of the State, this amendment has not resulted in improved legislation to protect animals.

 
The Government of Egypt is encouraged to introduce an independent Animal Welfare Act that includes a definition of animal welfare, in line with the OIE, and that explicitly promotes the Five Freedoms. The Government of Egypt is also encouraged to assign responsibility for animal welfare to a Government Ministry and to establish an Animal Welfare Committee to advise the Government on policy and animal welfare solutions. The Animal Welfare Committee should include representatives from animal welfare organisations. Furthermore, the Government of Egypt is urged to introduce secondary legislation for many categories of animals including farm animals, animals in captivity and companion animals. This legislation should enshrine the Five Freedoms in law and establish species-specific standards and criteria for the care, housing and transport of these animals. Further legal and policy recommendations are associated with each Animal Protection Index (API) indicator and contained in the relevant sections of this report.