Animal Health & Welfare

Hunters care. They care about nature, they care about other people in the countryside and they care about animals: their dogs and other aides such as birds of prey for falconry of course, but also for wild animals.

Hunters are trained, motivated and committed to eliminate any avoidable suffering to animals – it is an essential part of hunting ethics and of all formal codes of conduct.

Hunters also monitor the health status of animals living in the wild (Swine Fever, Rabies, Avian Influenza…) and play so a key role in protecting public health and that of domestic (farmed) animals. In this way they are partners of European (EU) and international (OIE) initiatives against transmissible diseases (zoonosis).

In the EU and Council of Europe FACE acts as a guardian of the subsidiarity principle in relation to wild animal welfare and welfare of auxiliary animals, such as hunting dogs, by ensuring that these issues remain within the sole jurisdiction of Member States which are best placed to deal effectively with these issues in accordance with their national socio-cultural traditions.

FACE, through its ad hoc Animal Welfare & Health Working Group, composed of qualified experts from our Member Associations, participates regularly in the European Commission’s Animal Health Advisory Committee, a sub-group to the Advisory Group on the Food Chain and Animal Health, and provides expertise on human and animal health issues related to hunting.

Learn more about the EU Animal Welfare Law and EU Animal Health Law

EP CONFERENCE ON “ASF”

NEWS RELATED TO ANIMAL WELFARE & HEALTH