Animal welfare

Healthy and thriving animals are beneficial to the animals themselves, but also to animal owners, producers and consumers. Good animal welfare contributes to the production of safe food, and is important for consumers' trust in Norwegian food production.

In Norway, animal welfare is regarded as one of society’s obligations, and it is laid down in law that animals have intrinsic value and must be treated with respect. We have a long tradition of good cooperation between the governmental administration and management, Academia, the industry and the practising veterinarians. This includes prophylaxis, monitoring, research and preparedness measures. The collaborative model has been beneficial to both the animals, the producers and society in general. Both the authorities, the industry, animal protection organisations, consumers and animal owners all contribute to meeting this obligation.

On the farm inspections, industry standards and animal welfare programs help raise the level of animal welfare in the entire industry. Up-to-date knowledge and competence of the individual animal keeper is just as crucial to the result. Knowledge about welfare affects our respect for, and our attitudes towards animals. Animal husbandry must, to the greatest extent possible, take account of the animals' natural behaviour and their needs.

Regulations

The industry and the animal keepers themselves are responsible for the welfare of the animals, and to comply with regulations.. This also applies to private animal care, where the animal owner is responsible for looking after his or hers own animal's welfare. Our overarching legislation on animal welfare is the Animal Welfare Act, from which more detailed regulations are derived.

Norway has a long tradition of placing animal welfare high on the agenda, and was the first country in the world to have its own animal welfare act - as early as 1935. The current animal welfare act from 2010 established for the first time that animals have intrinsic value, regardless of what usable value they may have to human beings. The Animal Welfare Act is not a bill of rights for animals, but it does require the competence of animal keepers and lays down an obligation to report anyone suspected of animal abuse. Everyone also has a statutory duty to help obviously sick, helpless or injured animals.

Animal welfare status

Both facts, attitudes and feelings influence the debate, and the subject sees constant change and development. The Norwegian population place increasingly higher emphasis on animals being treated well. Based on new knowledge and attitudes concerning animal abilities and needs, there is continuous work going on to develop the regulatory basis for the protection of animal welfare. The new white paper  on animal welfare will provide a solid foundation for the work with animal welfare for many years to come.

Responsible agencies, institutes and their roles

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority is the Ministry of Agriculture and Food's executive body regarding animal health and animal welfare in terrestrial animals.

TheNorwegian Food Safety Authority contribute with:

• Development of regulations
• Supervision of regulations compliance
• Preventive measures
• Monitoring of disease and welfare status
• Readiness in case of infectious animal disease
• Registration and management of serious incidents involving animal disease and breach of animal welfare standards

• Read more about animal health and animal welfare here (mattilsynet.no)

The Veterinary Institute's most important function is readiness and competence development in averting threats to health in fish, animals and humans. They provide research-based advice to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, enabling the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to survey status, analyse conditions and manage risks in the best possible way.

The Science Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) carries out independent scientific risk assessments for the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and the Norwegian Environment Agency, which draws up advice, issues permits, develops regulations and provides input to the ministry based on these assessments.