Jordan presents a distinctive Middle Eastern animal welfare context, combining a strong tradition of horse culture, significant working animal populations, growing companion animal welfare awareness, and a relatively developed civil society by regional standards. Jordan's location as a refugee-hosting country and its role in regional diplomacy create both challenges and opportunities for welfare policy development.
Jordan has a deep cultural connection to the Arabian horse. The Royal Jordanian Stud in Amman maintains purebred Arabian horses, and equestrian culture is significant among the Jordanian elite. Horse racing, show jumping, and traditional equestrian activities are practiced. Welfare standards in elite equestrian facilities tend to be higher than for working horses.
Working horses, donkeys, and mules in Jordan serve agricultural and transport functions, particularly in rural areas and in the vicinity of tourist sites including Petra. Working equids carrying tourists and goods at Petra have been a significant welfare concern, with advocacy organizations including the Brooke documenting overloading, wounds, and inadequate care. The Brooke has operated programs in Jordan providing veterinary services and owner education for working equid owners.
SPANA Jordan has also operated mobile veterinary clinics reaching working animal owners in Amman and surrounding areas. These programs demonstrate that community-based approaches providing practical veterinary support and husbandry education can achieve welfare improvements in challenging economic contexts.
Jordan has a significant stray dog and cat population in urban areas. Cultural attitudes toward dogs vary, with traditional Islamic perspectives sometimes creating resistance to dog keeping as pets while working and guard dogs are kept widely. Growing urban middle-class interest in companion animals has increased welfare advocacy. The Jordan SPCA and various rescue groups provide adoption and rescue services.
Stray dog management has involved culling in some municipalities. Welfare advocates have pushed for vaccination-based approaches that serve both public health and welfare goals. WHO guidance supporting mass vaccination rather than culling as more effective for rabies control aligns with welfare goals and has gained some traction in Jordanian public health discussions.
Jordan's wildlife includes the Asiatic wild ass (onager, now functionally extinct in wild Jordan), sand cats, wolves, and diverse bird species along the Great Rift Valley — one of the world's most important bird migration corridors. The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) manages Jordan's protected areas and has led wildlife conservation efforts including the Arabian oryx reintroduction program at Shaumari Wildlife Reserve — a successful reintroduction of a species once extinct in the wild.
The Dana Biosphere Reserve and Azraq Wetland Reserve protect important ecosystems. Illegal hunting of migratory birds, using electronic calls and other methods, remains a concern despite RSCN enforcement efforts. The Azraq wetland system, critical for migratory waterbirds, has been significantly rehabilitated after near-total water loss in the 1980s.
Jordan's animal welfare legal framework has developed through veterinary law and recent advocacy for dedicated welfare legislation. The Ministry of Agriculture oversees livestock health and welfare. The RSCN manages wildlife under dedicated legislation. Civil society advocacy for modernized animal welfare law has grown, drawing on Jordan's aspiration to align standards with EU frameworks through association agreements. Growing professional veterinary engagement with welfare science provides a basis for evidence-based policy development.