Animal welfare legislation varies enormously across the world. Understanding the global landscape helps prioritize advocacy efforts where change is most needed.
Animal welfare legislation is the single most powerful tool for improving welfare at scale because it applies to all producers and consumers in a jurisdiction, removing competitive disadvantage for welfare-conscious operators. The gap between legislative intent and enforcement is a major challenge globally — laws that exist on paper but are not enforced provide limited welfare benefit. Farm animal exclusions from companion animal welfare laws represent a significant structural injustice that allows practices on farms that would be criminal if performed on pets. Strengthening legislation, improving enforcement, and eliminating species-based double standards are the highest-leverage policy advocacy targets.