Farm Animals

Poultry Welfare: Improving Slaughter Welfare Globally

Global progress on poultry slaughter welfare is uneven, with regulatory and market-driven improvements in some regions and persistent gaps in others.

Key Facts

EU regulations require stunning before slaughter for poultry, with religious slaughter exemptions
Many major poultry producing countries have no mandatory pre-slaughter stunning requirements
Corporate commitments from global food companies are driving welfare improvements in supply chains in some markets
Welfare at slaughter is considered the highest-impact single welfare intervention for poultry by some researchers

Welfare Considerations

Improving slaughter welfare globally is a high-impact welfare goal that requires both regulatory progress in producing countries and market-driven leverage through corporate supply chain commitments. The billions of poultry slaughtered annually make even small percentage improvements enormously significant for welfare.

What You Can Do

Support organisations campaigning for mandatory pre-slaughter stunning globally
Engage with global food company supply chain welfare commitments on slaughter standards
Advocate for trade agreements to include poultry slaughter welfare equivalence requirements