Animal Equality presents two bills in Brazil that could save billions of animals
Last week, Animal Equality presented two bills to protect animals in the Brazilian Parliament, alongside government official Luciene Cavalcante.
The first bill aims to prohibit the killing of male chicks in Brazil. Every year, millions of male chicks are killed globally because they cannot lay eggs and are not the ‘right’ breed for meat. This bill aims to put an end to this cruel practice by introducing in-ovo sexing technologies. These advanced methods enable non-invasive sex identification of the embryos inside eggs before hatching, effectively preventing the unnecessary killing of millions of male chicks each year.
Meanwhile, the second bill aims to introduce mandatory labelling on products containing animals as ingredients. This labelling is intended to inform consumers about the cruel practices involved in meat production, including extreme confinement, the slaughter of newborn male animals, food restriction, mutilations, slaughter without anaesthetic, and prolonged transportation.
These bills involved collaboration with animal protection and research organisations including Fórum Animal, Alianima, Fórum Nacional de Proteção e Defesa Animal, Natureza Conecta, Mercy For Animals, Proteção Animal Mundial, Sinergia Animal, and Welfare Footprint Project.
Both bills align with already-existing laws in Brazil which make animal abuse a crime, including farmed animals like cows, pigs, and chickens. The second bill specifically aligns with the country’s so-called ‘Consumer Defense Code’, guaranteeing consumers the right to have accurate information about the products they consume.
What’s next?
These bills will now follow the ordinary legislative process before hopefully being implemented into law.
While this process can take a long time, once approved, the first bill will impact a staggering 84 million male chicks every year, and the second will impact more than seven billion animals slaughtered for human consumption annually.
What’s more, both bills have the potential to be introduced in other countries!
Although the bill to end the cruel killing of male chicks in the egg industry currently has certain limitations in some countries around the world – since it depends on the availability of in-ovo sexing technologies – the second bill could be lobbied for and enacted around the world, since it is based on the consumer’s right to be informed about the products they are consider purchasing.
Change is happening for animals – watch this space!
save animals, eat plant based
As a consumer, you hold the power to protect animals from the meat industry. Every plant-based meal saves animals from a life of misery in factory farms and slaughterhouses.
