Public attitude to animal welfare

Due to the constant public interest in this issue, in 2015 the Commission launched another Eurobarometer survey on Europeans’ attitudes towards animal welfare, with the intention of taking the results into account in future policy initiatives in this field. The special Eurobarometer 442 was published in March 2016. Its key findings revealed that the overwhelming majority (94 %) of respondents think that protecting animal welfare is important, with well over half considering it very important. Some 47 % consider that the current choice of animal-welfare-friendly food products in shops and supermarkets is not sufficient (9 percentage points more than in the 2006 Eurobarometer) and 59 % would be willing to pay more for animal-friendly products (3 % would pay even more than 20 % in addition). Some 82 % of respondents believe that the welfare of farmed animals in their country should be better protected than it is now (up 5 percentage points compared to 2006).