Społeczne i prawne aspekty podwyższenia norm dobrostanu bydła mlecznego w wybranych krajach europejskich i w Polsce

The paper presents an overview of law, private standards and European initiatives for the welfare of dairy cattle, and the Polish experience in this field. There are also presented the attitudes of consumers, NGOs and retailers towards the animal welfare issues. It was found that consumers want animals to be treated humanely, but do not have sufficient knowledge about problems of their welfare. The most important dairy cows welfare aspects are, for example, access to pasture, avoidance of tethering, stunning efficiency. EU legislation on animal welfare is very general, many of the key problems do not have complete, precise solutions. The national legislation of the majority EU countries do not go beyond the EU law frames. Increased standards are in force in the Swedish, German and British legislation. There are many private standards implementing higher animal welfare standards in European Union. Polish experience in this area are very poor.