site.btaEurobarometer Survey: 74% of Bulgarians Want Welfare of Farmed Animals to Be Better Protected

According to a recent Eurobarometer survey on attitudes towards animal welfare, 74% of Bulgarians believe the welfare of farmed animals should be better protected in their country than it is now, and 54% support limiting the transport time of animals within and outside of the EU. Those shares are below the EU-average of 84% and 83%, respectively.

The poll was conducted among 26,376 EU citizens of various social and demographic groups through face-to-face interviews between March 2 and 26. It was commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety. It follows on from previous surveys on this topic in November-December 2015 and September-October 2006.

When asked whether they are in regular contact with animals in their daily lives, 70% of Bulgarian respondents say they are in contact with their own companion animals and 16%, with farming animals. These shares are the highest in the EU.

Seventy-six per cent of Bulgarian respondents believe that the welfare of companion animals (e.g. cats and dogs) in Bulgaria should be better protected, down by 1% from the 2015 survey; the average share in the EU is 74%. 

When asked how important it is to protect the welfare of farmed animals (e.g. pigs, cattle, poultry, etc.) to ensure that they have decent living conditions, 82% of Bulgarian respondents say it is very or somewhat important, compared to 91% in the EU on average. Sixty-one per cent would you like to have more information about the conditions in which farmed animals are raised in Bulgaria, as opposed to 65% in the 2015 survey; the average share in the EU is 67%. 

On the matter of fur farming, 38% of Bulgarian respondents (32% in the EU) believe that it should be maintained but under EU-wide welfare conditions for those animals, and 36% (57% in the EU) want fur farming to be strictly banned.

Seventy-four per cent consider it important to improve the welfare of animals in slaughterhouses, for example by increasing official controls, compared to 88% in the EU.

Thirty-eight per cent of Bulgarian respondents (50% in the EU) consider totally unacceptable the practice of killing male baby chicks just after birth, although this may result in an increase in the price of eggs. Thirty-seven per cent (41% in the EU) find that practice somewhat acceptable under certain conditions. Twelve per cent (5% in the EU) believe the practice is totally acceptable, as farmed animals are killed eventually.

The majority of Bulgarian respondents (61%) are not willing to pay more for products sourced from animal welfare-friendly farming systems, compared to 37% in the EU. Twenty-two per cent (26% in the EU) are ready to pay up to 5% more, 9% of respondents in Bulgaria (20% in the EU) are ready to pay up to 10% more, and just 1% (8% in the EU) are willing to pay up to 20% more. Four per cent (2% in the EU) say it depends on the price of the product.

Thirty per cent of respondents think there currently is a sufficient choice of animal welfare-friendly food products in Bulgaria, up by 13% from the 2015 survey. In the EU as a whole, 48% find enough animal welfare-friendly food products in shops and supermarkets.

When buying food products, 43% never look and 22% rarely look for products labeled as sourced from animal welfare-friendly farming systems, far above the EU-average of 19% and 18%, respectively. Only 7% of respondents in Bulgaria, as opposed to 28% in the EU, look for these labels most of the time, which is an increase by 2% from the 2015 survey.