What Are The 5 Animal Freedoms? The Five Animal Freedoms relate to how a sentient being ie an animal should be treated by its owner, carer or guardian. The guidelines are determined by Section 9 of The Animal Welfare Act which was amended in 2006. By following these simple rules, it is hoped that all animals might live a healthy and happy life. On the contrary, the human in charge would face prosecution.
Freedom from hunger and thirst
No animal should be without easy access to food – adept to the species – and plenty of fresh water which is renewed frequently. For obvious reasons, the correct nutrition is key.
Freedom from pain, injury and disease
At the earliest sign of illness and pain, an animal should be seen by a veterinarian for diagnosis of the problem. Even an animal which is behaving quietly, behaving differently from the norm, should be seen. All care must be taken with regard to dispensing medication to the animal and the appropriate kindness and attention given during recovery. Pet Insurance (quite reasonable these days!) is available to help cover veterinary expenses.
Freedom from fear and distress
No animal deserves to live in an atmosphere where it feels scared. Animals deserve to be happy too. The state of their mental health is just as important as that of humans.
Freedom from discomfort
An appropriate environment should be provided for each animal, depending on their species. Anything which may enrich their home can only be of benefit to their overall health.
Freedom to display natural behaviours
A dog must be allowed to bark and run around freely with other dogs. A cat should be able to climb to different heights or hide away when she wants. Cows need room to roam about and eat fresh grass in the field. Birds need freedom to fly….
Do your pets / animals have access to The Five Freedoms? What could you do to improve their circumstances?
What Are The 5 Animal Freedoms?
In the unfortunate event that you need to report cruelty to an animal(s), here are some links to help you/them. It´s always a good idea to take lots of photos too.
UK RSPCA
US ASPCA
Worldwide PETA
Loved those guidelines. Very informative. They are the basics but we know how many animals are living in poor conditions, suffering or abandoned. Everybody should be aware of those things before decide to have an animal. Beautiful work. Keep doing. If on person can be inspired by it all, it will make difference in the world. Btw, loved the pictures, specially the horses, my favourite 🙂
Thank you Katia! I’m pleased you gained something from the post. It’s true that there are way too many animals living in extremely poor conditions and it’s so sad. The photo of the horses, I can’t take the praise for that I’m afraid. That photo is attributed to “soledad-lorieto-on-unsplash”. Thanks again 😀
This is very good information and should pertain to ALL animals. The laws pertaining to Farm animals, however, MUST be changed. As, by law, they are referred to as product or “chattel”, or viewed as property, rather than sentient living beings that need all these five properties of humane treatment, as do all animals. Until the laws are changed, all those beautiful sweet cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, lambs will continue to be pumped up with antibiotics, steroids and live in deplorable, torturous, and cramped horrifying conditions. Which, in fact, causes dire health hazards to human beings ~ ironically. Just saying….. Anyway, Great website! Thank you for this much needed information!! ??
Thank you so much for your comment. Totally agree with you ?
We need this animal freedom to be enforced more all over the world, especially places where animals get abused, abandoned or suffer from being forced to “share” their habitat with humans.
I am from Borneo Island, Indonesia. Endangered animals like orangutans are among others that are suffering from humans thirst on wealth. Every year we have forest fires because the palm oil plantations want to “clean” the land easily and in a cheap way. As a result, people suffer from the thick haze, animals and plants are destroyed. This has to change!
Thank you again for sharing this enlightening post.
Thank you for your comments Ferra. How interesting to be from Borneo! Thank you for your insight. I hope the orangutans and other animals on the island will get the justice they deserve one day (soon!). ?
What a nice post you wrote Susan! I really enjoyed reading it and could not be silent about your post so I decided to leave my comment here and say Thank You for sharing this quality post. Actually I was looking for information about the animal freedoms and when I landed on your website and read this post, it answered all my questions in details and it was exactly what I wanted to know.
I’m happy that you’ve decided to write about this topic and share it with others. It’s very useful post in my opinion and can definitely be used as a great source for everyone who is interested to know about this topic.
I will definitely come back to your site again to read more posts. Keep up quality articles! 🙂
Best,
Ali
Thank you Ali! Very kind words. I´m glad I was able to help answer all your question. Come back soon! ?
I LOVE this post Susan! As a pet owner myself, I deeply appreciate how well you explained & described this topic.
You have an educated background, and it really shows in this post. The Animal Welfare Act is vital for any pet owner to know.
Your post explains well about The Five Freedoms for ALL Animals. This is the exact knowledge that needs to reach the whole world!
If I want more information about the Animal Welfare Act, where would I go?
Thank you so much for writing this insightful & educational post!
Hi Elise, thank you for your comments. I´m very grateful. If you would like to know more about The Animal Welfare Act, I can point you here where you find information on other acts related to animals. BTW, I have also added this link above too. Thank you again.
This is a very deep post if anyone is willing to understand and it’s impact of it on animals. These animals need as natural environment as possible for them to fully thrive and flourish.
Just like the animals us human should also have the freedom to do what we want to do (obviously without hurting themselves and others).
Thank you
Thank you Habib. The 5 Animal Freedoms are unfortunately sometimes overlooked but they are so important.