Luxembourg Is The Best Country For Animals, China The Worst, India Ranked 37th Globally

The rights of animals and laws to protect them from abuse are some things that are often overlooked, around the world. Strict laws are required to ensure that the animals, who end up becoming our best friends and a source of livelihood for millions are properly taken care of.

In this regard, some countries perform better than others and make the world a better place for not just humans, but animals as well.

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A recent study called Animal Rights Index, compiled by US-based researcher Matthew H Nash looked into the practices in 67 countries ranked them accordingly.

The study examined data from various animal rights groups from across the world and evaluate each country was based on the following criteria:

• Recognition of animal sentience
• Recognition of animal suffering
• Any laws against animal cruelty
• National fur-farming ban Support for the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare M
• Eat consumption per capita (negative factor)
• Percentage of protected areas
• Pesticide usage per hectare of cropland (negative factor)
• Environmental Performance Index Score

According to the index, Luxembourg, with an overall score of 519.68 topped the list, followed by the United Kingdom (506.36) Austria (501.73), Czechia (498.66) Belgium (488.86) in the top five.

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China with a score of 12.46 was at the bottom of the list. Giving China company was Vietnam (45.24) Iran (71.40) Azerbaijan (73.07) Belarus (105.65)

India was ranked 37th on the list, behind Indonesia, Japan, and Canada.

Surprisingly, India had performed better than the United States, Australia, South Africa, Thailand, and Malaysia in the ranking.

According to Nash, what worked for India was its recognition of animal suffering as well as having laws against animal cruelty. India also performed #1 out of 67 countries with regards to meat consumption averaging only 3.78 kgs per capita compared to the United States being the worst with an average of 124.1 kgs per capita.

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¡°While no nation received perfect grades, Central and Western European countries in addition to the United Kingdom, mostly have more progressive laws and better environments for animal welfare. India did exceedingly well in meat consumption levels which is a cause for celebration,¡± Nash said.

Where India lost points is due to lack of recognition of animal sentience, low percentage of protected areas for wildlife, a low score on the Environmental Performance Index, and only partial laws in place banning fur-farming.

India also ranked 5th worst on the percentage of protected areas. Protected areas are considered lands protected by the government in the form of wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, natural reserves, and more. Protected land is a positive factor for animal welfare, as it allows wildlife to roam freely.

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Other factors include support for the Universal Declaration of Animal Welfare, for which India gained a ¡°partial¡± rating. India scored the equivalent of an ¡°F¡± letter grade on the Yale University Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which ranks countries on 40 different factors. These factors include air quality, waste management, pollution, agriculture, climate change, and more. India performed particularly poorly on this metric with the second-worst rating behind Myanmar.

¡°India ranked above countries like the USA, Thailand, Israel, and Australia. While India still has a long way to go in terms of animal welfare, there is some room for celebration regarding its recognition of animal suffering, laws against animal cruelty, and exceptionally low meat consumption," Nash said.

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According to Nash, countries like China have failed to provide any protection to animals, not just domestic ones, but also animals used for farming and wildlife.

¡°The bottom ten performed poorly in ranking due to lack of any protections for animal welfare. Implementing laws that recognize animals can suffer and feel pain would be a large step in a positive direction,¡± he explained.

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