Armenian animal welfare bill sparks backlash from advocates

An Armenian lawmaker-backed bill on responsible treatment of animals has drawn sharp criticism from animal welfare groups, who warn it could undermine public health and lead to the mass euthanasia of stray animals rather than humane population control.

The Armenian parliament this week approved in the first reading a draft law “On Responsible Treatment of Animals”. The vote prompted protests by animal rights advocates, who called for the bill to be withdrawn and subjected to broad public consultation, arguing it is incomplete and open to abuse.

“The original concept of this bill has been completely distorted,” Nare Aramyan, Armenia’s representative of the Pro Paws NGO, told Panorama.am in an interview. “Its scope has been narrowed and its core principles are missing. There are no clear prohibitions with legal consequences for citizens, officials or institutions.”

According to Aramyan, the draft law was initially developed years ago with input from the British animal welfare organization Pro Paws and international experts, and was submitted to Armenia’s National Assembly in 2011. She said subsequent revisions, particularly after 2018, stripped the bill of its original logic and effectiveness.

“This field is not primarily about animal welfare and certainly not about animal rights, as some uninformed MPs claim,” Aramyan said. “It is first and foremost about public health and environmental safety.”

She added that Armenia lacks the legal and institutional maturity even to regulate animals as property, let alone to introduce a meaningful framework for animal rights.

“For more than 20 years, we have worked in this sector and studied best practices in over 20 countries,” Aramyan said. “Today, people who do not understand this field and do not even attempt to consult those with experience are presenting this as a great solution. Frankly, it is no longer even amusing.”

Critics are particularly concerned that the bill could enable corruption schemes under which stray animals would be euthanized rather than sterilized, despite international evidence that sterilization is the most effective way to control stray populations.

Aramyan also warned against plans to establish shelters for stray animals in Armenia’s regions, saying such measures could worsen the problem.

“If you remove part of the animal population from the streets, the remaining animals reproduce faster, take over food sources, become more aggressive and increase the risk of epidemics,” she said. “What do we want — one dog for every citizen, with dogs attacking people? If we do not understand these basic principles, how can we adopt a law?”

Protesters say there has been little to no meaningful consultation with civil society or relevant state bodies. Aramyan said animal welfare groups had met with parliament only once since 2018, without any substantive discussion of the bill’s content.

“What public hearings or expert consultations are we talking about? There have been none,” she said. “This law will primarily harm ordinary citizens, including those who are afraid of animals or indifferent to them, people who have nothing to do with this sector.”

Aramyan said her organisation and other activists would continue to oppose the draft legislation unless it is withdrawn and reworked through an inclusive, expert-led process involving health, justice and environmental authorities.