Who is responsible for animal rights?

This was one of the first pages on Animal Freedom. We wrote it because everyone pointed at someone else when it came to responsibility for animal suffering. That still happens.

Towards responsible behaviour towards animals

The starting point for how we treat animals is the right of animals to freedom: the freedom to behave naturally and live according to their nature. That right is only fully respected when we no longer eat animals, no longer keep pets in captivity and all animals live in free nature, with enough space and only natural enemies.

But even in a society where animals are still kept and eaten, we can do a lot to better guarantee their rights. The question is: who should do it?

Why does everyone point at someone else?

The farmer points at the supermarket, the supermarket at the consumer, the consumer at the government and the government at the market. That is no coincidence. Psychologists call it diffusion of responsibility: the more people share a responsibility, the less each of them feels addressed. In the 1960s, psychologists Darley and Latané showed that people are less likely to intervene in an emergency when others are present: the bystander effect. When it comes to animal suffering, everyone is a bystander. Read also about indifference and changing behaviour.

The answer is not that one party is responsible, but that everyone is, according to their influence. The more influence you have, the more responsibility you bear. Those who work directly with animals bear the most.

The ladder of responsibility

Farmers and pet owners

They determine the animal's life from day to day. Farmers like to present themselves as victims of banks, the feed industry and buyers. But every farmer who stops intensive farming reduces animal suffering. Whoever takes a pet bears full responsibility for its welfare too.

Consumers

Consumers choose every day what they buy and cook. Eating responsibly also means being willing to learn how to prepare alternatives. What you profess, you show in the shop.

Supermarkets and fast-food chains

With their wide range and low prices they largely determine what people eat. Fast-food chains increase meat consumption. Supermarkets can choose meat with a minimum welfare standard and stop selling meat at rock-bottom prices.

Now: many supermarkets sell meat with welfare labels, but still regularly offer cheap meat as a bargain.

Banks, feed industry and processors

They have economic interests in keeping as many animals as possible: banks through loans, the feed industry through sales and processors through volume. They can set conditions for animal welfare.

Media, advertising and interest groups

Journalists, advertisers, entertainers and interest groups of consumers and producers shape public opinion. Whoever shows the reality of the shed makes a real choice possible.

Churches and education

They pass on norms and values. Churches, schools and social organisations can make people aware of how they treat animals.

Inspectors

Rules only make sense if they are enforced. In many countries a farm is inspected for animal welfare only once every few years, or even less often. Without enforcement, rules remain words on paper.

Government and politics

Governments can set rules against excesses in the market and in animal housing. They manage tax money and should not subsidise practices that maintain animal suffering. Voters have influence on this.

Europe and world trade

International trade pushes prices down: those who care least about animal welfare produce most cheaply. By limiting the export of meat and making agreements in Europe and the World Trade Organization, that can change.

Now: 1.4 million Europeans signed the citizens' initiative "End the Cage Age". The European Commission has announced proposals for a ban on cages: in 2026 for laying hens and broilers, in mid-2027 for sows.

Interests versus responsibility

Besides responsibility, the meat-eating consumer also has an interest in a low price. That creates a big gap between what citizens say and what consumers do. Overproduction for export keeps meat prices lower than is responsible. That also makes it hard for countries to call others to account: they have skeletons in their own cupboard.

Since individual responsibility has become more important, the role of traditional guardians of morality, such as churches and governments, has become smaller. That is good, but there must remain institutions that ensure the vulnerable, human and animal, do not become the victims. That protective role lies first and foremost with the government.

Taking responsibility yourself

Everyone is responsible. Precisely that makes it easy to pass the responsibility on. That is why we must dare to hold each other accountable, even if nobody enjoys doing so. There is no single way: it is about taking responsibility in several areas at the same time.

Everyone can do something for animals

Do not wait for others to begin. Everyone can start today by setting a good example, at home, at work or at school. You can do a lot for animals yourself. It can even be fun. Society, that is us.

Sources: Animal Law Europe (July 2026); Darley and Latané, Bystander intervention in emergencies (1968). Updated October 2026.