Taiwan has published official guidelines for the welfare of cattle raised for meat. The guidelines set out requirements for producers that wish to describe their products as ‘animal-friendly’ (友善), covering husbandry management, housing, health and natural behaviors.

The guidelines require regular evaluation of body condition scores, proper ventilation and cooling measures to prevent heat stress, and prohibit the practice of tethering.

Painful mutilations, such as castration and disbudding, should be conducted as soon as possible after birth and accompanied by pain management. Dehorning may only be performed in case of broken horns and must be accompanied by pain management.

The guidelines require that cattle are free to lie down or engage in natural social behaviors and prohibit the practice of tethering.

If housed in individual pens, calves should also have enough space to stand up, lie down and eat and drink. The guidelines also recommend calves be provided with soft bedding.

EAST advocated for stronger standards throughout the formulation process. However, the guidelines fall short of providing adequate space, ensuring sufficient fiber intake and requiring anesthetic or pain management for painful mutilations. In addition, castration of male calves can take place up until six months of age.

Wu Hung, chief executive of EAST, expressed that the guidelines do not match up to international equivalents such as New Zealand’s and urged the authorities to improve the standards.

EAST campaigned for the government to enact welfare guidelines for cattle in 2019, after exposing appalling conditions on dairy farms in Taiwan. The government published guidelines for dairy cattle in 2021.

In Taiwan, the majority of cattle raised for meat are male calves from the dairy industry.

EAST will continue to campaign for stronger welfare protections.

Media contact

Yu-Min Chen, Deputy Chief Executive
Environment &; Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST)
Mobile: +886 (9) 1015 0908
Phone: +886 (2) 2236 9735