Rescue dog from North Carolina animal fights

Michelle Riley / The HSUS

Italy

Humane World for Animals Italy

We're working to make a more humane Italy.

Our Impact

Italy follows the EU’s requirements for animal welfare. The country also has its own protections in place, including legislation prohibiting the mistreatment of animals. And an annual National Plan on Animal Welfare guides Italy’s compliance with EU regulations on farm animals.

Top animal welfare issues include intensive cage and crate confinement and extreme crowding on farms, the import of animal trophies, dogfighting and the use of animals for testing in laboratories.

What we are working on

Humane World for Animals is working hard to help. We’re persuading corporations to adopt policies that give farmed animals room to move while also advocating for a more plant-forward food system. We’re ending the cruel practice of trophy hunting. We’re raising awareness about dogfighting while working to eradicate it. And we’re finding alternative ways to test products without harming animals.

Working to end trophy hunting

Humane World for Animals

#NotInMyWorld

Stopping trophy hunting

Between 2013 and 2022, Italy imported 492 hunting trophies from protected species—including elephants and polar bears. Italy is also one of just five countries to have imported a trophy from the critically endangered black rhinoceros. We're pressure the Italian government—and the Parliamentary majority supporting it—to ban the import of hunting trophies.

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young piglets Patsy & Saffron play in Summer sunshine in their enclosure at Pigs In The Wood sanctuary for pigs

Tom Woollard/We Animals Media

We're working to prevent suffering by farmed animals.

Improving the lives of farmed animals

We are focused on creating better living conditions for farmed animals. As of 2020, some 300 million animals were confined to cages in the EU, 45 million of those in Italy. Humane World for Animals is committed to reducing those numbers and giving pigs, chickens, and other farmed animals more room to move.

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Fox on a fur farm

Oikeutta eläimille

Animals need their fur—we don't.

Going Fur-free

To promote fur-free policies, we continue collaborating with the fashion industry. We encourage brands to adopt cruelty-free practices and shift away from using fur. 

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Rescued from dogfighting in Italy

Chiara Muzzini/Fondazione Cave Canem

Rescued from dogfighting.

Stopping dogfighting

We’re continuing efforts to combat dogfighting by providing law enforcement with the skills to identify and address this cruel practice. We also contribute to expert research on dogfighting, deepening understanding of its prevalence and impact. And we actively engage public opinion, raising awareness about the issue and encouraging communities to recognize and report signs of dogfighting.

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Highlights of our work

taxidermy zebra, deer, bear and other animals at auction

Nel 2023, ITA Airways, la principale compagnia aerea italiana, ha aderito alla campagna #NotInMyWorld che mira a porre fine alla caccia al trofeo vietando il trasporto di tali trofei.

Beautiful orange fox standing in the snow.

Nel 2021, l'Italia ha vietato questa pratica, una decisione che ha contribuito alla chiusura dei dieci allevamenti di visoni della nazione. Questo cambiamento è stato possibile grazie agli sforzi dei nostri esperti e attivisti. Insieme ai nostri partner, abbiamo convinto molti marchi di moda italiani - come Gucci, Prada e Max Mara - a dire addio alle pellicce. 

Chicken perched in a cage free facility.

Conferiamo riconoscimenti alle aziende italiane che stanno facendo la differenza nell'ambito dell'allevamento di animali. Nel 2020, abbiamo premiato Barilla - il più grande produttore di pasta al mondo - per la sua posizione di rilievo nell'adozione e nell'attuazione di una politica che vieta l'utilizzo di uova provenienti da galline confinate in gabbia.

Dog in dark boarded cage looks out at HSUS animal rescue team

Per mettere fine ai combattimenti tra cani, abbiamo lanciato la campagna "Io non combatto", che ha permesso di salvare cani coinvolti nei combattimenti. Abbiamo anche redatto una guida che aiuta le persone a riconoscere i segnali di questa attività illegale e abbiamo realizzato un opuscolo educativo per le scuole. Abbiamo infine fornito formazione specifica alle Forze di polizia impegnate nel contrasto delle scommesse e del gioco d'azzardo.

Latest News

HSI
ITA Airways joins the campaign of the international organization Humane Society International/Europe and introduces a ban on transporting hunting trophies on its flights, both as cargo and as passenger baggage

ROME—The leading Italian airline, ITA Airways, proudly announces its support of the campaign #NotInMyWorld of the global animal protection charity Humane Society International/Europe. The airline has

Italy
Italian fashion designer Valentino to go fur-free

ROME—Iconic Italian fashion designer Valentino is the latest major fashion house to drop fur from its collections and shutting down its fur subsidiary, Valentino Polar. The company’s fur-free policy

Italy
Italy ranks 17th in the EU for percentage of caged farm animals; End the Cage Age Coalition urges Ministers Speranza and Bellanova to phase out cages.

ROME—The Italian coalition, End the Cage Age, published today a ranking of European countries, which shows the percentage of farm animals still kept in cages. Of the over 300 million animals who each

Italy
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Photo by Volodymyr Burdiak/Alamy Stock Photo/