Photo credit: ARBA
Two recent votes in Peru’s Congress signal a growing recognition that farmed animal welfare deserves a place in public policy.
On May 22, the Consumer Protection Committee approved legislation that would require egg producers to disclose how hens are raised, allowing consumers to distinguish between eggs from caged, cage-free, and free-range systems.
Then, on June 2, the Agrarian Commission unanimously approved Bill No. 12220/2025-CR, which would require the use of anesthesia or analgesia during painful procedures commonly performed on piglets, including castration, tail docking, and teeth clipping.
Neither bill has become law yet; both must still pass votes in the full Congress. But together, they signal a notable shift in a country where farmed animal welfare has historically received little legislative attention.
What the Bills Would Do
Social change often arrives in increments rather than revolutions. The pig welfare bill does not prohibit painful procedures such as castration, tail docking, and teeth clipping. Instead, it establishes a new principle: that the pain those animals experience should be recognized and minimized.
Similarly, the egg-labeling bill would not ban cages. Rather, it focuses on transparency, requiring producers to disclose how hens are housed and allowing consumers to make more informed choices about the eggs they purchase.
Curious pigs look over the wall of their barren group pen at a pig farm. According to the photojournalist, conditions inside the barn are foul-smelling and dirty. Undisclosed location, Peru, 2023.
ARBA / We Animals
Hens with trimmed beaks protrude their heads through the tops of crowded, rusted battery cages at an egg production farm. Undisclosed Location, Peru, 2024.
Sinergia Animal / Open Wing Alliance / We Animals
A young hen with a severely trimmed beak lives in a crowded battery cage at an egg production farm. Undisclosed Location, Peru, 2024.
Sinergia Animal / Open Wing Alliance / We Animals
Years of Advocacy and Public Awareness
The advancement of these bills did not happen overnight. It reflects years of work by animal protection organizations, veterinarians, legal experts, advocates, and concerned citizens.
Congresswoman Sigrid Bazán played a key role in advancing the pig welfare legislation, while organizations including ARBA, Te Protejo and Fundación Igualdad Animal helped build momentum behind both initiatives.
We Animals is proud to support the dissemination of visual documentation from organisations working on behalf of farmed animals in Latin America. In 2023, we collaborated with ARBA, when they presented an exhibition of HIDDEN at Peru’s national Congress building in Lima, showing lawmakers and visitors the realities of industrial animal agriculture.
Video credit: ARBA
Images can make visible what often remains hidden within industrial food systems. They help audiences connect policy discussions to the lives of individual animals.
Whether these bills ultimately become law remains to be seen. But their advancement marks a significant milestone for Peru and signals growing momentum for farmed animal protection across Latin America.