Is Denmark a leader in animal welfare?
Besvaret 31. oktober 2026
It depends on whether you look at the rules or at the animals' lives. On paper Denmark is at the top for dairy cows and only slightly above the EU minimum for pigs.
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen compared rules and labelling schemes in five European countries. For dairy cows, Denmark and Sweden had the highest level, largely because of their laws. For pigs, Denmark was only slightly above what the EU minimum requirements alone would give.
The rules require the calf to stay with the cow for at least 12 hours after birth. Aarhus University writes that cow and calf react markedly more strongly to separation after 4 days than after 24 hours. According to SEGES, the farming sector's knowledge centre, a Holstein cow is inseminated again 79 days after calving on average, and Danish cows live 2½ to 3 lactations. A review funded by the dairy industry says a dairy cow can live around 20 years. In 2023, 1.1 percent of Jersey calves from first calvings were killed at birth, although the industry had voluntarily agreed to stop this from 2022. In a Danish study from 2007-2009, 29.5 percent of cows were lame.
Across 24 European countries 77 percent of pigs were tail-docked on average, against under 5 percent in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Conventional broiler chickens are slaughtered at about 36 days old, and 77 percent of them walk abnormally.
When the Danish food authority inspected cattle farms selected by risk in 2024, 284 of 861 received at least one sanction. The national audit office finds that poor pig welfare is not detected and sanctioned effectively.
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- Studie af fem landes regler fra Københavns Universitet, 2023Ét studie · TværsnitsstudieDairy cattle welfare – the relative effect of legislation, industry standards and labelled niche production in five European countries
- Landbrugets statistik over avl og kælvninger hos danske malkekøer, 2023Ét studie · DatasætÅrsstatistik Avl 2023
- Aarhus Universitet om slagtekyllingers liv og velfærd i DanmarkÉt studie · Rapport · ca. 105 mio. slagtekyllinger om åretDyrevelfærd hos slagtekyllinger i DK – hvad du bør vide som forbruger
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