In 1997 this constitutional protection was invoked in a historic decision by the Brazilian Supreme Court to uphold a ban on Farra do Boi, a festival involving the torture and killing of bulls and oxen in the state of Santa Catarina.
2008 instructions establish procedures for rearing and transporting animals and provide for the production of Manuals of Good Practice (whose adoption is voluntary[6]).
[4] In September 29 of 2020, president Jair Bolsonaro sanctioned a law that imposes more severe punishment for mistreatment of animals, namely dogs and cats.
[8] A 2014 source states that Brazil has the world's second-largest cattle herd (behind India) at 187 million animals.
[1] A 2014 source states that Brazil is the second-largest fish consumer in the world (behind Japan) at 12 kg per person per year.
[12] In 2014, BRF - Brazil's largest pork producer - committed to phasing out the continuous use of gestation crates from its supply chain by 2026.
In 2015, JBS - the world's largest animal protein processing company - announced plans to phase out all use of gestation crates at company-owned facilities by 2016, and the Brazilian Pork Producers Association announced that it will lead a study concerning a transition to higher-welfare group housing systems.
Poor road conditions and weather often make journeys to the slaughterhouse last sixty or more hours, leading to extreme stress and death for the animals.
From 2007 to 2009 the Brazilian National Development Bank invested $2.65 billion in the country's three largest beef suppliers.
[1] In 2012, the government announced a plan to invest $2 billion until 2014 "to double catches and reach two million tons of fish annually.
[2] In 2014 the state of São Paulo banned most fur farming,[5] imposing a fine of at least 10,000 reais (approximately US$2880) for offenders.
"[3] In 2005, a writ of habeas corpus was requested for Suíça, a chimpanzee caged in allegedly inadequate conditions at a zoo.
"[16] Several years earlier, a habeas corpus petition to release a caged bird had been dismissed.
"[4] Two Brazilian groups were represented at the 1910 International Congress of animal protection organizations in Washington, D.C. (compared with much larger delegations from Europe, the U.S., and Canada).