The Guardian view on animal welfare: a timely reminder that cruelty is wrong | Editorial

New protections for hares, and more humane conditions on farms, should be welcomed by all

Looking after wildlife and improving the lives of farm animals and pets are the related but distinct aims of the government's new animal welfare strategy for England. Its launch is timely: more than 1 billion chickens and around 8 million turkeys are reared each year - with many of the latter slaughtered in the run-up to Christmas. Winter is also peak season for pet abandonments, with animal charities particularly fearful this year, given the already high numbers of dogs and cats being dumped.

Pledges to end the use of cages for laying hens, and cramped farrowing crates for pigs, will be welcomed byall who object to animal cruelty. So will a proposal toreplace the carbon dioxide stunning of pigs with an alternativethat is less distressing for them. New rules for farmed fish are also on the way. Until now, fish have been largely excluded from the evolving set of regulations aimed at minimising suffering at the pointof slaughter.

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