Wallonia bans chick culling and live animal markets 

Brussels, 2/07/2025 — The Walloon government has adopted a historic animal welfare policy, introducing a ban on the gassing of male chicks and the sale of live animals at weekly markets. With this groundbreaking move, Wallonia becomes the first Belgian region to prohibit the gassing of day-old male chicks, joining pioneering countries such as Germany and France.

In the egg industry, male chicks are typically killed shortly after hatching because they do not lay eggs and are considered economically unviable. Methods such as gassing or shredding are widely used across Europe and beyond. Wallonia’s ban sends a strong ethical signal to the rest of Belgium and the European Union, encouraging the adoption of alternative technologies such as in-ovo sexing (which allows the detection of the sex of the chick before hatching).

Additionally, Wallonia will ban the sale of live animals at weekly markets, following Brussels’ example. The region will also prohibit home slaughter and impose significantly stricter penalties for animal welfare violations, including higher fines and potential prison sentences.

GAIA, Belgium’s leading animal rights organisation, welcomes these important steps forward but stresses that several serious issues remain unaddressed, such as the force-feeding of ducks and geese for foie gras, surgical castration of piglets without pain relief, and the poor living conditions of broiler chickens.

GAIA President Michel Vandenbosch commented:

"These decisions represent undeniable progress for animal welfare in Wallonia. However, there is still a long way to go. We call on Minister-President Dolimont to maintain this positive momentum and to finally tackle other severe forms of animal suffering, including foie gras production and animal testing. Our 33 detailed recommendations provide a concrete roadmap for further reform. Rome and Paris were not built in a day, and much work remains to be done in the coming years."

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