Recognition that animals are living, sentient beings and therefore deserve due consideration and respect; recognition that animal welfare includes animal health and encompasses both the physical and psychological state of the animal and that good practices in animal welfare can have major benefits for humans and the environment

Recognition that humans inhabit this planet with other species and other forms of life and that all forms of life co-exist within an interdependent ecosystem; recognition of the importance of the ongoing work of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in setting global standards for animal welfare and that Member States should adopt all necessary measures to give effect to the principles of UDAW, including the implementation of these standards

Acknowledgment that many states already have a system of legal protection for animals, both domestic and wild and that the continued effectiveness of these systems must be ensured, with the development of better and more comprehensive animal welfare provisions.

Awareness that the Five Freedoms (freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from physical and thermal discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; and freedom to express normal patterns of behavior) and the Three Rs (reduction in numbers of animals, refinement of experimental methods, & replacement of animals with non-animal techniques) provide valuable guidance for the use of animals; recognition that the provisions contained in this declaration do not affect the rights of any state