Animal Healt

general framework and legal principles

Abstract

Two different branches of the public Administration have traditionally tackled the issue of animal health. One of them aimed to protect people?s health. The other one aimed to protect the livestock as an economic sector. This distinction was the base for all the relevant legislation and the administrative organization on this field, as well as for the allotment of competences between the State and the Autonomous Communities. However, this distinction, which never was fully convincing, is considered to be completely meaningless today. This is why, in recent times, the prevailing approach seeks for a single legal scheme for animal health. This paper underlines the progressive alignment of the two traditional ways of public intervention above mentioned and their common principles.