Oak processionary the same manner. Oak is its preferred food source, but the moth also eats the leaves of hazel, hornbeam, sweet chestnut, birch and beech. The moths pose an increasing threat to humans as their range is extended. The backs of older caterpillars (3rd to 6th instars) are covered with up to 63,000 pointed defensive bristles, which contain an urticating toxin (e.g., the protein thaumetopoein). The setae break off readily, become airborne and can cause epidemic caterpillar dermatitis (lepidopterism), manifested as a papular rash, pruritus, conjunctivitis and, if inhaled, pharyngitis and respiratory distress, including asthma or even anaphylaxis; however, as of
Animal welfare and rights in the Netherlands is unclear what the implications of this declaration are in practice. As a member of the European Union (EU), beginning in the 1990s Netherlands began to implement EU regulations on animal welfare, including a 1997 measure forbidding pen confinement of veal calves greater than 8 weeks old, a 1998 directive on the five freedoms for farmed animals, and bans on testing cosmetics on animals, barren battery cages, and gestation crates. The Animals Act 2011 prohibits causing an animal pain or injury or damaging its health and welfare without reasonable purpose or in excess of what is reasonable for such purpose.