Animal welfare is a concept which underlines life quality of animals. It includes physical and mental health, happiness, and a long life. Subject of animal welfare has been considered and discussed since the beginning of the 1960, in different parts of the world. Owing to these discussions, "Universal Declaration of Animal Rights" was accepted. Today, many significant developments and legal regulations have been declared about animal welfare in Organizations EU and member countries. The objectives of this study were to determine the relation of animal welfare and veterinary medicine from historical perspective, and to bring up legal structure in EU and Turkey.