Document type : French National Assembly written answer published in the Journal officiel de la République française
Authors: Question: Alexandra Valetta Ardisson (La République en Marche - Alpes-Maritimes). Answer: Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Question: Ms Alexandra Valetta Ardisson draws the attention of the Minister for Agriculture and Food to the conditions under which capons are reared and castrated in France. She has been asked about the practice of caponisation in France by her constituents who are concerned about the operational procedures currently authorised in the country. Each year in France, more than 1,330,000 chicken capons and 270,000 guinea fowl capons are reared. Capons are male poultry that have been surgically castrated. Some of this so-called 'festive' poultry is produced under quality labels or logos, but some is also produced through intensive farming, with no access to the outdoors. In order to qualify for the "capon" label, all these animals, whatever their production method, are subjected to the practice of caponisation as well as to a period of fattening before slaughter which occurs in a completely enclosed building. The conditions under which capons are reared and castration with no anaesthetic ('live' castration) is carried out are designed to meet specific organoleptic and taste criteria. Caponisation consists of live castration, without any anaesthetic or analgesia, carried out by the farmer before the animal reaches sexual maturity. As the testicles of birds, unlike those of mammals, are located in the abdominal cavity, an incision (or two, depending on the case) must be made in the lower abdomen to extract them. The wound is then sewn up or left open and the bird is placed in a pen with its fellows for a short period of monitoring to reduce deaths resulting from the shock of stress and pain and infection. She would like to know whether the Ministry is working on this matter and whether, following the example of Belgium, which has banned the practice of caponisation since 2001, classifying it as "cruel", it plans to regulate it further or put an end to it.
Answer: The practice of caponisation is currently authorised, provided that it is carried out in accordance with the conditions set out in the Order of 5 October 2011 establishing the list of medical or surgical acts that may be performed on animals by certain persons who are not qualified veterinarians. These conditions include a particular requirement that the persons be properly qualified, or trained and experienced in this specific practice. In addition, since 2017, the French Reference Centre for Animal Welfare has provided collective expertise and technical and scientific references to improve the consideration of animal welfare. The "Biosecurity and Animal Welfare Pact" , one of the measures included in the recovery plan, with a budget of 100 million euros, represents an opportunity to support farmers committed to investing in animal welfare in particular. Last, Decree 2020-1625 of 18 December 2020 requires the appointment of an "animal welfare advisor" in all farms and training in animal welfare-friendly farming practices, particularly in the poultry sector, by 1 January 2022. The research undertaken, the industry's commitment to progress and the introduction of "animal welfare advisors" on poultry farms will make it possible to strengthen the degree to which animal welfare is taken into consideration on farms in the future. The practice of live castration in piglets is the subject of extensive research, particularly on pain management. Although carried out in relation to pigs, this work could help to advance the matter in poultry farming. Research is continuing along a number of lines, such as the use of topicals (cold spray, ointments) or phytotherapeutic preparations that could also be used on capons, including in labelled production processes. Furthermore, in order to increase research on painful farming practices, in January 2020 the previous Minister of Agriculture and Food asked the French Reference Centre for Animal Welfare and the national society of veterinary technical groups to work on objectifying painful practices and identifying alternatives. In the future, the sector's research work could therefore focus on the management of anaesthesia or post-caponisation analgesia or on the possibility of immunocastration.
