Animal category: Cattle

European Parliament: written answer to question E-002691/2023 : Will the Commission make slaughter with stunning the new standard in Europe?

Question: Annika Bruna (ID), Gilles Lebreton (ID), Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (NI), Eric Minardi (ID), France Jamet (ID), Marie Dauchy (ID), Catherine Griset (ID), Dan-Ştefan Motreanu (PPE), André Rougé (ID), Elżbieta Kruk (ECR), Dominique Bilde (ID). Reply: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2023

Answer to a question on whether the European Commission is ready to ban slaughter without stunning and extend this ban to imported meat from animals slaughtered in third countries.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Welfare indicators, Human-animal relationships, Stress

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European Parliament: Written answer to Question E-002548/23: Distinction between slaughter animals and breeding animals in connection with animal welfare during transport

Question: Niels Fuglsang (S&D). Answer: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2023

Answer to a question on whether it makes sense to distinguish between animals for slaughter and animals not intended for slaughter when transporting animals.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Equines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords: Transport

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How might the public contribute to the discussion on cattle welfare? Perspectives of veterinarians and animal scientists

Beth Ventura, Daniel M Weary, Marina AG von Keyserlingk

Published in 2023

Scientific article seeking the views of veterinarians and zootechnicians on concerns over the welfare of cattle expressed by members of the public and on how public opinion should be taken into account when developing ways to improve welfare. Those interviewed consider the general public to lack knowledge of livestock farming and believe that its members need to be educated in order to gain a better understanding of the issues. They could contribute to improving welfare by paying higher prices for animal products.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Livestock farming system

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Measuring dairy cow welfare with real-time sensor-based data and farm records: a concept study

A.H. Stygar, L. Frondelius, G.V. Berteselli, Y. Gómez, E. Canali, J.K. Niemi, P. Llonch, M. Pastel

Published in 2023

Scientific article presenting an algorithm designed to assess the welfare of dairy cows based on sensor data (accelerometer and/or lactometer) and farm records. It concludes that the algorithm alone cannot not provide a sufficiently sensitive and specific assessment of cow welfare, but that there is merit in combining it with farm-based welfare measurement visits.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Animal-based measurements, Precision farming, Welfare indicators

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Animal board invited review: Quantification of resilience in farm animals

M. Taghipoor, M. Pastell, O. Martin, H. Nguyen Ba, J. van Milgen, A. Doeschl-Wilson, C. Loncke, N.C. Friggens, L. Puillet, R. Muñoz-Tamayo

Published in 2023

Scientific article on the detection and quantification of the responses of farm animals to changes in their environment as a means to classify them individually according to their level of resilience. To this purpose, the authors analyze the use of different modeling approaches to data generation from high-throughput recordings.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Category of animals: Bovines, Caprines, Ovines, Porcines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Precision farming, Welfare indicators, Modelling, Resilience, Stress

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Perspectives d’avenir des relations élevage et société

CGAAER

Published in 2023

CGAAER report on the conditions required to reconcile the positions of the French public and livestock farming. The CGAAER considers that the controversy surrounding livestock farming can only be resolved after a discussion between all stakeholders to develop shared objectives for future livestock farming. This will call for a multidisciplinary scientific committee to clarify the terms of the debate, and a dialogue between the different sectors to develop common messages.

Document Types: Opinions

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Societal issues, One Welfare, Human-animal relationships, Livestock farming system

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Improvement of the Welfare Quality scoring model for dairy cows to fit experts' opinion

R. Lardy, R. Botreau, A. de Boyer des Roches, F.J.C.M. van Eerdenburg, S. de Graaf, MJ Haskell, MK Kirchner, L. Mounier, M Kjosevski, F.A.M. Tuyttens, I. Veissier

Published in 2023

Scientific paper on improvements to the welfare quality calculations for the "Absence of prolonged thirst" and "Absence of disease" criteria in the Welfare Quality assessment protocol for dairy cows, bringing the  results are more into line with the input data and better reflecting expert opinion.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Human-animal relationships, Welfare indicators

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Towards the use of on-farm slaughterhouse

Thierry Astruc, E.M. Claudia Terlouw

Published in 2023

Scientific review of the different stages of slaughtering and their possible impacts on animal stress, welfare and meat quality. It reviews the regulations and technological advances that have led to the development of mobile slaughter units, presents a non-exhaustive list of mobile slaughter units currently in use, and sets out the advantages and disadvantages of these mobile units.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Equines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Brain integration, Carcass quality, Stress, Livestock farming system

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Dairy cattle welfare - the relative effect of legislation, industry standards, and labelled niche production in five European countries

P. Sandøe, H.O. Hansen, E.A.M. Bokkers, P.S. Enemark, B. Forkman, M.J. Haskell, F. Lundmark Hedman, H. Houe, R. Mandel, S.S. Nielsen, E.M. de Olde, C. Palmer, C.S. Vogeler, T. Christensen

Published in 2023

Scientific article comparing animal welfare provisions in dairy cattle production in five countries that have adopted different combinations of approaches (legislation, industry standards, quality label requirements), namely Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. It reveals a broad diversity of standards implemented and in the levels of welfare achieved among the countries.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Societal issues, Human-animal relationships

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