Animal category: Cattle

DG SANTE audit report on Belgium highlighting that little progress has been made by the Belgian competent authorities since the previous audit in 2014 on the assessment of the effectiveness of official controls on commercial operators when killing animals in abattoirs.

DG SANTE audit report on France, concluding that the controls carried out on vessels loading in France and in the course of the French approvals procedure for livestock vessels are not sufficient to minimise the risks for animal welfare.

Scientific article studying the views and breeding practices of British cattle farmers in terms of the identification and management of lameness, and highlighting a pressing need for training to improve these two aspects of livestock farming.

Scientific paper comparing the effects of paper- and sawdust-based bedding on the welfare of lactating dairy cows, looking specifically at lying behaviour, activity, lameness, skin lesions, cleanliness and productivity and finding no significant difference between the two bedding types.

Answer to a question on how France intends to require a foreign vessel to take temperature readings in order to complete French records if its legal competence ends when the animals board the foreign vessel.

Scientific review examining the use of the term "animal-based measures" in scientific articles on animal welfare, noting that the term is rarely used and that there is no consensus on the definition.

Review article on the proper assessment of indicators of consciousness and unconsciousness: moment at which the assessment is carried out, interpretation of the assessment, particular areas for vigilance depending on the assessment method used.

A document outlining Australia's new RSPCA standards for the welfare of dairy calves. The main elements are: improving the fulfilment of the behavioural needs of calves, provision of sufficient quality and quantity of colostrum, housing of calves in groups in suitable conditions, no transport of calves under 10 days of age, and prohibition of painful practices such as the dehorning of calves.

Question on the identity of the authority responsible for implementing the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the protection of live animals during transport.

EPRS Briefing on the sanction systems applied by Member States where there is a violation of Regulation 1/2005 on the transport of live animals. This briefing is one of four requested by the Committee of Inquiry on Animal Protection during Transport (ANIT) as part of its assessment of the implementation of the regulation by Member States.