Animal category: Goats

L’agriculture bio garantit-elle un meilleur « bien-être » des animaux d’élevage ?

Eugénie Duval, Benjamin Lecorps

Published in 2021

Article demonstrating that the French organic label guarantees higher animal welfare standards than conventional farming, providing access to outdoors, banning cage rearing and tethered systems, allowing only exceptional authorisation of non-medical surgical interventions, and requiring more frequent checks and compulsory stunning before slaughter. However, the legislation on transport and slaughter is still inadequate, even in the case of organic farming.

Document Types: Scientific review

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

Keywords: Housing, Living environment, Mutilation, Livestock farming system, Transport,Societal issues

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Animal welfare: a shift from live to meat-and-carcass transport

Gediminas Vilkas

Published in 2021

Press release presenting the results of the European Parliament's Committee of Inquiry into the protection of animals during transport. The committee recognised that EU rules on the protection of animals during transport are not always respected and that the welfare needs of animals during transport are not always met. It recommends limiting and better monitoring the export of live animals, developing meat-and-carcass transport and banning the transport of very young animals.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

Keywords:Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Stress, Transport

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Genome editing and farmed animals

Pete Mills

Published in 2021

Report describing genome editing techniques, and critically analysing their potential use for livestock. It makes recommendations, in particular the need for a full scientific review of the literature before changing the UK regulations in this area and for a dialogue between scientists and the public on these issues.

Document Types: Opinions

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

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Societal issues, Resilience, Robustness, Livestock farming system

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Animal Welfare and Farmers' Satisfaction in Small-Scale Dairy Farms in the Eastern Alps: A "One Welfare" Approach

Chiara Spigarelli, Marco Berton, Mirco Corazzin, Luigi Gallo, Sabine Pinterits, Maurizio Ramanzin, Wolfgang Ressi, Enrico Sturaro, Anna Zuliani, Stefano Bovolenta

Published in 2021

Scientific paper invesetigating the relationships between farmer satisfaction, animal welfare outcomes and the overall performance of small-scale dairy farms in the Eastern Alps.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Ovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Livestock buildings, Societal issues, Welfare indicators, Living environment, Human-animal relationships, Livestock farming system

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Welfare of sheep and goats at slaughter

EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW), Søren Saxmose Nielsen, Julio Alvarez, Dominique Joseph Bicout, Paolo Calistri, Elisabetta Canali, Julian Ashley Drewe, Bruno Garin-Bastuji, Jose Luis Gonzales Rojas, Christian Gortazar Schmidt, Mette Herskin, Miguel Angel Miranda Chueca, Barbara Padalino, Paolo Pasquali, Helen Clare Roberts, Hans Spoolder, Karl Stahl, Antonio Velarde, Arvo Viltrop, Christoph Winckler, Denise Candiani, Cristina Rapagna, Yves Van der Stede, Virginie Michel

Published in 2021

Scientific Opinion on slaughter processes from a welfare perspective, covering three phases: pre-stunning (including arrival, unloading from the lorry, stalling, and the handling and movement of animals); stunning (including restraint); and bleeding.

Document Types: Opinions

Animal categories:Goats, Sheep

Keywords:Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Welfare indicators, Stress

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European Parliament: Written answer to Question E-004061/2021 : Animal welfare during transport to third countries

Question: Francisco Guerreiro (Greens/EFA). Answer: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2021

Response to a question on the possible welfare implications of animals being transported live to Israel, and more widely, to countries in conflict or at war.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

Keywords: Societal issues, Transport

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Animal-Based Indicators for On-Farm Welfare Assessment in Goats

Adrian Minnig, Romane Zufferey, Beat Thomann, Sibylle Zwygart, Nina Keil, Gertraud Schüpbach-Regula, Raymond Miserez, Dimitri Stucki, Patrik Zanolari

Published in 2021

Scientific review article identifying 32 animal-based welfare indicators and 3 assessment protocols to evaluate the welfare of intensively-farmed dairy goats.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Caprines

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

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Agriculture MEPs call for a scientifically-sound update of animal welfare rules

Gediminas Vilkas, Hana Raissi

Published in 2021

News item presenting the main conclusions of the draft resolution on the implementation report on animal welfare rules on farms, adopted by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on 26 October 2021. They include a call for clearer and more consistent EU rules, financial incentives for farmers, and an EU-wide animal-welfare labelling system.

Document Types: Opinions

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

Keywords: Societal issues, Livestock farming system

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French Assemblée nationale: Written answer to question n°36537: Défendre le maintien et le développement des abattoirs de proximité

Question: Régis Juanico (Socialistes et apparentés - Loire). Answer: Ministry of Agriculture and Food

Published in 2021

Answer to a question on the Government's intentions regarding the retention of  local abattoirs, in which the economic, environmental and animal welfare benefits of such establishments are evoked. 

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

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

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Feasibility and Reliability of the AWIN Welfare Assessment Protocol for Dairy Goats in Semi-extensive Farming Conditions

Monica Battini, Manuela Renna, Mauro Giammarino, Luca Battaglini, Silvana Mattiello

Published in 2021

Scientific paper evaluating the suitability of a modified AWIN protocol for assessing the welfare of dairy goats under semi-extensive conditions. It shows that although the protocol is reliable overall, some criteria are not very easy to score in practice and that QBA requires considerable training.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Caprines

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

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