Animal category: Pigs

Answer to a question on how the European Commission intends to enforce the 1991 directive on the protection of pigs, with regard to tail docking in particular, and whether it has put measures in place to help farmers conform with the regulations. 

Master's report on the attitudes and interests of abattoirs and the main stakeholders in the Swedish livestock industry regarding the establishment of or increase in the use of on-farm slaughtering and emergency on-farm slaughtering.

Scientific review on pig olfaction looking at the current state of knowledge on chemicals in a pig's environment, olfactory organs, olfactory detection and acuity, behavioral responses to odors, aversive odors, responses to new odors, attractive odors and the use of odors as a management tool in commercial pig production.

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.

Article outlining the factors contributing to animal welfare considerations and developments in genetics that have greatly increased prolificacy, looking at their consequences for the design of pig farming facilities.

Editorial summarizing the articles in a dossier on the prevention of tail biting in pigs. Topics include the identification of different types of tail biting, reducing  particular risk factors, the  settings that encourage biting, and the use of precision tools to spot the onset of biting episodes.

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

Scientific article on the pork purchasing choices made by German consumers when faced with contradictory objectives, both with and without the conflicts being made obvious.  Human health considerations take precedence over animal welfare, which in turn takes precedence over environmental considerations.

Scientific article comparing the willingness to pay higher prices for more sustainable pork among consumers in Shanghai and 3 European countries. In Western countries, animal welfare is the main reason for paying more, while in China it is food safety. In all countries, reducing climate impact was one of the least-cited reasons for paying more.

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.