Animal category: Pigs

Answer to a question on how the European Commission intends to apply the regulations banning the transport of live animals when temperatures exceed specified thresholds, and whether it intends to carry out additional temperature checks.

Audit report identifying weaknesses in the current system to control the protection of animals transported by sea from Croatia to third countries, including the absence of documented procedures to for the authorization of transporters by sea and the failure of inspectors to identify certain deficiencies. It contains three recommendations to the competent authorities to improve the effectiveness of the official system for the protection of animal welfare during sea transport.

Scientific article comparing the effectiveness of remote compulsory official ante-mortem inspections carried out via video link with on-site inspections, with a view to reducing the need for official veterinarians to travel, thus compensating for the lack of available manpower for these inspections, while also reducing costs and CO2 emissions.

Practical guide to European transport regulations, infringements and penalties by species, and various associated official documents. Containing numerous diagrams and illustrations.

Scientific review of the scientific basis for the most common approaches to determining minimum space allowances for growing pigs. It examines the various factors that influence and interact with their spatial requirements. It stresses the need for further research replicating commercial conditions to ensure that recommendations deliver positive welfare outcomes in a way that is both practical and relevant.

Results of a project commissioned from Ecozept by France Agri Mer, intended to take stock of existing animal welfare approaches in the pig and broiler poultry sectors in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, and to provide answers to two questions: one on the additional production costs of each of the various approaches and the main factors that influence them, and the other on the added market value of products deriving from these approaches.

Answer to a question on whether the government will support an end to cage farming as part of the revision of European regulations, and whether it intends to raise its ambitions at European level in order to play a leading role in promoting better animal welfare standards and improving European farming methods.

Scientific review of alternative piglet management strategies to reduce weaning stress. These include the pre-weaning grouping of piglets from different litters and intermittent suckling. Their effects on post-weaning pig behavior, performance, mortality, gastrointestinal function and immunocompetence are described.

Article studying the value attributed to farm animals in scientific articles published in specialist journals on animal welfare and animal production at three different moments in time, over a 30-year period. It concludes that scientific publications on animal welfare do not, on the whole, give priority to the interests of animals.

Technical instruction from the French Bureau des Etablissements d'Abattage et de Découpe (Slaughtering and Cutting Establishments Office) listing the regulatory provisions relating to post-mortem inspection in abattoirs for slaughter animals, providing a reference list of reasons for official intervention and providing harmonization tools for inspections.