Animal category: Pigs

Report on the EFSA Animal Health and Animal Welfare (AHAW) Network meeting on an exercise using  animal-based measures at slaughter to assess the welfare of pigs on farm. The goal was to evaluate these measures and their ease of use, and to identify which were to be preferred. It resulted in a list of recommended animal-based measures for use in abattoirs.

Scientific review of the state of knowledge relating specifically to the welfare conditions immediately before slaughter of Italian heavy pigs, which are used for AOP products and therefore kept longer than is the average in other countries, a practice that generates particular physiological and behavioural needs.

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.

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.

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.

Scientific review noting a growing interest among scientists in Oceania, Latin America and Asia in the welfare issues for pregnant sows, as well as the emergence of new research topics in recent years, including group sow management and environmental enrichment.

Decree making the live castration of domestic male pigs for anything other than therapeutic or diagnostic purposes subject to justifications relating to a particular need for the supply of castrated male pig meat as part of a quality and identification of origin label system or to production constraints.

Explanation of the official documents specifying the conditions under which castration of male domestic pigs may be carried out on farms, other than for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes.

Technical instruction specifying the training conditions for carrying out castration protocols under local anaesthesia and analgesia, and the procedures for the issue of a derogation, defining the role of each actor.

Web page providing a single point of access to all the Ifip documents related to anaesthesia and analgesia during piglet castration