Discipline: Ethics

European Parliament: written answer to question E-002691/2023 : Will the Commission make slaughter with stunning the new standard in Europe?

Question: Annika Bruna (ID), Gilles Lebreton (ID), Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (NI), Eric Minardi (ID), France Jamet (ID), Marie Dauchy (ID), Catherine Griset (ID), Dan-Ştefan Motreanu (PPE), André Rougé (ID), Elżbieta Kruk (ECR), Dominique Bilde (ID). Reply: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2023

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.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

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

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Doing better for understudied species: Evaluation and improvement of a species-general animal welfare assessment tool for zoos

Shannon L. O'Brien, Katherine A. Cronin

Published in 2023

Scientific article evaluating a generic welfare assessment method for different animals in the same zoo. It reveals that Mammals received the highest welfare scores and their assessment questionnaires were completed most fully. This led the authors to modify their assessment tool to take better account of all the taxa present in the zoo.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Wildlife

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Societal issues, Enrichment, Welfare indicators, Housing, Living environment, Human-animal relationships

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Summary of the EU 2023 aquaculture survey

CIWF

Published in 2023

Summary of a report on investigations carried out at four trout farms in Poland to document typical farming practices on trout farms. After providing an overview of trout farming in the EU, it identifies welfare and health hazards, poor handling techniques, and inefficient and painful slaughter systems. It recommends that regulations should be introduced for the rearing, transport and slaughter of each species of farmed fish, and that research should be encouraged to improve welfare in these species.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Welfare indicators, Human-animal relationships, Transport

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Animal welfare as a public good

Romain Espinosa, Nicolas Treich

Published in 2023

Article developing a model of animal consumption based on consumer altruism. According to this model, at the point where the market achieves equilibrium, quality is not  high enough and the quantity of animals whose lives are not worth living is too high.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: All animals

Keywords:Societal issues, Modelling, One Welfare, Human-animal relationships, livestock farming system

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Quality-of-Life Assessments in Zoo Animals: Not Just for the Aged and Charismatic

Michelle Campbell-Ward

Published in 2023

Scientific review exploring the concept of quality of life as it applies to animals, assessment indicators and methods appropriate in a zoo setting, and the importance of taking quality of life into account at all stages of life, whatever the species.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Wildlife

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Societal issues, Enrichment, Welfare indicators, Housing, Living environment, Human-animal relationships

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Indice international d’équité des engagements œufs hors-cage

Mercy for Animals

Published in 2023

Mercy for Animals' 3rd International Cage-Free Equity Index of commitment by companies. The index ranks 40 food companies on their commitment to sourcing cage-free eggs, and on the transparency of their communication on progress. Carrefour, Groupe Casino and Sodexo appear at the bottom of the ranking.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Enrichment, Housing, Living environment,Societal issues, livestock farming system

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How might the public contribute to the discussion on cattle welfare? Perspectives of veterinarians and animal scientists

Beth Ventura, Daniel M Weary, Marina AG von Keyserlingk

Published in 2023

Scientific article seeking the views of veterinarians and zootechnicians on concerns over the welfare of cattle expressed by members of the public and on how public opinion should be taken into account when developing ways to improve welfare. Those interviewed consider the general public to lack knowledge of livestock farming and believe that its members need to be educated in order to gain a better understanding of the issues. They could contribute to improving welfare by paying higher prices for animal products.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Livestock farming system

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Willingness-to-pay for reduced carbon footprint and other sustainability concerns relating to pork production - A comparison of consumers in China, Denmark, Germany and the UK

Sigrid Denver, Tove Christensen, Thomas Bøker Lund, Jakob Vesterlund Olsen, Peter Sandøe

Published in 2023

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.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords: Environment, One Welfare, Carcass quality, Human-animal relationships,Societal issues

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Towards the use of on-farm slaughterhouse

Thierry Astruc, E.M. Claudia Terlouw

Published in 2023

Scientific review of the different stages of slaughtering and their possible impacts on animal stress, welfare and meat quality. It reviews the regulations and technological advances that have led to the development of mobile slaughter units, presents a non-exhaustive list of mobile slaughter units currently in use, and sets out the advantages and disadvantages of these mobile units.

Document Types: Scientific review

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

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Brain integration, Carcass quality, Stress, Livestock farming system

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European Parliament: Written answer to Question E-002480/2023: Ending the systematic docking of pigs

Question: Annika Bruna (ID). Answer: Mrs Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2023

Answer to a question on whether the European Commission is prepared to better regulate living conditions in factory pig farms, so that tail docking becomes the exception.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Pain, Enrichment, Human-animal relationships, Mutilation, Societal issues, Stress

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