Discipline: Ethology

Decapod Crustaceans in Animal Welfare Law: Fragmentation, Gaps, and Emerging Models in Europe and Oceania

Lorenzo Fruscella, Diego Antonio Sicuso, Daria Vitale, Annamaria Passantino

Published in 2026

Article highlighting the gap between scientific evidence on the sentience of decapod crustaceans and the limited legal protections they enjoy. The authors advocate for harmonized regulations based on scientific knowledge.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Invertebrates

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Use of Enrichment in Broilers

EURCAW-Poultry-SFA

Published in 2026

Protocole spécifique d’évaluation des enrichissements environnementaux chez les poulets de chair

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Poultry

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Risk assessment: Difficult to ensure good animal welfare for exotic birds

VKM (The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and the Environment)

Published in 2026

VKM expert report concluding that the welfare needs of many species of parrots and toucans are hard for private aviary owners to meet, notably because of their significant need for flight, social and cognitive stiumlation, enrichment and adapted feed. Seven species are at particularly high risk of poor welfare in captivity. 

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal Categories:Birds (excluding poultry)

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The Sensory World of Cattle: Abilities, Limitations, and Perceptual Challenges in Human-Designed Environments

Maria Vilain Rørvang, Rebecca K. Meagher, Johanna Stenfelt, Emily K. Miller-Cushon, Sheikh Rishad Ahmmad, Maria Camila Ceballos

Published in 2026

Review summarizing current knowledge on the sensory abilities of cattle (vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch). It highlights gaps in knowledge, particularly with regard to smell, taste, and touch. It stresses the importance of taking better account of cattle’s sensory perceptions to adapt their housing environments and improve their welfare.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

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Review: The Roles of Individuality and Social Life in Shaping Positive Animal Welfare in Livestock Species

Charlotte Goursot, Sara Hintze, Maria Vilain Rørvang, Océane Schmitt, David Arney, Xavier Boivin, Anita Koni, Camille Montalcini, Ruth C. Newberry, Céline Tallet, Manja Zupan Šemrov, Sébastien Goumon

Published in 2026

Review highlighting that animal welfare depends on the interaction between individual characteristics and social life. It emphasizes the role of affiliative interactions, sociability, and social skills as levers for improving the welfare and management of farm animals.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: All animals

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Multi-Behavior Recognition and Health Assessment of Laying Hens Using RSA YOLO in Welfare-Oriented Farming

Panqi Pu, Junge Wang, Yue Gao, Dapeng Li, Geqi Yan, Hongchao Jiao, Xianyao Li, Hai Lin

Published in 2026

Study on an automated system based on artificial intelligence that can recognize various behaviors in laying hens and assess their health status. The behavioral changes it detected occurred approximately one week before a decline in egg production, demonstrating the system’s potential as an early-warning tool.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

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Conséquences des procédures douloureuses et stressantes chez les bovins

EURCAW Ruminants & Equines

Published in 2026

Fact sheet providing a detailed examination of painful and stressful procedures commonly performed on cattle (identification marking, dehorning or disbudding, tail docking, castration, and teat removal). It describes the biological context, legal requirements, and key points to check during inspections.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Bovines

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Music and animal welfare: from behavioral and physiological effects to potential applications in animal husbandry

Zhu G, Wang L, Wu Z, Feng L, Shao F

Published in 2026

Review examining the mechanisms of musical perception in animals and its effects on their behavior, physiology, and welfare. It highlights potential benefits, including stress reduction, and emphasizes the value of fish as models for studying the evolutionary basis of musical perception and improving animal welfare.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: All animals

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| Part 1: A Sector-Wide Survey of UK/British Isles Shelter Organisations Caring for Cats: Caregiver-Reported Approaches to Housing, Husbandry and General Care Provision

Laurent R. Finka, Ana M. Barcelos, James Waterman, Avni Bhatia, JEnni L. McDonald, Rae Foreman-Worsley, Beth Skillings

Published in 2026

A study conducted in the United Kingdom shows that, although shelters generally meet cats’ physiological needs, there is room for improvement in addressing their psychological needs, particularly with regard to housing, handling, and environmental enrichment.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Felines

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Timescapes of Non-Human Experience

Singhal I, Birch J, Seth A

Published in 2026

Synthesis proposing an experimental framework to study the temporal structure of animal experiences, comparing the “temporal landscapes” of different species based on five experimentally-testable time windows.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: All animals

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