Document type : Technical paper

Ensuring ethical beef production: A comprehensive risk assessment of animal welfare during transportation and slaughter processes

Piotr Janiszewski, Marco Misuraca, Egidia Costanzi, Beniamino Cenci Goga

Published in 2025

EFSA project seeking to produce an updated cattle handling pathway during transport and slaughter that would reduce stress, reliance on coercive devices and the risk of injury due to trama or falls. The project demonstrates how compliance with animal welfare standards can be harmonized with operational efficiency, safety, and product quality.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Bovines

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Foie gras – A delicacy at the cost of suffering

Sophie Hild and Nikita Bachelard (2nd edition) based on J.-C. Nouët and T. Auffret Van Der Kemp (1st edition, 2006)

Published in 2019

Report condemning the production of foie gras based on force-feeding. Despite its commercial success and cultural roots in France, this practice is scientifically recognized as a source of illness and significant suffering, has no natural biological grounds, and is banned in several countries.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Poultry

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The use of animal-based measures collected in slaughterhouses to monitor the level of welfare of Equidae in establishments: EFSA scientific NCPs Network exercise

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Marika Vitali, Giulia Cecchinato, Aitana López Baquero, Beatrice Benedetti, Denise Candiani, Michaela Hempen, Yves Van der Stede, Chiara Fabris

Published in 2025

Exercise carried out by EFSA's scientific network of national contact points to identify and prioritize animal-based measures collected at abattoirs to retrospectively monitor the welfare of equidae, to provide evidence for a future scientific opinion.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Equines

The right fit: A decision tree to select a protocol for assessing the welfare of laying hens

Muhammad Fathin Hanif, Liesbeth G.W. Van Damme, Charlotte Vanden Hole, T. Bas Rodenburg, Vera Bavinck, Xavier Averós, Inma Estevez, Ali Agus, Frank A.M. Tuyttens

Published in 2025

Development of a decision tree to help members of the laying-hen industry to select the welfare assessment protocols that are best suited to their needs.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Poultry

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Research and innovation perspectives: poultry welfare in 2050

Shawna L. Weimer, Elena Myhre, Anne-Marie Neeteson-van Nieuwenhoven, Rodolfo Arreaga, Kate Barger, Ruth C. Newberry, Katy J. Tarrant, Gregory S. Fraley

Published in 2025

Open letter, published in Poultry Science, presenting the key findings of global discussions led by the International Poultry Welfare Alliance (IPWA) on the future state of poultry welfare to 2050. Involving more than 200 participants, these discussions included housing and management, positive welfare measures, nutrition, artificial intelligence and the sustainability of production systems.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Poultry

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Just like humans, many animals get more aggressive in the heat

Katarina Zimmer

Published in 2025

Article showing that high temperatures influence aggressive behavior in many species. From salamanders to fish and mammals, aggression increases when temperatures rise, as heat stimulates the metabolism and intensifies competition for resources.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: All animals

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Beak trimming of hens: Practices, welfare concerns and alternatives

Harliqueen Jacinto, Marisa Erasmus

Published in 2025

Article outlining alternatives to beak trimming, practiced to limit pecking in laying hens. Environmental enrichment, genetic selection and better management practices are explored.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Poultry

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Bien-être ou bientraitance animale : à qui profitent les mots ?

Marie-Claude Marsolier

Published in 2025

Article returning to the need for a distinction in French between the term "bien être", describing an individual's experienced state of well-being or welfare, and "bientraitance", describing the positive actions taken by another individual or body to benefit the first, which may or may not be successful in achieving this outcome. "Bientraitance" thus represents the point of view of the indivual or body who acts, while "bien-être" represents the point of view of the individual who experiences the action. 

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: All animals

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The Dark Side of the Moon: A Good Adoption Rate Conceals the Unsolved Ethical Problem of Never-Adopted Dogs

Corsetti, S.; Natoli, E.; Malandrucco, L.

Published in 2025

Study on the application of the Italian no-kill policy to domestic dogs, based on data from the Muratella shelter in Rome for the periods 2012-2016 and 2018-2022. Despite a high adoption rate, the significant number of dogs remaining in shelters for life raises important ethical issues.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories:Canine

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Financements régionaux et transition de l'élevage : quels leviers pour des modèles plus durables ?

CIWF France

Published in 2025

CIWF report on the lack of ambition for animal welfare and the agro-ecological transition in French regional policy making.  To transform livestock farming, the report considers it essential to incorporate strict criteria, improve sustainable practices and join up  public policies at all levels.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: All animals

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