Keywords: Consciousness

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.

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.

Scientific article on the development of a brain-machine interface to study rats' abilities to voluntarily navigate and direct objects in a virtual reality arena, solely by activating and sustaining appropriate hippocampal representations of remote locations.

Scientific review of living conditions, behavior and cognition, and the different approaches to welfare improvement for manatees in zoos.

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.

Scientific review of the stunning methods used for halal animal slaughter and their effective compliance with halal standards.

Article looking at the history of applied ethology at INRAE over the past 50 years and how its objectives have evolved over time.

Expert opinion providing recommendations for improvements to   the welfare of farmed fish at the time of slaughter. It highlights the fish sentience, recommends effective stunning methods, and proposes rules to reduce stress and suffering before slaughter. It recommends a legal requirement for inspection , the use of video surveillance on slaughter sites, tighter controls and sanctions, and better management of voluntary code standards.

Dossier containing articles on the concept of care in veterinary medicine, its portrayal and semiotics, animal and human ethology, economics, philosophy, ethics, legal aspects, the human-animal relationship and animal interactions.

Scientific review identifying egg storage, in ovo nutrition and the slaughter of 1-day-old male chicks as the main welfare problems in hatcheries, and describing practical avenues for improvements that can meet societal expectations.