Subject: Slaughtering

Guidance: Poultry welfare off the farm

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (UK)

Published in 2023

Update of the guide originally published in 2012 by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), on how to manage the health and welfare of poultry during transport, at market and at slaughter

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Transport

Go to document

European Parliament: written answer to question E-003166/23: Extending the use of in-ovo chick sexing methods to all poultry products sold on the EU market

Annika Bruna (ID), Eric Minardi (ID), Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (NI), Petras Auštrevičius (Renew), Elżbieta Kruk (ECR), Aurélia Beigneux (ID). Reply: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2023

Answer to a question on the European Commission's intentions regarding the extension of the ban on the killing of male chicks to all member states and third countries.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Pain, Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Stress

Go to document

Assemblée nationale : réponse écrite à la question n° 12158 : Mise en place d’un droit de visite parlementaire dans les abattoirs

Karine Lebon (Gauche démocrate et républicaine - NUPES - Réunion). Answer: Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty

Published in 2023

Answer to a question concerning the position of the French Ministry of Agriculture on the possibility of parliamentary visits to abbatoirs, livestock farms and other facilities where livestock is kept.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

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

Go to document

The Welfare of Birds at Slaughter in the United States

Animal Welfare Institute

Published in 2023

Report by the Animal Welfare Institute following a review of federal food inspection documents produced by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) between 2020 and 2022. It assesses the federal government's oversight of the slaughter of farmed birds in the USA.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

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

Go to document

Global Trends in Halal Food Standards: A Review

J. Akbar, M. Gul, M. Jahangir, M. Adnan, S. Saud, S. Hassan, T. Nawaz, S. Fahad

Published in 2023

Scientific review examining the similarities and differences between halal standards in various Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Cattle, Dogs, Sheep, Poultry

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

Go to document

Conditions d’exercice des agents d’inspection vétérinaire affectés en abattoirs, et conséquences potentielles sur la qualité de l’inspection

CGAAER

Published in 2023

Report from France's CGAAER on the physical and managerial working conditions of nearly 1,800 veterinary abattoir inspectors in France, and on the impact of these working conditions on the quality of inspections.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

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

Go to document

The use of animal-based measures at slaughter for assessing the welfare of beef cattle on farm: EFSA AHAW Network exercise

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Marika Vitali, Gizella Aboagye, Sean Ashe, Chiara Fabris, Yves Van de Stede, Denise Candiani

Published in 2023

Report listing those animal-based measures that the AHAW network considers useful to record and monitor in abattoirs as a means to assess the on-farm welfare of cattle. The information contained in this report will be used to draw up EFSA's scientific opinion on the welfare of cattle on farm, due in 2025.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Animal-based measurements, Welfare indicators, Carcass quality, Stress, Livestock farming system

Go to document

On-farm slaughter and emergency slaughter in Sweden: Prerequisites for reducing food loss of pigs and cattle

Rasmus Björn & Albin Kauppi

Published in 2023

Master's report on the attitudes and interests of abattoirs and the main stakeholders in the Swedish livestock industry regarding the establishment of or increase in the use of on-farm slaughtering and emergency on-farm slaughtering.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines, Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Societal issues, Human-animal relationships

Go to document

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

Go to document

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

Go to document