Subject: Slaughtering

National Assembly: written answer to question n°14325: Submission of government report on on-farm slaughtering trials

Question: Lisa Belluco (Ecologist - NUPES - Vienna). Answer: Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty.

Published in 2024

Question from a Member of the French National Assembly on the introduction of mobile on-farm slaughterhouses. The French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty has announced the recent publication of a regulation amending Regulation (EC) 853/53/2004 to regulate the use of mobile on-farm slaughter units.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

Keywords: Carcass quality, Euthanasia, Housing,Animal trade, Pain, Transport

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Animal welfare at slaughter: perceptions and knowledge across cultures

Michelle Sinclair, Maria José Hötzel, Natasha Y. P. Lee, Maria Catalina T. de Luna, Arvind Sharma, Musadiq Idris, Mohammad Ariful Islam, Oluwaseun S. Iyasere, Grisel Navarro, Abdelkareem A. Ahmed, Georgette Leah Burns, Michael Curry, Jeremy N. Marchant

Published in 2023

Analysis of a survey of the general public to assess knowledge and attitudes towards animal welfare during slaughter (including religious slaughter), in 14 culturally and religiously diverse countries. The results suggest that concern for reducing animal suffering during slaughter is a universal human tendency rather than a cultural development. Acceptance of slaughter without prior stunning is linked to local interpretations of religious requirements.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Cattle, Goats, Sheep, Fish, Pigs, Poultry

Keywords:Consciousness, Pain, Education, Euthanasia, Fear, Human-animal relationships

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Analyse d’impact ex post de trente ans de recherche et développement sur les conditions de pré-abattage des ruminants

Christine BERGER, Laëtitia CLAVEL, Barbara DUCREUX, Valérie DAVID

Published in 2024

Analysis of the impact of R&D work carried out over the last thirty years on the pre-slaughter animal welfare of ruminants.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Ruminants

Keywords:  Carcass quality, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Livestock buildings, Education, Euthanasia, One Welfare, Livestock farming system, Transport, Societal issues

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Welfare of invertebrates: a pilot study on a new land snail stunning technique

Fossati P., Stefanini F.M., Ravasio G., Coerezza U.

Published in 2024

Scientific article providing preliminary data on the effectiveness of a method of stunning edible snails based on immersion in refrigerated water enriched with CO2 intended to avoid the suffering experienced by these invertebrates when slaughtered.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Molluscs

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Consciousness, Pain, Euthanasia

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Bien-être des animaux : quels critères scientifiques pour construire un étiquetage des produits alimentaires ? Rapport de l’Anses

Anses

Published in 2024

News item on an Anses report recommending a harmonized comprehensive food product labeling system using animal-based scientific welfare indicators and also take into account the living conditions of their parents.

Document Types: Scientific review

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

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Animal-based measurements, Livestock buildings, Castration, Animal trade, Enrichment, Identification, Housing, Restraint equipment, Living environment, Mutilation, Prenatal issues, Sterilization, Stress, Livestock farming system, Transport, Behavioural disorders, Societal issues, Welfare indicators

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Towards the humane slaughter of decapod crustaceans: identifying the most effective indicators of insensibility following electrical stunning

Douglas M. Neil, Endre Putyora, Amaya Albalat

Published in 2024

Scientific paper showing that electrical stunning causes nerve activity to cease in two crustacean species at both central and peripheral levels. However, cardiac activity continues for over an hour after stunning. Heart rate is not therefore a reliable indicator of the sensitivity of crustaceans or of the effectiveness of stunning.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Crustaceans

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Consciousness, Pain, Euthanasia, Brain integration

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Indicator factsheets (EURCAW-Poultry-SFA)

EURCAW-Poultry-SFA

Published in 2024

Technical data sheets published by EURCAW-Poultry-SFA containing the main indicators for the assessment of the state of consciousness of broilers and turkeys, the "iceberg" indicators to assess severe pecking, feather cleanliness, foot pad dermatitis in broilers and leg lesions at slaughter in laying hens.

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Aggression, Animal-based measurements, Pain, Education, Euthanasia, Welfare indicators, Mutilation, Vocalisation

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La douleur et la souffrance des poissons sont-elles suffisamment considérées en aquaculture et pêche ?

Marie-Laure Bégout

Published in 2024

Article following on from the FRCAW report on the slaughter of farmed fish. Ifremer reviews the capacity of fish to feel pain, their legal status, and appropriate slaughter methods. Making pre-slaughter stunning compulsory in France would require investment and an overhaul of the way businesses organize their work, but other countries such as Norway have already done so.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Brain integration, Euthanasia, Experimentation, Pain, Maltreatment, Stress, Societal issues

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Animal welfare review: Sows are more vulnerable towards transport than most other pig categories

EU Reference Centre for Animal Welfare Pigs (EURCAW-Pigs)

Published in 2024

Article on a summary report published by EURCAW-Pigs showing that sows are the pig category most affected by transport. The three risks specific to sows are: sensitivity to heat stress, a lack of transport suitability that is strongly connected to the poor general health of a large proportion of cull sows compared with average finisher sows, and the tendency of sows to fight when mixed with unfamiliar conspecifics.

Document Types: Technical review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Aggression, Aggressiveness, Animal trade, End of life, Welfare indicators, Robustness, Stress, Transportation, Behavioural disorders, Aging

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Survey report: Collect information on the national system to protect fish welfare in aquaculture

Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission

Published in 2024

Report on a survey carried out in Denmark in 2023 to gather information on the national fish welfare system for aquaculture. The Danish authorities take the view that current scientific knowledge is not sufficient to serve as a basis for the creation of a legislative framework for the welfare of farmed fish.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Animal trade, livestock farming systemTransport

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