Subject: Slaughtering

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, Transport, 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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Assemblée nationale : réponse écrite à la question n°15271 : Contrôle des abattoirs

Question: Jorys Bovet (Rassemblement National - Allier). Answer: French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty.

Published in 2024

Answer from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty to a question from a Member of Parliament concerning the role and number of veterinarians in charge of controls in French abattoirs.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

Keywords:Pain, Euthanasia, Abuse, Mutilation, Processing

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European Parliament: Oral answer to Question O-000059/23: Promising review of EU animal welfare legislation and European citizens' initiatives on animal welfare (debate)

Question : Niels Fuglsang (S&D), Thomas Waitz (Greens/EFA), Günther Sidl (S&D), Sarah Wiener (Greens/EFA), Emil Radev (EPP), Michaela Šojdrová (EPP), Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP), Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA), Annika Bruna (ID), Caroline Roose (Greens/EFA), Pascal Durand (S&D), Pierre Larrouturou (S&D), Martin Buschmann (NI), Manuela Ripa (Greens/EFA), Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA), Maria Noichl (S&D), Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Greens/EFA), Grace O'Sullivan (Greens/EFA), Mario Furore (NI), Rosa D'Amato (Greens/EFA), Tiziana Beghin (NI), Petras Auštrevičius (Renew), Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA), Anja Hazekamp (The Left), Sylwia Spurek (Greens/EFA), Francisco Guerreiro (Greens/EFA), Martin Hojsík (Renew), Michal Wiezik (Renew), Malin Björk (The Left), Marisa Matias (The Left), Ville Niinistö (Greens/EFA), Marianne Vind (S&D), Christel Schaldemose (S&D), Karen Melchior (Renew), Alice Kuhnke (Greens/EFA), Pär Holmgren (Greens/EFA), Marina Kaljurand (S&D), Mick Wallace (The Left), Henna Virkkunen (EPP), Róża Thun und Hohenstein (Renew). Answer: Ms Ferreira on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2024

On December 7, 2023, the European Commission brought forward only its proposed revision of the legislation on the protection of animals during transport, postponing the other long-awaited proposals to revise what is now outdated European animal welfare legislation. A group of MEPs has called on the European Commission to provide a precise timetable for the implementation of the legislative proposals that are still pending (farming, slaughter, labelling).

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories:Cattle, Mammals, Sheep, Pigs, Poultry

Keywords:Abandonment, Adoption,  Livestock buildings, Animal trade, Identification, Housing, Restraint equipment, Livestock farming system, Transport, Societal issues

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European Parliament: Written answer to question E-000130/24: Relaunching the reform of EU rules for the transport of animals

Question: Annika Bruna (ID). Answer: Mrs Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2024

The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union will not be supporting the proposed new European regulation on the protection of animals during transport. An MEP asks the European Commission on its intentions to relaunch this reform project, and on the possibility that the transport of meat transport could be encouraged as an alternative to live animal transport.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories:Bovines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Animal trade, Transport

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Animal welfare at German abattoirs: insights into the occurrence of violations against laws and regulations from official veterinarians and judicial decisions

Stephanie Janet Schneidewind, Susann Langforth, Diana Meemken

Published in 2024

Analysis of a survey on the occurrence of various animal welfare violations in German abattoirs. Offences reported and penalized mainly concerned the use of prohibited driving aids, lack of care, and improper restraint, stunning and bleeding. The authors suggest that official veterinarians should carry out closer monitoring of compliance with the legislation for these specific situations and that the training of abattoir staff should be improved.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Bovines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Pain, Euthanasia, Abuse, Mutilation, Processing

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Assemblée nationale : réponse écrite à la question n°15015 : Conditions de mise à mort des animaux dans les abattoirs

Question: Béatrice Roullaud (Rassemblement National - Seine-et-Marne). Answer: Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty.

Published in 2024

Answer from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty to a question from a member of parliament on the conditions under which animals are killed in abattoirs, and the measures the government intends to take to ensure effective controls by veterinary services and compliance with current regulations. The presence of an animal welfare officer in each abattoir must also be confirmed.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories:Bovines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Pain, Euthanasia, Abuse, Mutilation, Processing

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