Subject: Slaughtering

Stop culling male layer-type chick: an overview of the alternatives and public perspective

Francesca Coppola, Gisella Paci, Matteo Profeti, Simone Mancini

Published in 2023

Scientific study summarizing available literature sources on alternatives to the current culling method for male chicks and the public's view of these approaches. In ovo sex determination appears to be the main potential alternative method to the culling of male chicks, and the one preferred by consumers, especially if carried out during the early days of incubation.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Pain, Societal issues, Euthanasia, Prenatal issues, Livestock farming system

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Assemblée nationale : réponse écrite à la question n°8820 : Mise en application de l’interdiction du broyage des poussins mâles

Question: Josy Poueyto (Démocrate (MoDem et Indépendants) - Pyrénées-Atlantiques). Answer: Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty.

Published in 2024

Answer to a question from a member of parliament asking the Ministry to enforce the ban on crushing male chicks, including regular checks in hatcheries, and to extend the regulations to female ducklings.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Euthanasia, Abuse, Prenatal issues, Livestock farming system

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European Parliament: written answer to question E-000006/24: Fostering the development of mobile abattoirs

Question: Annika Bruna (ID). Answer: Mr Wojciechowski on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2024

Answer to a question from a Member of the European Parliament on the Commission's planned strategy to support the development of mobile abattoirs.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories:Bovines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Key word:Animal trade, Euthanasia, Abuse,  Livestock farming system, Transport

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Assemblée nationale : réponse écrite à la question n°12294 : Castration à vif et claquage des porcelets

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 on the total ban on live castration and piglet slapping, a technique that consists of killing young animals deemed too weak by beating them against a wall.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Castration, Carcass quality, Euthanasia, Pain, Mistreatment, Mutilation, Sterilization

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European Parliament: Written answer to Question E-003635/23: Reviving our local slaughterhouses by requiring meat to be exported instead of live animals

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

Published in 2024

Answer to a question from an MEP asking the European Commission about its position on a proposal to boost small local abattoirs by stopping the long-distance transport of live animals and replacing it with the transport of meat.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

Keywords:Animal trade, Carcass quality, Transport

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Final report of an audit of Greece carried out from 20 to 24 February 2023 in order to evaluate measures taken to ensure the respect of requirements in relation to animal welfare rules on animal transport and slaughter

DG SANTE, European Commission

Published in 2024

Audit report on the system implemented by the Greek goverment to ensure compliance with regulations protecting animals being transported to the abattoir. While it recognizes improvements, it concludes that the measures implemented by the competent authorities are not yet fully compliant with the five points of the 2009 ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It contains eight recommendations to the competent authorities to remedy the shortcomings identified.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories:Cattle, Goats, Equines, Sheep, Pigs

Keywords: Transport

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Fin de l’élimination des poussins mâles d’un jour : le choix du sexage in ovo

Sophie Rehault-Godbert, Marie Bourin, Joël Gautron, Maxime Quentin

Published in 2023

Scientific review that recaps the French decree banning the killing of male chicks from laying-hen lines, and sets out the three possible alternatives. Of these, in ovo sexing is the only route that is currently technically and economically viable, and this is presented in depth.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Euthanasia

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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

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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

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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

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