Subject: Health /Diseases

Welfare issues resulting from feed restriction in pregnant sows

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

Published in 2024

This article, intended for inspectors in EU Member States, describes the effects of feed restriction on the welfare of pregnant sows. Indicators of hunger-related aggression and stereotypies are described, along with measures to help sows feel satiated by increasing the fibre content of their diet, and to mitigate these behaviors by modifying various aspects of the living environment.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Aggression, Aggressiveness, Enrichment, Welfare indicators, Housing, Behavioural disorders

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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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European Parliament: written answer to question E-003639/23: Elite equestrian sport and animal welfare

Question: Niels Fugland (S&D). Answer: Mrs Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2024

Answer to a Member's question on the measures the Commission intends to take to ensure that the welfare of horses in equestrian sport is respected

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Equines

Key word: Animal mediation, Education, Housing,Working animals

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Behaviour of cull sows during transport to slaughter - effects of journey duration, a stationary period and temperature

Cecilie Kobek-Kjeldager, Line D. Jensen, Leslie Foldager, Louisa M. Gould, Karen Thodberg, Dorte Lene Schrøder-Petersen, Mette S. Herskin

Published in 2024

Scientific article describing the behavior of cull sows during transport. The results show that sows generally stand during transport, and aggression was observed throughout the journey. A higher proportion of sows who lie down during a prolonged stop after a long journey suggests fatigue.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Aggression, Aggressivity, Welfare indicators, Transport

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National Assembly: written answer to question n°12527: Welfare and protection of farm animals

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

Published in 2024

Answer from MASA to a parliamentary question from a French Member of Parliament on the revision of European legislation on the welfare and protection of farm animals, which has not as yet delivered all of the expected package, in particular the ban on cages due to be in place by 2027.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories:Cattle, Pigs, Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Livestock buildings, Housing, Restraint equipment, Livestock farming system

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Pain Mitigation Strategies for Disbudding in Goat Kids

Preet Singh, Dinakaran Venkatachalam, Kavitha Kongara, Paul Chambers

Published in 2024

Scientific synthesis of pain-reduction strategies for kids during disbudding on the farm. The authors conclude that current good practice to reduce pain during disbudding would be the use of sedation/analgesia with an alpha-2 agonist and placement of a two-point cornual nerve block, followed by an NSAID for postoperative pain.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Caprines

Keywords: Pain, Mutilation

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European Parliament: Written answer to Question E-003407/23: Time spent on the revision of EU animal welfare legislation

Question: Nikolaj Villumsen (The Left). Answer: Mrs Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2024

Answer to a question on how long it has taken the Commission and EFSA to prepare the revision of European legislation concerning the "End the Cage Age", a revision which was not fully completed in the end.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

Keywords:Livestock buildings, Housing, Societal issues, Restraint equipment, livestock farming system

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Animal welfare as the basis of One Health: A UN convention on animal welfare, health, and protection poses a realistic solution to improved animal welfare and human health

Antoine F. Goetschel

Published in 2024

Scientific paper arguing that animal welfare should be included in the work of the OHHLEP (One Health High Level Expert Panel), and a technical working group should be created to finalize a UN convention on the issue resembling the 2018 UN Convention on Animal Health and Protection (UNCAHP). A transdisciplinary approach will be required, encompassing ethical, cultural, social, religious, political, economic and scientific aspects. In addition to veterinarians, experts from other disciplines linked to One Health will need to be consulted, such as specialized lawyers and jurists, representatives of animal rights movements, along withl as specialists in ethicseconomics.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: All animals

Keywords: One Welfare,Societal issues

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Environmental enrichments and data-driven welfare indicators for sheltered dogs using telemetric physiological measures and signal processing

Tiziano Travain, Teddy Lazebnik, Anna Zamansky, Simona Cafazzo, Paola Valsecchi, Eugenia Natoli

Published in 2024

Scientific article comparing the effects of different types of enrichment on the welfare of male dogs in shelters. The results show that intraspecific social enrichment provided by the presence of a female dog is the best stimulus compared with the presence of either entertaining objects or a human. It improves both sleep quality and the cyclicity of a set of measured physiological parameters.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Canine

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Precision farming, Enrichment, Welfare indicators

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Loss of a grooming enrichment impacts physical, behavioural, and physiological measures of welfare in grazing beef cattle

Emily J. Dickson, Jessica E. Monk, Caroline Lee, Paul G. McDonald, Edward Narayan, Dana L. M. Campbell

Published in 2024

Scientific article showing that the loss of an enrichment element (grooming brush) to which grazing cattle are accustomed can adversely affect welfare, measured here by indicators of cleanliness, growth and fecal cortisol.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Enrichment, Welfare indicators, Living environment, Behavioural disorders

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