A selection of animal welfare news from around the world

Brought to you by
Please note that the articles below do not reflect opinions of TAWC. Although we aim to provide comprehensive coverage, there are likely articles that we’ve missed.

O/S = Overseas source
Send us your news!

News 1-12 November 2020

Cross-sectoral
  • Why are animals mistreated? (Rural News O/S)
  • Other major countries have animal protection laws. Why not China? (South China Morning Post O/S)
  • The Need for Ethical Consistency in Animal Advocacy (Sentient Media O/S)
  • Research to use artificial intelligence to identify sick livestock (Univ Bristol O/S)
  • Ceres Tag adds behavior, pasture feed intake monitoring (Feedstuffs)
  • Tyson workers to replace some federal inspectors at US beef plant, with pork and poultry companies following suit (The Pig Site O/S)
  • The UK’s first fully-vegan butcher is about to open, selling meat-free pastrami, ‘lobstah’ salad, and soya burgers. Take a look inside. (Business Insider)
  • Virtual reality to help teach farm animal welfare (Feedstuffs O/S)
Dairy
  • Kyabram vet awarded prestigious Nuffield Scholarship to investigate cow welfare (Dairy News)
Pork
  • Could Crate-Free Pork Become the New Industry Standard? (Civil Eats O/S)
Poultry
Red Meat
  • Low stress stock handling in the Nuffield spotlight (Farm Weekly):
  • Numnuts win confirms retailer support for lamb pain relief (SheepCentral)
  • Peak bodies unite on sheep ‘fit to load’ requirements (SheepCentral)
  • The Australian Lot Feeders’ Association has announced an initiative that encourages all Australian feedlots to make a pledge to provide cattle under their care with access to shade (ALFA)
  • Cattle deaths prosecution options running out as minister flags animal welfare legislation overhaul (ABC)
  • ‘In the sun they’d cook’: is the US south-west getting too hot for farm animals? (Guardian O/S)
Wool
  • Non-mulesed wool sale plan as PETA suggests lamb statue (SheepCentral)
Transport & abattoir
  • EFSA has published an assessment of the welfare of cattle at slaughter (EFSA O/S)
  • Exclusive: livestock ships twice as likely to be lost as cargo vessels (Guardian)
  • 2020 Young Livestock Exporter Achiever of the Year (BeefCentral)
  • Live exporters land six-month ‘audition period’ days out from ‘enormous change’ to industry rules (ABC)
Aquaculture
  • Draft released – Canada’s first farmed salmonids ‘Code of Practice (Food Canada O/S)
  • The Continued Fight over Farming the Oceans (Civil Eats O/S)
Research & teaching
  • ARRP Fact Sheet 1: Environmental enrichment for pigs. The Animal Research Review Panel has developed a fact sheet to support the provision of environmental enrichment for pigs used for research and teaching (ARRP)
  • California Teen Develops ‘Monkey Fright’ Video Game for PETA (PETA O/S)
  • An end to animal testing: How animal-friendly affinity-reagents are transforming research (Select Science O/S)
  • Of mice and men: Could COVID spell the end of animal testing? (Corporate Knights O/S)
Racing & sports
  • Melbourne Cup fancy Anthony Van Dyck euthanased after breaking down mid-race (ABC)
  • Jockeys get no benefit from using a whip in horse racing, landmark study finds (Guardian)
  • Racing confronts its grim reality (SMH)
  • PETA buys small stake into ownership of multiple Ohio horse tracks, including Thistledown (Cleveland.com O/S)
Zoos, aquarium & wildlife
Pets & companion animals
  • South Korea starts to close dog meat farms as attitudes change (Independent O/S)
  • Is there a puppy heaven? Owners think so, headstones in pet cemeteries show (LiveScience O/S)
Other/Publications
  • Earwax test could reveal stress levels (BBC O/S)
  • Veit, W., Browning, H. Perspectival pluralism for animal welfare. Euro Jnl Phil Sci 11, 9 (2021)
  • The Interconnectedness Of Human, Animal And Environmental Health (UniMelb)
  • The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies wins 2020 Global Animal Welfare Award (Zenopa O/S) and YouTube
  • Paul McGreevy wins Global Animal Welfare Award (USyd)
  • Thompson, K.; McManus, P.; Stansall, D.; Wilson, B.J.; McGreevy, P.D. Is Whip Use Important to Thoroughbred Racing Integrity? What Stewards’ Reports Reveal about Fairness to Punters, Jockeys and Horses. Animals 2020, 10, 1985
  • Veit, W., Browning, H. Perspectival pluralism for animal welfare. Euro Jnl Phil Sci 11, 9, 2021
  • Tiemann, I.; Hillemacher, S.; Wittmann, M. Are Dual-Purpose Chickens Twice as Good? Measuring Performance and Animal Welfare throughout the Fattening Period. Animals 2020, 10, 1980
  • Rault J-L., Waiblinger, S. Boivin, X. and Hemsworth, P.H. (2020)  The power of a positive human–animal relationship for animal welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7:590867
  • Does training method matter? Evidence for the negative impact of aversive-based methods on companion dog welfare. Ana Catarina Vieira de Castro, Danielle Fuchs, Stefania Pastur, Liliana de Sousa, I Anna S Olsson. bioRxiv 823427 (pre-print)
Podcasts/Presentations
Policy
  • A new animal welfare Act for Victoria. The Victorian Government is seeking feedback on proposals for a new animal welfare Act.  (VicGov)
  • Denmark to cull its entire mink population over coronavirus mutation fears (CNN O/S)
  • EU food origin labels should be placed on the cards, stakeholders say (EurActiv O/S)
  • Empathy For Animals In Short Supply: We Need A Minister For Animal Welfare (ScoopNZ O/S)
  • NSW Agriculture Minister pushes for ‘eight-fold’ increase in penalties for animal cruelty offences as COVID-19 sees surge in ‘unscrupulous’ breeders (ABC)

Conferences, Seminars & Events

Subscribe
Note: By subscribing to Animal Welfare Snapshot, you are also consenting to receive other communications from The Animal Welfare Collaborative. You may choose to unsubscribe from either of these mailing lists at any time.