A selection of animal welfare news from around the world

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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
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News 8 - 21 July 2021

Cross-sectoral
  • SEEKING APPLICANTS: The Daylight Project Council (TAWC, Apply HERE)
  • Different drivers to improve farm animal welfare – Sandra Edwards (Pig333 O/S)
  • The Community Trust in Rural Industries Program (AgriFutures)
  • UK Government updates its Agricultural Transition Plan (The Pig Site O/S)
  • Animal welfare in emergencies grant program 2021 (WA DPIRD)
  • The UK is considering legal protections for animals’ feelings — so what do animals ‘feel’? (The Verge O/S)
  • Tyson Integrates New Animal Welfare Framework (Drovers O/S)
  • Ricky Gervais Slams YouTube For ‘Enabling Animal Abuse’ (Plant-Based News O/S)
Cattle in beef & dairy production
  • The Fast Track to Polled Genetics (Dairy Herd Management O/S)
  • Branding Cattle: Animal Welfare Considerations, Legal Implications and Alternatives (The Cattle Site O/S)
  • Dairy industry to focus on core values and corresponding vision (AgriNews O/S)
  • Pain management is quickest route to improved welfare (The Cattle Site O/S)
  • Farmer disqualified from owning livestock for life (Beef Central)
  • New rules on animal welfare good news for everyone (QLD Country Life)
Pigs in pork production
  • Revised APIQ Standards Manual – AW section 3 - unchanged, Transport section 7 – amended (APIQ)
  • To make the invisible visible: Thermography to assess intradermal needle-free vaccination in piglets (The Pig Site O/S)
Poultry in meat & egg production
  • Marks and Spencer to only stock slower growing broilers (Poultry World O/S)
  • France bans crushing and gassing of male chicks from 2022 (Reuters O/S)
  • The Pecking Order 2021 (World Animal Protection O/S)
  • Vietnam's Nam Huong unveils first commercial cage-free egg barn (The Poultry Site O/S)
  • Cage-free conversions slowing down (Watt Poultry O/S)
  • Poultry legislation search tool (AgriFutures)
  • Beyond Meat® Launches Beyond Chicken® Tenders At Restaurants Nationwide (VegWorld O/S)
  • Most companies meet 2020 pledge to ban caged eggs (Poultry World O/S)
Sheep in meat & wool production
  • Animal welfare bodies support AWEX NWD freeze branding changes (Sheep Central)
  • Freeze branding loses ‘non-mulesed’ status on wool declaration (Sheep Central)
  • Animal welfare - what the world seeks (QLD Country Life)
  • To go nudie or not? Why sheep that don't need shearing could be the way forward for farmers (ABC)
  • AWI’s collaboration with growAG. captures commercial interest in wearable tech for sheep (growAG)
  • No ‘absolute clarity’ around mulesing and wool for AWI leader (Sheep Central)
  • Animal rights activist Tash Peterson stages protest with dead lamb at Coles (News.com.au)
  • Government's docking advice causing confusion (NZ Herald O/S)
Animals in transit & at slaughter
  • $150k boost for live export animal welfare reporting (Beef Central)
  • Calls For Live Export Ban (Bloomberg O/S)
  • Abuse at abattoirs is caught on video but no one watches it (The Times O/S)
Animals in aquaculture
  • Alt-seafood: a fish welfare perspective (The Fish Site O/S)
  • Faux fish looks to ride the growing wave of alternative meats (CNBC O/S)
Animals in research & teaching
  • Australian supplier of lab animals to close, sparking fresh debate about use of mice and rats in research (The Guardian)
  • Axe hangs over nation’s biggest breeder of laboratory rats and mice (The Age)
Animals in racing & sport
  • Safe takes legal action against Government over failure to ban rodeo events (Stuff NZ O/S)
  • HRI CEO describes Panorama scenes ’abhorrent’ and emphasises commitment to horse welfare (Independent.ie O/S)
  • Opinion: The Calgary Stampede should drop inhumane rodeo events (DH News O/S)
Animals in zoos, aquaria & the wild
  • Kangaroo Island turns up the heat on feral pigs with high-tech eradication program (ABC)
  • During lockdown, opportunity to study zoo animal behavior without visitors (Phys.org O/S)
  • Trout can become ‘addicted’ to meth. Here's why that’s so scary. (National Geographic O/S)
  • Reducing the impact of zoo visitors on little penguins (The Univ Melbourne)
  • Are we a nation divided? Look no further than the dogs (SMH)
  • Whaling In The Faroe Islands: The Controversial Tradition Explained (Plant Based News O/S)
  • 4 things we need to stop telling ourselves about animals in zoos (Animals Australia)
Pets & companion animals
  • Do Horses Like To Work? (The Horse O/S)
  • Shaving horses' sensory whiskers faces ban in Australian equestrian events after international decision (ABC)
  • Horse welfare survey: What 'works well' in your equine activities?  Details  Survey (Univ Melb)
Podcasts & presentations
  • Lab–grown and plant–based meat: the science, psychology and future of meat alternatives – podcast (The Conversation O/S)
  • Animals, Ethics and Technology: Towards digital rights for animals (The University of Melbourne)
  • Banning caged animal farming;  (BBC Sounds O/S from 07:40)
  • Cell based meat and the future of food – policy and politics. Robyn Warner and Hope Johnson. (The Univ Melbourne)
Policy
  • Roslin response to UK Government consultation on gene editing (Roslin Institute O/S)
  • Calls for tougher animal welfare laws in Queensland to protect 'those without a voice' <disturbing images> (ABC)
  • RSPCA urges UK to act as the EU moves to phase out farm cages (The Pig Site O/S)
  • The Animal Sentience Bill is a textbook example of bad law – comment (The Telegraph O/S)
  • Animal welfare advocates plead for colony cages to be banned in New Zealand (NewsHub O/S)
  • Organic Producers: Return Of Animal Welfare Rules Will Level Playing Field For Smallest Farms (Wisconsin Public Radio O/S)
Other/Publications
  • Animals farmed (The Guardian O/S)
  • Animal Health in Australia – System Report AHA  (Animal Welfare Section 6)
  • Consumer attitudes to pasture reared livestock (AHDB O/S)
  • Did a Cuttlefish Write This? (NYT O/S)
  • Do crabs, octopuses and fish feel pain? Should they have greater rights to humane treatment? (ABC)
  • I’m an animal … get me out of here! (The University of Melbourne)
  • Metabolomics Lab’s Analysis Finds Near-Meat And Meat Not Nutritionally Equivalent (Duke Univ O/S)
  • Pescatarians are right – why I say eating fish is more ethical than eating meat (The Conversation UK)
  • RMAC asks ACCC to investigate bank’s refusal to lend to red meat sectors (Beef Central)
  • Should slaughterhouses have glass walls? The campaign for greater farm transparency goes to the High Court (The Conversation)
  • We are animals. We need to connect to the millions of non-human lives we use (The Guardian O/S)
  • Why Do Some People Love Watching Animals Fight? (Discover O/S)
  • Why Jane Goodall Still Has Hope for Us Humans (NYT O/S)
  • Yappy dogs, moody cats… why lockdown owners are full of ‘pet regret’ (The Guardian O/S)
  • Animal - The International Journal of Animal Biosciences Open Access (Animal)
  • International Society for Applied Ethology papers by members July. Pigs, Beef  and Dairy Cattle, Dogs (ISAE)
  • Boultwood, J.; O’Brien, M.; Rose, P. Bold Frogs or Shy Toads? How Did the COVID-19 Closure of Zoological Organisations Affect Amphibian Activity? Animals 2021, 11, 1982. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11071982
  • Hempstead, M.N.; Lindquist, T.M.; Shearer, J.K.; Shearer, L.C.; Plummer, P.J. Health and Welfare Survey of 30 Dairy Goat Farms in the Midwestern United States. Animals 2021, 11, 2007. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11072007
  • MacLean, E., Fine, A. H., Herzog, H., Strauss, E. G., & Cobb, M. L. (2021). The New Era of Canine Science: Reshaping Our Relationships with Dogs. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8, 762. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.675782/full
  • Lauren M. Robinson, Natalie K. Waran, Ian Handel, Matthew C. Leach. Happiness, welfare, and personality in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Volume 236, 2021, 105268, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105268
  • Small, A.; Fisher, A.D.; Lee, C.; Colditz, I. Analgesia for Sheep in Commercial Production: Where to Next? Animals 2021, 11, 1127. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11041127

Conferences, Seminars & Events

  • DATE CHANGE – Animal Welfare Horizons 2021, Brisbane, 29 November. Express interest on TAWC Webpage
  • DATE CHANGE – The National Primary Industries Animal Welfare Strategy 11th Annual Forum, Brisbane. 30 November  – Further details to be announced. Express interest on NAWRDES Webpage
  • ANZCCART Conference 2021 – “Openness in Animal Research”. 25-27 July, Queenstown, NZ. (ANZCCART)
  • Australian Dairy Farmers Dairy Beef Online Forum, 29 July, 9am AEST. Speakers.  (Register).
  • Graham Centre Livestock Forum. 30 July. (Graham Centre for Ag Innovation)
  • 54th Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology (on-line). 2 – 6 August. (ISAE 2021)
  • National Livestock Wellbeing Seminar series. 10 August (The Univ Adelaide – Details TBA)
  • Dean’s Seminar, “Effects of human interactions on domesticated animals: positive or negative effects?” by Professor Paul Hemsworth. 17 August, 12.00pm (The Univ Melbourne – Register)
  • 8th International Conference on The Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level. 16-19 August – Virtual Conference. (WAFL)
  • 11th World Virtual Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences 22-27 August. (WC11)
  • 2021 Animal Welfare Foundation Discussion Forum (Virtual). 15 September. (AWF)
  • One Welfare World Conference – Virtual. 15-16 Sept 2021. (OneWelfareWorld)
  • 76th WAZA Annual Conference, virtual, 11-14 October. Details TBA
  • 12th International Working Dog Conference, Oct. 12-14 (IWDC 2021)
  • LIVEXchange, Nov 10 – 11. Darwin. (LIVEXchange)
  • Australasian Pig Science Association Conference. 15 – 18 November. (APSA)
  • European Assn of Zoos and Aquaria first Animal Welfare Forum. 21 – 24 March 2022,The Netherlands. (EAZA)
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