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 11 - 24 August 2022

Cross-sectoral
  • Animal activists forbidden from using illegally obtained video footage for campaigns (Beef Central)
  • USDA must now publicly report all animal welfare violations (National Geographic O/S)
  • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada invests $3 million for animal welfare and tracking (DVM360 O/S)
Cattle in beef & dairy production
Pigs in pork production
  • NZPork unveils alternative proposals to improve pig welfare (NZ Herald O/S)
  • Happier pigs might mean expensive bacon and less climate-friendly farms (Stuff NZ O/S)
  • Comfortable sow, healthier piglets (Teagasc O/S)
  • UK Pig Industry Welfare Training deadline is fast approaching (Pigworld O/S)
  • Christine Pelland from South West Ontario Veterinary Services, Tail Biting Control Still Not A “Slam Dunk” (Swineweb O/S)
Poultry in meat & egg production
  • Egg producers claim 14 years is not long enough to phase out battery cages (Inside FMCG)
  • RSPCA celebrates historic battery cage phase out (RSPCA Australia)
  • Historic phase-out of battery cages agreed by state and territory governments (Aust Alliance for Animals)
  • Lives of farmed chickens set to improve under new welfare standards (ABC)
  • Virtual reality could boost poultry health, say Iowa State University researchers (Iowa State Univ O/S)
  • Confused About US Chicken Labels? Here's What They All Mean (CNET O/S)
Sheep in meat & wool production
  • Sheep pain relief products win interim decisions from TGA (Sheep Central)
  • Booster awareness lifts hopes for flystrike vaccine (Sheep Central)
  • Pain relief ‘huge priority’ for Victorian lamb producers (Sheep Central)
Animals in transit & at slaughter
  • Animal rights group releases shocking footage from inside a pig abattoir as activists reveal their plan to target a weekend festival dedicated to bacon (Daily Mail)
  • Humane Slaughter Association Conference 2022 (Program) (Presentations)
  • How a Spanish tourist spot became a global hub for live animal export (The Guardian O/S)
  • An ordeal that ends on a plate in a tourist resort: Live transports of calves to the Canary Islands (Animals’ Angels O/S)
Animals in aquaculture and wild caught
  • Animal Welfare Inspectors to Join Whaling Ships (Iceland Review O/S)
  • Citing a ‘troubling vacuum in oversight’ animal welfare groups call for new rules to govern fish farms (Spectrum News O/S)
  • Bluu claims "Europe's first market-ready" cell-cultured seafood (The Fish Site O/S)
  • Hatching a plan for cleaner fish welfare (Fish Farmer O/S)
Animals in research & teaching
  • Can Europe replace animal testing of chemicals? (C&EN O/S)
  • New Report Reveals the Federal Government Is Spending Millions To Get Animals High (Fee Stories O/S)
Animals in racing, sports & work
  • From racing to retirement — study investigates industry misconceptions (Agrifutures)
  • The rise of biomarkers in the drive to improve horse welfare and performance (Horsetalk O/S)
  • Horse racing in U.S. can't survive without reforms, HISA CEO says (Reuters O/S)
  • NYRA, StrideSAFE Sensor Technology Study Begins New Stage (TDN O/S)
  • PETA Statement: Horse’s Collapse Prompts Angry Rally at City Hall (PETA O/S)
Animals in zoos, aquaria & the wild
  • How to choose a wildlife experience that does no harm (Washington Post O/S)
  • Norway was right to put down Freya the walrus, prime minister says (The Guardian O/S)
  • Walrus Freya who became attraction in Norway's Oslo Fjord put down (BBC O/S)
  • Sad end for seal spotted in paddock with cows at Simpson dairy farm in south-west Victoria (ABC)
  • The Welfare of Thailand's Captive Elephants and Their People (Psychology Today O/S)
  • Talks with Temple (Denver Zoo O/S)
Pets & companion animals
  • Horse immune system study suggests animals kept alone in stables are prone to stress (ABC)
  • No puppy love: post-lockdown lifestyles and cost of living are driving Australians to surrender their pets (The Guardian)
  • How pet owners define a “good death” (DVM360 O/S)
Podcasts & presentations
  • TAWC Talks Series – Prof Paul Hemsworth, Animal Welfare Science Centre, The University of Melbourne. “A positive human contact” (TAWC)
  • Knowing Animals - Measuring subjective animal welfare with Heather Browning (Knowing Animals)
  • The chair of NZPork (and former Deputy Speaker of the House) says pig farmers have made a series of proposed changes to the way pigs are farmed, as an alternative to plans proposed by the NAWAC, which could devastate the sector. (The Country NZ)
  • Presentations from the latest AWI Flystrike RD&E Technical Update held on the 10th August 2022 (AWI)
  • Low Stress Stock Handling founder, Jim Lindsay (MLA)
  • Britain's Animal Sentience Law Explained (TLDR News)
  • How are animals protected in Australia? (SBS)
  • Romain Lefèvre - Presentation ISBE 2022, Universal Emotional Translators. (YouTube)
Policy
  • Liz Truss has refused to enshrine animal welfare in trade deals, says minister (The Guardian O/S)
  • Farm to Fork: EFSA provides recommendations to improve welfare of farmed pigs (EFSA O/S)
  • California pig welfare rule delays frustrate small farmers (ABC News O/S)
  • Biden rule would give organic chickens access to outdoors (KELO O/S)
  • USDA Must Now Publicly Report All Animal Welfare Violations In Zoos And Other Facilities (Plant Based News O/S)
  • Massachusetts Delays Hog Welfare Law For Second Time (Agriculture.com O/S)
Other/Publications
  • ‘Bloodied’ vegan activist Tash Peterson terrorises Louis Vuitton customers (West Australian)
  • The Community Trust in Rural Industries Program - Year 3 report (Agrifutures)
  • Here’s What Happens Behind Closed Doors at an Intensive Goat Dairy (Sentient Media O/S)
  • Is fake meat healthy? And what’s actually in it? (The Conversation)
  • New Book - Advances in precision livestock farming (Burleigh Dodds)
  • SCOTUS Animal Welfare Case Could Implicate State Power to Ban Abortion Pills (Verdict O/S)
  • There’s no time to rush! Pigs’ and transport drivers’ welfare and interactions during slaughter transport. Doctoral Thesis, Sofia Wilhelmsson, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Department of Animal Environment and Health. (SLU)
  • UK has more than 1,000 livestock mega-farms, investigation reveals (The Guardian O/S)
  • What are the animal welfare laws in Australia? (SBS)
  • Boys, R.M.; Beausoleil, N.J.; Pawley, M.D.M.; Betty, E.L.; Stockin, K.A. Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melas edwardii). Animals 2022, 12, 1861. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12141861
  • Rachel Degrande, Fabien Cornilleau, Léa Lansade, Plotine Jardat, Violaine Colson, Ludovic Calandreau. Domestic hens succeed at serial reversal learning and perceptual concept generalisation using a new automated touchscreen device. Animal, Volume 16, Issue 8, 2022, 100607. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731122001604
  • Franco, N.H., Voikar, V. FELASA2022 – Communication as a driver for better science, transparency, and animal welfare. Lab Anim (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41684-022-01041-9
  • Gmel, A.I.; Zollinger, A.; Wyss, C.; Bachmann, I.; Briefer Freymond, S. Social Box: Influence of a New Housing System on the Social Interactions of Stallions When Driven in Pairs. Animals 2022, 12, 1077. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12091077
  • Goumon Sébastien, Illmann Gudrun, Moustsen Vivi A., Baxter Emma M., Edwards Sandra A. Review of Temporary Crating of Farrowing and Lactating Sows. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 9, 2022. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.811810
  • Munoz CA, Hemsworth LM, Hemsworth PH, Rice M and Coleman GJ (2022) Improving Communication in the Red Meat Industry: Opinion Leaders May Be Used to Inform the Public About Farm Practices and Their Animal Welfare Implications. Front. Psychol. 13:876034. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.876034
  • Redweik GAJ, Millman ST, Parsons RL, Hurtado Terminel AN, Radkowski R, Daniels K, Lyte M, Oliver J and Mellata M (2022) Exposure to a Virtual Environment Induces Biological and Microbiota Changes in Onset-of-Lay Hens. Front. Virtual Real. 3:891584. doi: 10.3389/frvir.2022.891584
  • Schmucker S, Preisler V, Marr I, Krüger K, Stefanski V (2022) Single housing but not changes in group composition causes stress-related immunomodulations in horses. PLoS ONE 17(8): e0272445. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272445
  • Sinclair M, Lee NYP, Hötzel MJ, de Luna MCT, Sharma A, Idris M, Derkley T, Li C, Islam MA, Iyasere OS, Navarro G, Ahmed AA, Khruapradab C, Curry M, Burns GL and Marchant JN (2022) International perceptions of animals and the importance of their welfare. Front. Anim. Sci. 3:960379. doi: 10.3389/fanim.2022.960379
  • Stonebridge M, Evans D, Kotzmann J (2022) Sentience matters: Analysing the regulation of calf-roping in Australian rodeos. Animals 12, 1071, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12091071   
  • Wright Will, Tworek Heidi J. S., von Keyserlingk Marina A. G., Koralesky Katherine E., Weary Daniel M.  Using animal history to inform current debates in gene editing farm animals: A systematic review. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 6, 2022. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.938085

Conferences, Seminars & Events

  • European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming & International Conference on Precision Dairy Farming, 29 Aug-2 Sept University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (Vetmeduni)
  • Every Day’s a School Day…….For a Wildlife Veterinarian, Global Animal Welfare Webinar. 31st August, 10.00 GMT. (GAW)
  • The 55th Congress of the International Society of Applied Ethology, 4 – 8 Sept 2022. N Macedonia. (ISAE)
  • One Health Downunder Symposium 2022, 12th – 13th September 2022 (Univ Qld)
  • AWP25 Webinars “Achieving Change in Academia” September 12, 2022 12 pm PDT. (UBC)
  • Growing Beef from Dairy Conference. 15th September 2022. Attwood, Victoria. (MLA)
  • US Poultry Live production, welfare and biosecurity seminar. 21st – 22nd September, Nashville TN USA (US Poultry)
  • Public event: EFSA findings on the animal welfare for transported animals. 26th September. (EFSA)
  • AWP25 Webinars “Achieving Change Through Government Institutions” October 3, 2022 12 pm PDT (UBC)
  • 2022 Animal Welfare Symposium & Workshop hosted by University of Otago 21st October (ANZLAA)
  • 77th WAZA Annual Conference, 23 – 27 October, Tenerife. (Details)
  • AWP25 Webinars “Achieving Change in Veterinary Practice” November 7, 2022 12 pm PDT (UBC)
  • AWP25 Webinars “Achieving Change for Animals in Latin America” December 5, 2022 12 pm PDT (UBC)
  • AWP25 Webinars “Achieving Change in the Private Sector” January 9 2023 12 pm PDT (UBC)
  • International Animal Behaviour Twitter Conference 2023 18 -19th January 2023. https://www.animbehav2023.com/?s=09
  • AWP25 Webinars “Achieving Change in the Animal Protection Movement” February 6 2023 12 pm PDT (UBC)
  • evokeAG. 21st – 22nd February, Adelaide. (evokeAG)
  • RSPCA Animal Welfare Seminar 2023. Quit horsing around: Advancing horse welfare in Australia. Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 February 2023. Online. (RSPCA)
  • AWP25 Webinars “Achieving Change for Wild Animals” March 6 2023 12 pm PDT (UBC)
  • AWP25 Webinars “Achieving Change in Research” April 6 2023 12 pm PDT (UBC)
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