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

News 15 – 28 April 2021

Cross-sectoral
  • Measuring animal emotions – and why it matters (Dairy Global O/S)
  • RSPCA Assured UK – New  website (RSPCA UK O/S)
Cattle in beef & dairy production
Pigs in pork production
Poultry in meat & egg production
  • ‘We love foie gras’: French outrage at UK plan to ban imports of ‘cruel’ delicacy (Guardian O/S)
  • Why the US egg industry is still killing 300 million chicks a year (VOX O/S)
  • Payments by results scheme for animal welfare measures (Poultry World O/S)
  • Morrisons targeted by Animal Equality over ‘misleading’ chicken range (The Grocer O/S)
Sheep in meat & wool production
Animals in transit & at slaughter
  • ‘Let’s not beat about the bush’: Time to provide shade at livestock exchange (ABC)
  • Up to $10 million available for innovative live export health solutions (Sheep Central)
  • New Zealand to stop exporting livestock by sea (Guardian O/S)
  • Australian live cattle exports will lift with NZ banning live trade, industry analyst (ABC)
  • Are Australia’s animal welfare standards enough to save live-ex? (Farm Online)
  • Tech could end live export monitors: RSPCA (Yahoo News)
Animals in aquaculture
  • Farmed fish suffer pain and stress, says report that criticises welfare failings (Guardian O/S) and “Animal welfare risks of global aquaculture”, By Becca Franks, Christopher Ewell, Jennifer Jacquet. Science Advances 02 APR 2021 : EABG0677.
  • Can fish feel pain? The jury is still out – a response to above article (Guardian O/S)
  • The secret lives of farmed fish (Phys.Org)
Animals in research & teaching
  • We’re creating ‘humanized pigs’ in our ultraclean lab to study human illnesses and treatments (The Conversation US O/S)
  • Belgian animal rights group calls for no more experiments on dogs or cats (Brussels Times)
Animals in racing & sport
  • Champion horse was lame before fatal 2020 Melbourne Cup run (The Age)
  • Spanish crowds to return to the bullring next month in support of Covid-hit matadors (The Local O/S)
  • Review into greyhound racing launched (RNZ O/S)
Animals in zoos, aquaria & the wild
  • Irish zoo designer Kieran Stanley: A visit should make you ‘fall in love with wildlife’ (Irish Times O/S)
  • A US ban on kangaroo leather would be an animal welfare disaster – and a missed farming opportunity (The Conversation)
  • The wild frontier of animal welfare (Vox O/S)
  • ‘Tiger King’ stars’ legal woes could transform cub-petting industry (National Geographic O/S)
Pets & companion animals
  • Horse cruelty: ‘More powers needed’ to tackle issue (BBC O/S)
  • Can our passion for pets help reset our relationship with nature? (Guardian O/S)
Podcasts & presentations
  • Symposium “Farm animal cognition and its implementation into animal husbandry and management”. Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology. Presentations from the March Symposium can be found HERE
  • Top Producer Summit: The State of Animal Agriculture, Temple Grandin and Frank Mitloehner. (AgWeb O/s)
  • Proposition 12: now what? – Dr. Hyatt Frobose (The Pig Site O/S)
Policy
  • Proposition 12 Pressures Aren’t Going Away (Farm Journal O/S)
Other/Publications
  • Consumer Insights: Trust in farming and the environment 2020 (ADHB UK O/S)
  • We love animals — so why do we treat them so badly? (Financial Times O/S)
  • Welfare Pulse, Animal Welfare in NZ and around the world (MPI NZ)
  • Animal Studies Journal provides a forum for current research in human-animal Studies. ASJ publishes international cross-disciplinary scholarship and practice-led research. The journal, which is published twice yearly, is fully refereed (double-blind peer reviewed) and open access. (https://ro.uow.edu.au/asj/ )
  • Kate J. Yaxley et al. Drone approach parameters leading to lower stress sheep flocking and movement: sky shepherding, Scientific Reports (2021). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-87453-y
  • Fadul-Pacheco, L.; Liou, M.; Reinemann, D.J.; Cabrera, V.E. A Preliminary Investigation of Social Network Analysis Applied to Dairy Cow Behavior in Automatic Milking System Environments. Animals 2021, 11, 1229. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051229
  • Rooney, H.B.; Schmitt, O.; Courty, A.; Lawlor, P.G.; O’Driscoll, K. Like Mother Like Child: Do Fearful Sows Have Fearful Piglets? Animals 2021, 11, 1232. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051232
  • Tschoner, T. Methods for Pain Assessment in Calves and Their Use for the Evaluation of Pain during Different Procedures—A Review. Animals 2021, 11, 1235. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051235
  • Editorial: Animal Welfare Assessment: Edition 1. Edward Narayan, Alan McElligott and Alan J. Tilbrook. The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/12603/animal-welfare-assessment-edition-1#articles

Conferences, Seminars & Events

  • DIARY HOLD – Animal Welfare Horizons 2021, Brisbane, December 1st (TAWC)
  • DIARY HOLD – The National Primary Industries Animal Welfare Strategy 11th Annual Forum, Brisbane. December 2nd – Further details to be announced. Express interest on NAWRDES Webpage
  • National Livestock Wellbeing Seminars.  Genetics of pain and wellbeing. 11 May 1.00pm. AEST details – (Univ Adelaide)
  • South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), ANZLAA and Tecniplast Australia 2021 Animal Welfare Symposium. 13 May.  Adelaide and ZOOM (Techniplast)
  • Center for Animal Welfare Science’s virtual symposium to discuss lessons learned from COVID-19. 19-20 May. Registrations at Purdue University, US.
  • Universities Federation for Animal Welfare. Recent advances in animal welfare science VIII. 29-30 June. (UFAW)
  • ANZCCART Conference 2021 – “Openness in Animal Research”. 25-27 July, Queenstown, NZ. (ANZCCART)
  • 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)
  • 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 2021. (WC11)
  • One Welfare World Conference – Virtual. 15-16 Sept 2021. (OneWelfareWorld)
  • LIVEXchange, Nov 10 – 11. Darwin. (LIVEXchange)
  • Australasian Pig Science Association Conference. 15 – 18 November. (APSA)
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