The Animal Welfare Collaborative

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 17-31 October 2020

Cross-sectoral

Aussie Farms renames as Farm Transparency Project (Farmonline)

We must respond to consumer hunger for transparency on food production (LIDL The Grocer O/S)
Beyond rescue: Animals in disasters (IFAW O/S)
Nine out of 10 EU citizens oppose animal slaughter without stunning, poll finds (Guardian O/S)
‘Challenging Assumptions’: PETA Launches High School Program to Foster Empathy (PETA O/S)
Federal appeals court upholds California’s Prop 12 (Meat & Poultry O/S) and (HSUS O/S)
New controls on slaughterhouses are ‘window-dressing’ (Brussels Times (O/S)
Thai food producers shift focus to animal welfare (Nikkei Asia O/S)
Gene map to aid studies of key traits in sheep (Feedstuffs O/S)
Time to push for higher UK animal health and welfare standards (Scottish Farmer O/S)
Welfare is not a dirty word (RSPCA WA)
Empathy For Animals In Short Supply: We Need A Minister For Animal Welfare (ScoopNZ O/S)

Dairy

Plausible Future for Dairy 1 “Massive changes to subsidy regs, stricter AW policies struggling factory farms” (Lund Uni O/S)
Plausible Future for Dairy 2 “Lab-grown dairy reaches mass scalability” (Lund Uni O/S)
Alleged animal abuse in US dairy sector under investigation (Guardian O/S)

Pork

Pork’s future relies on trust throughout the pork value chain (Pork Site O/S)

Poultry

5 poultry innovations ready to change the industry in 2021 (Watt Poultry O/S)
Better Chicken Project (GAP O/S)
European Commission criticised for its welfare position (Poultry World O/S)

Red Meat

The Collateral Benefits of Cattle Welfare during Handling and Transport – Realising the potential of animal welfare for the Australian beef industry. Alistair Corr, 2019 Nuffield Scholar.
The Beef Framework is owned by Australia’s beef industry, and has developed a survey to understand which sustainability topics matter most. You can take the survey here.
Ceres Tag adds CSIRO cattle behaviour and pasture feed intake monitoring capabilities (Mirage)

Wool

Exporters and brokers unite to lift wool welfare declarations (Sheep Central)
Wool leader urges pain relief after activist priorities named (Sheep Central)
The future of mulesing (RSPCA WA)

Transport & abattoir

Provenir wins innovation award for on-farm meat processing (Ballarat Courier)
LiveCorp releases 2025 strategic plan (LiveCorp)
New Zealand Announces New Measures For Live Animal Exports (Reuters O/S)

Aquaculture

What’s the minimum light level needed in salmon RAS? (The Fish Site O/S)
DPIPWE gave salmon farm giant Tassal green light to trap seals (ABC)
Fish welfare must take higher priority, Salmon Group says (Seafood Source O/S)

Laboratory

Racing & sports

Life After Racing: Bright future for former jumps horses (ABC Landline)
New industry report finds high rehoming rate for ex-jumps horses, despite claims of animal cruelty (ABC)
NSW government accused of undermining greyhound racing regulator (Guardian)

Zoos, aquarium & wildlife

Who’s who at the zoo – Wildlife sanctuaries have had to adapt to strange times (Australian)
Judge continues halt of California’s ban on gator products (Washington Post O/S)
Could this be a crucial breakthrough in the fight to save elephants from heart-breaking cruelty? (Mirror O/S)
Coronavirus could drive the last nail into the mink fur trade (CNN O/S)
Is an elephant a person? A New York court is set to decide (Guardian O/S)

Pets & companion animals

New poll shows most South Koreans reject eating dog meat (Mirage O/S)

Other/Publications

Sandøe, P.; Hansen, H.O.; Rhode, H.L.H.; Houe, H.; Palmer, C.; Forkman, B.; Christensen, T. Benchmarking Farm Animal Welfare—A Novel Tool for Cross-Country Comparison Applied to Pig Production and Pork Consumption. Animals 2020, 10, 955.
Buller, H.; Blokhuis, H.; Lokhorst, K.; Silberberg, M.; Veissier, I. Animal Welfare Management in a Digital World. Animals 2020, 10, 1779.
Ede, T., von Keyserlink, M.A., Weary, D.M. Conditioned place aversion of caustic paste and hot-iron disbudding in dairy calves. Journal of Dairy Science.
Trial concludes reducing crude protein in broiler diets can improve bird welfare (The Poultry Site)
Webinar Report: Delivering the UK nations’ ambitions for animal health and welfare in a post-Brexit world hosted jointly by Food and Farming Futures and Edinburgh University (O/S)
NEW online course in Sustainable Global Food Systems. Univ Edinburgh (O/S)
What philosopher Peter Singer has learned in 45 years of advocating for animals (Vox O/S)

Podcasts/Presentations

Next on the Menu (APL). Diana Rodgers (Co-author Sacred Cow: The Case for Better Meat)
Tom Hunt – The Chef’s Manifesto Podcast series (O/S)
Talk Animal Welfare To Me w/ Temple Grandin! (O/S):
Taking the pulse of consumers: A conversation with Jayson Lusk (Feedstuffs O/S)
Podcast: Broiler welfare the focus of Tyson’s new research farm (Meat+Poultry O/S)

Policy

A new animal welfare Act for Victoria. The Victorian Government is seeking feedback on proposals for a new animal welfare Act. You can provide feedback here.
New law proposed to help protect pets from domestic violence perpetrators (Nat Tribune)
UK Government backs Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill as it takes crucial step forward (UK Govt PR O/S)

Conferences, Seminars & Events

National Livestock Wellbeing Seminars. The University of Adelaide is hosting livestock wellbeing seminars to bring together the latest in fundamental and applied sciences within the livestock industry.
The Animal Behavior Society (ABS) and the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) have joined forces to host the first Global Animal Behaviour Twitter Conference (#AnimBehav2021)!
RSPCA Australia Feline Futures Animal Welfare Seminar 18-19 Feb 2021.
Ensuring Animal Safety During Lockdown: Identifying, Preventing and Protecting Animals in Distress 12/11/20 9.30am GMT (Public Policy Exchange O/S)

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