02 Nov 31 Oct 2020
Posted at 05:45h
in Animal Welfare Snapshot
A selection of relevant animal welfare news from around the world
Brought to you by

Note: The text below is taken direct from linked content and does not reflect opinions of TAWC.
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
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, aquariums & 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 in 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)
Recent 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)
Timely Podcasts
- 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)
Upcoming 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)