Photo credits: L214 A new report of AgriBusiness Consulting makes a compelling case for a complete rethinking of the industrial intensive chicken production model that predominates in the EU and that threatens public health, pollutes the environment, and does little to respect animal welfare. The report, published less than a week after the European Parliament […]
Brexit is coming and, inevitably, so is the deadline for the UK and the EU-27 to conclude the withdrawal agreement. On 17 October, the EU heads of State and Governments will meet in a European Council solely aimed at dealing with Brexit. Only after this meeting will it be decided whether conditions are met to […]
The seventieth meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES #SC70) met in Sochi from 1-5 October 2018. While we booked progress on the protection of whales in Japan and several other topics, we also witnessed some disappointing decisions, such as the dissolution […]
Factory farming is not only very detrimental to the welfare of farmed animals, but it is also a prominent obstacle on our way to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Favouring extensive farming systems which are more sustainable through trade policy would contribute to reaching SDGs, with the additional potential benefit of delivering higher […]
On World Animal Day the European Parliament Plenary meeting unanimously called on the European Commission to fully enforce the Broiler Directive and resolve the animal welfare, environmental and health threats resulting from industrial broiler chicken farming. Commissioner Bienkowska committed to develop more animal welfare indicators and promote funding to higher welfare chicken farming systems through […]
Photo credits: Andrzej Skowron The European pig industry routinely flouts welfare laws and public opinion in pursuit of higher profits while member states continuously turn a blind eye. Eurogroup for Animals and a million citizens urge the European Commission to break this vicious circle. — With the unprecedented 16-month pan-European campaign ‘EndPigPain’, Eurogroup for Animals and […]
This year’s strong topics of the 18th annual congress of the European Society for Alternatives to Animal Testing (EUSAAT) were the advances in organs-on-chip replacement technologies and the progresses of national 3R centres. The forum gathers scientists, policy makers and animal advocates to discuss the latest developments on 3Rs policy, science and ethics. Bringing together […]
Photo credits: Andrzej Skowron In violation of the Pigs Directive 2008/120/EC, tail-docking is still routinely carried out in all European Union’s Member States, with the exception of Sweden and Finland. The Italian audit is the latest in a series carried out by DG SANTE and whose results are discouraging as they show the complete lack of […]
At the first meeting of the EU Animal Welfare Platform’s subgroup on fish, participants agreed to develop general guidance on the handling of fish and on water quality and then to go on to consolidate existing knowledge into species specific recommendations in each area. There is an increasing focus on the welfare of fish in […]
Last week, the European Parliament published a draft recommendation allowing the Council of the EU to grant new trade preferences to China that would serve as a compensation for a lost WTO dispute on poultry meat preparations. As a result China could obtain cheap preferential access to EU markets without due consideration of animal welfare. […]