Should Emotional And Societal Values Be Included In Breeding Programmes?
By Lucy Campbell, Animal Scientist, ACMC - This article looks at the concept of including those traits that have no economic importance into a breeding programme. Modern pig production is no longer focused on just economically efficient pork production;...

Improving Animal Welfare: EU Action Plan
By the European Commission - Concrete measures to improve the protection and welfare of animals over the next five years are outlined in a new Action Plan on the protection and welfare of animals, adopted by the Commission today. The Action Plan aims...

The Challenges of Delivering & Explaining Pig Welfare
By John Deen, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota - Pig welfare has two distinct challenges. The first is, of course, using the capabilities and resources that we have, and using them in a cogent and responsible manner when we care...

Attitudes of consumers towards the welfare of farmed animals
By the European Commission - This survey focus's particularly on the attitude of consumers to the welfare and protection of farmed animals. The survey has been carried out by TNS Opinion & Social, interviewing 24 708 citizens in the 25 Member States of...

Managing Welfare Audit Systems
By Banff Pork - This report contains 3 articles presented at the Banff Pork Seminar 2004 This report focuses on proceedings concerning the history of animal welfare pressures.

Welfare of the farrowing sow
By The Scottish Agricultural College - The post-war intensification of pig production has led to significant advances in output of pig-meat and decreased costs of production. This article provides the Introduction to work done at the SAC on Pig Welfare...

A Strategy for British Pig Health and Welfare
By BPEX - In response to the actions of Defra, the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government in the development of an Animal Health and Welfare Strategy (AHWS) for Great Britain the industry has devised a Strategy for British Pig Health and...

Meeting Future Demands for Animal Care in Canada
By Tina Widowski - This paper, presented at the 2003 Banff Pork Seminar outlines several different approaches for objectively assessing the welfare of animals on farms and gives some specific examples of how different tools can be used for welfare auditing...

Swine Welfare Assurance Program
By the National Pork Board - The Swine Welfare Assurance Program (SWAP) is designed to help producers assess their operation’s compliance with the guidelines given in the Checkoff-funded Swine Care Handbook. SWAP consists of nine Care and Well-being Principles...

The welfare dilemma: A matter of balancing consequences
By Ian Campbell, Regional Manager, NPA - Striking a better balance between the desire for a 'better life' for the pig on the one hand, and the increasing demands of society for farms to meet the health and safety requirements of food manufacture on the...

Improving Animal Welfare through Scientific Research
By The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council - An introduction to how scientific research is helping to identify factors that influence animal welfare and to provide a basis for improving the welfare of livestock and other animals.

Welfare of Farmed Animals at Slaughter or Killing: Part 1: Red Meat Animals
By the Farm Animal Welfare Council - FAWC was established in 1979. Its terms of reference are to keep under review the welfare of farm animals on agricultural land, at market, in transit and at the place of slaughter; and to advise Great Britain’s Rural...

Promoting the welfare of floor and trough-fed dry sows
By Stotfold Pigs. This leaflet looking at the welfare of floor and trough-fed dry sows is based on the results of work by Cambac JMA Research funded by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (now DEFRA) and the Meat and Livestock Commission ...

EU Welfare Law - Recommendation Concerning Pigs
This article is taken from document T-AP (98) 3 : Standing Committee of the European Convention For The Protection Of Animals Kept For Farming Purposes, which is the final version for adoption set for the 45th meeting in Strasbourg, 17-19 June 2003. ...

English Code of Recommendations for the Welfare of Pigs
By DEFRA - This article reproduces the preface of the Code of Recommendations for the Welfare of Livestock: PIGS and provides links to the 20 page PDF booklet that makes up the Welfare Code.

Toys for Pigs
By Penny Lawlis - Animal Care Specialist, OMAF, Canada - A European Commission welfare ruling stipulates that pigs must have "...permanent access to a sufficient quantity of material to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities, such as...

Is there money in welfare friendly production?
By Dr John Strak - This month’s Strak report considers the issue of food producion under stringent ethical and welfare conditions and ponders whether it is possible to achieve this goal and still make a profit.

Minimum standards for the protection for pigs
By thePigSite.com - Towards the latter end of 2001 the European Union adopted its amended directive(s) laying down minimum welfare standards for the protection of pigs. The EU dictates that these requirements should become law for all new, re-built or...

Animal Welfare: What Do Consumers Think?
By Jane Messenger, Pork Magazine - Do consumers think about how pigs are raised when they shop for pork chops? New research shows that when it comes to picking out meat products, consumers are more concerned about price and quality than about animal welfare...

Questions and Answers: Animal Transport in the EU
By European Commission - This article provides a question and answer session on the Euopean Unions' regulations regards animal transport.

The New EU Welfare Proposals
By John Gadd, England, National Hog Farmer - By the year 2013, all member states of the European Union (EU) must comply with draconian new animal welfare regulations. Some EU countries such as Sweden and the United Kingdom are already well down the proposed...

Improved handling systems for pigs at slaughter
By the MLC - A project to improve and devise new systems of pig handling prior to stunning without force, so as to minimise stress and to evaluate the improvements in welfare, ease of loading and the economic benefit was funded by MAFF and industrial...

The market for welfare-friendly bacon and eggs
By Dr John Strak - Animal welfare regulations are back in the news this month with the champion of animal welfare and Junior Minister at DEFRA, Elliot Morley, announcing that he will hold a public consultation on banning battery cages for chickens in...