Planet

Animal transport and welfare, 5 EFSA opinions to define new EU rules

September 8, 2022

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On 7.9.22 EFSA(European Food Safety Authority) published five scientific opinions on the conditions necessary to ensure animal welfare during their transport in view of new EU rules.

Sustainability of animal husbandry cannot go without more space for animals during travel, control and reduction of maximum temperatures, limits on travel time.

1) Animal Welfare in the EU. Scenario

Existing EU animal welfare standards-as well as not being adequately enforced and monitored, at some member states-still have many shortcomings, which have been stigmatized in various acts of the relevant institutions:

on 14.11.18, the European Court of Auditors found widespread delays and critical issues in the implementation of animal welfare standards on the farm, during transport and at the slaughterhouse, (1)
on 31.3.21, the European Commission, some years behind its earlier commitments, recognized the need to revise the EU animal welfare strategy, (2)
9.6.20 the European Parliament established a special committee, ANIT(Committee of inquiry on animal transport), to investigate violations in enforcing EU law on the protection of animals during transport and related operations,
20.1.22 the European Parliament adopted a recommendation where it called for clear rules and measurable targets to ensure uniform application of EU rules, including using innovative animal welfare indicators. (3)

2) Animal welfare and animal transport

Animal welfare-a cornerstone of the Farm to Fork strategy, itself part of the European Green Deal-cannot wait any longer. Also with a view to safeguarding, at the same time, human and environmental health(One Health). (4) The European Commission has thus finally initiated the review of:

Directive on the protection of animals kept for farming purposes (dir. 98/58/EC),
Four directives establishing minimum standards for the protection of laying hens, broilers, pigs and calves (dir. 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC, 2008/120/EC, 2008/119/EC),
Regulations on the protection of animals during transport and at the time of slaughter (EU reg. 1/2005, 1099/2009).

3) EU public consultation

The 59,281 contributions collected as a result of the EU public consultation on animal welfare, which ended on 21.1.22, (5) also highlighted the felt need to reform animal transport rules:

95 percent of participants were in favor of setting maximum travel times,
94 percent called for bans on exports to non-EU countries of live animals for slaughter, as well as transport of unweaned calves and other vulnerable animals. (6)

More generally, 92 percent of respondents consider the current EU rules on animal welfare to be inadequate to ensure adequate and uniform protection for all animal species. Structural reform has also been clamored for, after all, with 1.4 million signatures in support of the European Citizens’ Initiative to Eliminate Cages on Farms(End the CageAge). (7)

4) Transport and animal welfare, EFSA’s recommendations.

‘Good animal welfare practices not only reduce unnecessary suffering but also help make animals healthier. This is pivotal to the safety of the food supply chain, given the close links between animal welfare, animal health, and foodborne diseases, in line with the One Health global principle that EFSA is guided by.’ (Guilhem de Seze, EFSA)

EFSA’s recommendations aspire to preside over animal welfare on short trips (<8 hours), long trips (>8 hours) and very long trips (requiring unloading and/or feeding of animals). In relation to the different hypotheses of:

Animals in the wild. Small ruminants (sheep and goats), horses, cattle, pigs,
animals in containers. Poultry species (broilers, laying hens, turkeys, ducks, geese, quail) and rabbits.

4.1) Animal-Based Measures, ABMs.

EFSA’sAnimal Health and Animal Welfare (AHAW) panel indicates specific measures(Animal Based Measures, ABMs) to be taken to reduce the negative impacts of transport on animal welfare. Referring, for all categories of animals, to the following criteria:

provide more space for animals, lower temperatures, and reduce travel time, compared to current practices,
Appropriately define the concept of fitness of animals for transport, including guidelines and thresholds based on the specific measures,
Provide adequate training for personnel involved in operations,
Focus scientific research on developing systems to maintain microclimate conditions in vehicles.

5) EFSA, the recommendations for animal welfare.

ABMs are then declined, based on existing scientific studies, in relation to the transport of individual animal categories. With specific regard to:

Preparation for transport, loading, unloading and handling of animals at all stages of the journey, including at destination,
means of transportation by road, ship, rail and air,
conditions inside the transport vehicles (space, microclimatic conditions, watering and feeding),
travel time and its circumstances, resting of animals in parked and/or unloading vehicles,
conditions of the areas where animals are grouped and/or unloaded during journeys.

Different quantitative thresholds, depending on category, are defined for temperatures to be maintained inside vehicles and spaces reserved for each animal. Also taking into account the influence of transportation time on hunger, thirst, and fatigue.

5.1) Small ruminants (sheep and goats)

The temperature should not exceed 28°C for fleece sheep, 32°C for shorn sheep, to avoid initiation of severe heat stress when the upper critical temperature (UCT) is exceeded.

The space given to animals during transport must be sufficient to allow them to adjust their posture and balance, according to a validated scientific method.

Travel time should consider the need to water, feed and allow sheep and the goats to rest after 12 hours of transport. And the difficulty of fulfilling those needs on a parked vehicle. (8)

5.2) Equines

Equines must be transported in temperatures not exceeding 25° C. Width and length of individual stalls must be at least 40 cm greater than the width of the widest point and the length of the horse. Horses must be able to lower their heads below the height of the withers to clear the airway, so ropes should not be crossed or too short (< 60 cm).

The density for unhandled horses, transported in small groups provided they are compatible, must be such that the animals have freedom of movement (< 200 kg/m2). The duration of travel should consider the possible occurrence of clinical respiratory distress (after travels of 10-14 hours) and gastro-enteric distress (e.g., gastric ulceration), after 12 hours in unfed horses.

Physiological biomarkers of dehydration were reported after just 1-3 hours of transport, behavioral indicators of thirst after 3 hours, biomarkers indicative of prolonged hunger after 12 hours of transport. Therefore, equines must receive feed and water ad libitum or at least at regular intervals (<4 hours) for at least 30 minutes in the parked vehicle during transport. (9)

5.3) Cattle

Cattle, like equids, should be transported at a temperature not exceeding 25°C. Space during transport must be sufficient to allow them to adjust their posture and balance. The minimum space must be calculated using a validated scientific method.

When even vehicles are equipped with troughs, cattle are thirsty after 9 hours of travel and hungry after 12 hours. In view of the practical difficulties in feeding cattle during transport, it is necessary to unload the animals from the vehicle to allow them to drink, feed and rest in suitable premises. (10)

5.4) Pigs

The upper threshold of the thermal comfort zone and the upper criticaltemperature (upper critical temperature UCT) are estimated to be respectively:

20°C, 22°C dry temperature for sows,
22°C, 25°C for finishing pigs,
25°C and 30°C for weaners (30 kg. approx.).

Pigs must have enough space to allow all animals to assume the semi-recumbent position.

Pre-transportation fasting must be appropriate for the category of pigs, the duration of the journey, and the fate (slaughter or fattening/breeding). Within 10 hours (including time required for loading) for finishers, less for other categories of pigs.

Troughs in vehicles and breaks when the vehicle is stationary are not enough to alleviate thirst (after 8 hours), hunger (after 12) and the animals’ need for rest during transport. (11)

5.5) Chicks

The comfort zone to be respected for chicks is 30-35°C, and it is essential to prevent cold stress. Suspension of feeding procures prolonged hunger (in 90-100% of cases) and thirst beyond 48 hours, measured from the hatching of the first chicks until the last of the chicks has access to feed and water. And that is the line not to be crossed.

The solution identified to ensure animal welfare during transport at this stage of the poultry supply chain is to transport fertilized eggs at incubator temperatures (lower than those required for ‘day-old chicks’). To allow them to hatch in the arrival farm. (12)

5.6) Poultry

Poultry expresses 97 percent of total intra-EU trade in live animals. Over 1.4 billion/year of cattle were transported between member states (2018, 2019), almost exclusively by road (99%). Half of the transport of poultry species has a duration of less than 4 hours.

Poultry should travel at an AET(Apparent Equivalent Temperature, a combination of temperature and relative humidity), to prevent the risk of heat stress. Late-career hens, which tend to be poor in fat and feathers, must also come protected from the cold.

Prolonged starvation, with breakdown of intestinal cells, occurs after 12 hours of feed withdrawal. And this is the maximum transport time, to be reduced to 4 hours in case of AET in the alert zone (40-65). Suspension of feed before transport should also be avoided.

Domestic birds must be transported upright, with wings along the body, without being flipped or swung, thrown or dropped during catching and loading. Space must be adequate to allow everyone to sit and change positions without overlapping. The height of the container should be such that the comb or head does not touch the ceiling when the birds sit with their heads and necks in the natural position, or when they change positions. (11)

5.7) Rabbits

Rabbits must also travel in their safety zone(temperature-humidity index, THI < 27.8). The minimum height of the container must be 35 cm for slaughter rabbits (< 3 kg), 40 cm for breeding rabbits (4.5-6 kg), so that they can sit with their ears stretched out in a comfortable position. The duration of trips should not exceed 12 hours.

Attention should be paid to the fitness of these animals for transport, which does not recur in cases of obvious signs of disease, cachexia, severe lameness, female rabbits in the last third of gestation, female rabbits after parturition, unweaned rabbits, open wounds, prolapses, abscesses, fractures, dislocations, and wet fur at low effective temperature.

Rabbits should be removed from cages individually by holding and lifting them by the neck with one hand, with or without body support with the other. Once out of the cage, the animal should always be supported with the other hand. (12)

6) Animal transport and antimicrobial resistance.

Animal welfare research must also consider, as a priority, the need to reduce the use of antibiotics in order to combatantibiotic resistance in animals and humans. The publication of EFSA’s scientific opinion on the transmission of antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic agents during animal transport is now awaited. (13) With particular regard to:

most significant risk factors contributing to the spread of foodborne zoonoses during travel,
antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and antimicrobial resistance genes, among food-producing animals,
prevention and control measures to be implemented to reduce their likelihood of spread,
data needed for the analysis of correlations between identified risk factors and the spread of foodborne zoonoses, antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, and antimicrobial resistance genes.

Among the useful elements to reduce the use of veterinary drugs, in the writer’s opinion, the use of functional feeds based on algae, microalgae and tannins (Algatan) should be considered. These substances-also available in fluid solutions, to be diluted in drinking water-have indeed demonstrated the ability to strengthen the microbiome of animals, increase their resistance, and improve their health conditions (14).

7) Perspectives

Reform of practices in animal husbandry is needed to better develop the potential of the sector and contribute to the achievement of theSustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And animal welfare, as highlighted by FAO (2019) itself, is a crucial factor.

The European Commission will adopt its own reform proposal by the end of 2023, better late than never, based on the scientific opinions prepared by EFSA, in the hope that animal welfare protection can materialize in practice, in EU animal husbandry as well as in that which feeds imports of food of animal origin into the Old Continent.

Dario Dongo and Giulia Torre

Notes

(1) European Court of Auditors. Animal welfare in the EU: bridging the gap between ambitious targets and practical implementation. Special Report 31/2018

(2) European Commission (2021). Commission staff working document executive summary of the evaluation of the European Union Strategy for the Protection and Welfare of Animals 2012-2015

(3) European Parliament. Recommendation 20.1.22 as a result of consideration of complaints of infringement and maladministration in the application of EU law on the protection of animals during transport within and outside the Union. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0015_IT.pdf (P9_TA(2022)0015)

(4) Dario Dongo. One Health. Animal, human, planetary health and welfare. What can we do? GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 2.6.21

(5) Marta Strinati, Dario Dongo. Animal welfare, start of public consultation to amend EU regulations. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 20.10.21

(6) European Commission. Factual summary report of the online public consultation in support to the fitness check and revision of the EU animal welfare legislation. Ref. Ares(2022)2359311. 30.3.22

(7) Marta Strinati. End the Cage Age, 1.4 million signatures delivered to the European Commission. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 6.10.20

(8) EFSA. Welfare of small ruminants during transport. EFSA Journal 2022;20(9):7404

(9) EFSA. Welfare of equine during transport. EFSA Journal 2022;20(9):7444.

(10) EFSA. Welfare of cattle during transport. EFSA Journal 2022;20(9):7442.

(11) EFSA. Welfare of pigs during transport. EFSA Journal 2022;20(9):7445

(12) EFSA. Welfare of domestic birds and rabbit transported in containers. EFSA Journal 2022;20(9):7441

(13) European Commission. Requests for a scientific opinion on the protection of animal during transport. https://open.efsa.europa.eu/study-inventory/EFSA-Q-2020-00481 SANTE/G2/DS/sc (2020)3114851, 4.6.20

(14) Dario Dongo, Andrea Adelmo della Penna. Animal husbandry, algae and microalgae to prevent antibiotic use. Algatan. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 9.9.20

(15) Dario Dongo, Marina De Nobili. Livestock, FAO proposes 5 areas of action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 29.8.20