Animal category: Equines

Answer to a parliamentary question from a French Member of Parliament asking MASA about the measures planned by the Government to combat animal abandonment, such as awareness-raising, communication, and support for rescue associations and shelters.

Answer to a question on how long it has taken the Commission and EFSA to prepare the revision of European legislation concerning the "End the Cage Age", a revision which was not fully completed in the end.

Article describing the environmental challenges of livestock farming, along with its impact on animal welfare and global health. The article underlines the need for farming practices to evolve, with animal health and welfare as key contributors to the sustainability of livestock farming.

Article exploring the origins of the concept of animal welfare in European law, starting with the Maastricht Treaty (1992). The scope of the cross-cutting clause in art. 13 of the TFEU (Lisbon Treaty, 2007) codifying respect for animal welfare in Europe may vary from one member state to another.

Scientific article explaining the risks of conflating the concept of animal welfare with that of sustainable farming.Linking them can blur their differences and may result in misguided agricultural political decision-making.

Audit report on the system implemented by the Greek goverment to ensure compliance with regulations protecting animals being transported to the abattoir. While it recognizes improvements, it concludes that the measures implemented by the competent authorities are not yet fully compliant with the five points of the 2009 ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It contains eight recommendations to the competent authorities to remedy the shortcomings identified.

Answer to a question on whether the French Government plans to pursue the legislative changes initiated by the Law of November 30, 2021 by prohibiting the exploitation of domestic animals in traveling shows.

Answer to a question concerning the measures taken to control the conditions under which animals are transported over long distances and those that France intends to put forward to improve these conditions when the European regulation on the subject undegoes revision.

Scientific article to assess whether the composition of the gastrointestinal microbiota differs in horses receiving a gastric health support supplement or a placebo on the one hand, and between "cribbing" or "non-cribbing" horses on the other. No difference was observed, however, a link was established between cribbing and fecal microbiota composition.

Update of a guide originally published in 2012 by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on the laws and regulations protecting farm animals at shows and markets, with particular reference to compliance rules for pens, cages and hutches.