Animal Welfare in Transport Code Issued

Minimum standards of animal welfare and recommended best practices for everyone involved in transporting animals in New Zealand have been published in a new code of welfare.

The Animal Welfare (Transport within New Zealand) Code of Welfare 2011, developed by the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC), encourages all those responsible for animals during transport to adopt the highest standards of husbandry, care and handling.

Research in the UK has shown that the darker colouring on the meat is usually caused by stress around the time of slaughter, with an increased flow of hormones produced as a result of increased anxiety.

This can be caused by the mixing of unfamiliar animals, including in transportation and in lairage, leading to fighting and mounting behaviour. A seasonal change in temperatures, such as we are experiencing now, catching cattle before they have grown a winter coat and also a drop in dietary energy from late season grass can both add to the problem.

While all cattle can be affected, bulls are most susceptible so warrant particular care.

EBLEX research on the issue, carried out with the University of Bristol, has helped develop some best practice guidelines for producers and processors to minimise the chances of producing dark cutting meat. And, at current market values, adopting such measures could save up to £160 per carcase.

In the US, meat, food and agriculture organisations have hit out at proposals to introduce “user fees” for federal inspection of meat, poultry and egg products as the committee works to craft a deficit reduction plan.

In a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the organisations say: "The industry stands ready to work with both the Administration and the Committee to find ways to reduce overhead costs at the Food Safety Inspection Service, especially in this time of extreme economic hardship, but those reductions should not jeopardize either the Agency’s public health mission or its Congressional mandate for continuous inspection in the meat and poultry industries.”