Abstract
Simple SummaryLong distance transportation is a welfare concern because it may cause sickness (i.e., morbidity) or death (i.e., mortality). Commercial transportation in Europe is regulated by the Council Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005 which regulates the maximum journey in the different species. After this time animals must be unloaded for resting, watering and feeding at control posts (CPs) where Official Veterinarians (OVs) have to check their health. This study analyzed the surveillance reports filled by OVs at a CP in Southern Italy from 2010 to 2015. A total of 1391 trucks stopped at the CP, transporting a total of 111,536 animals. The average mortality and morbidity rates were 0.025% and 0.010%. Cases of mortality and/or morbidity were reported for only 11 out of the 1391 trucks (0.8%). In a truck transporting lambs, 14 dead on arrival (DOA) were recorded, and this represented 93% of all DOAs. This is the first study reporting the results of surveillance practices conducted by OVs on animals travelling from North Europe to a CP in Southern Italy in compliance with EC 1/2005. Further studies should be conducted comparing the implications of long distance transportation at different CPs along different routes.Statistics on animal transport and its implications for health and welfare are limited. This study documented the animals transiting through a control post and their welfare outcomes measured by mortality rate and the prevalence of animals considered unfit for further transport (i.e., morbidity). Reports filed by the director of the control post and Official Veterinarians from 2010 to 2015 were analyzed. A total of 60,454 (54.2%) sheep/goats, 45,749 (41.0%) cattle, and 5333 (4.8%) pigs travelled in 225 (16.2%), 1116 (80.2%) and 50 (3.6%) trucks, respectively. Trucks coming mainly from France (71.3%), Spain (14.0%), and Ireland (7.4%) went mainly to Greece (95.4%), which was also the most common nationality of the transport companies (44.6%). Cases of mortality and/or morbidity were reported for only 11 out of the 1391 trucks (0.8%). The average mortality and morbidity rates were 0.025% and 0.010%, with maximum values for transport of lambs (0.084%, and 0.019%). Species of animal being transported and space allowance were associated with the measured welfare outcomes (p < 0.05). Overall, this study provided statistics based on official surveillance reports, suggesting that small space allowance during long haul transportation of sheep/goats may affect their health and welfare.
Highlights
Millions of animals are transported daily all over the world
The frequency and the percentage of all the trucks transiting across the control post based on category, provenance, nationality of transport company and destination are shown in Table 1 and Figure 2, respectively
This study reports on the number of animals which died and were judged unfit to continue travel by official veterinarians (OVs) in compliance with Section 5 of Annex 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, providing the first report containing statistics on farm animal movements from
Summary
Millions of animals are transported daily all over the world. The movement of livestock across the borders of Member States of the European Union is monitored using the Trade Control and ExpertSystem (TRACES) and reported in the Activity Report [1]. Millions of animals are transported daily all over the world. Approximately 3 million head of cattle are transported for fattening annually. Long distance animal transport is an animal welfare issue, because it is a stressfull event triggering often the onset of health problems [2]. With the aim of reducing transport stress and the incidence of transport-related health and welfare issues, many studies have been published identifying risk factors for farm animals pre-, during and post-road transport [3]. Pre-journey risk factors include many factors, such as on-farm handling, rearing conditions, assembly of animals, classifying, weighing, repenning in a new environment, re-grouping, mixing with unfamiliar animals, fitness for transport and handling at loading [4,5]
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