Dr Miguel Angel Higuera joined GCAW’s Pig Welfare Working Group meeting in October. Dr Higuera is Chairman of the Animal Health and Welfare Working Group of COPA-COGECA, the European meat producers’ association, and Director of ANPROGAPOR, the Spanish pig producer’s association.
Dr Higuera outlined findings from a number of European research projects which assessed consumer attitudes towards higher animal welfare and demand forecasts, and the likely impact of these in relation to the availability of higher welfare production.
He highlighted the positive news that over two-thirds of European consumers want greater insight into the conditions in which farm animals are raised but noted the external barriers that farmers are facing in transitioning their production systems to deliver against these expectations. These include access to finance, obtaining permits to upgrade or build new infrastructure and administrative burdens. Consequently, there remain wide variations in approaches to pig welfare issues such as the use of crates, tail docking, castration pain relief and minimum space requirements from country to country. Calls for higher welfare transport regulations and likely changes to welfare labelling are also on the horizon.
In the second part of his presentation, Dr Higuera provided an update on the Welfarmers project. This three year project is bringing together stakeholders from eight countries to assess opportunities and solutions to move towards improving the welfare of pigs within the European Union.
