Study finds vague laws are undermining animal welfare during transport

Vague animal welfare laws around transportation are not fit for purpose and must be altered to guarantee adequate protection for livestock, a new study has found.

An international team of academics carried out a “fitness check” on existing regulations in the EU (including the UK), US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to see if livestock welfare is protected through existing laws.

The team focused on four key areas, including journey duration, fitness for transport, climatic conditions and space allowances.

The study, published in Royal Society Open Science, comes amid growing reports of animal welfare concerns around the world.

Researchers found that all countries which were under the microscope could improve their policies.

Examples of legal gaps found in existing regulations included no maximum journey duration for all animals, meaning some can be in transit for days and sometimes weeks. Some countries mandate regular rest stop times but that are too short to allow meaningful recovery.

The researchers are calling on countries to update their transport regulations to provide better protection animals.

They also considered recent and proposed changes to the regulations. For instance, a Bill including a ban on the export of livestock for slaughter and fattening from Great Britain was introduced in December 2023, however, it may only target a minority of animals being exported.

Essex Law School’s Dr Eugénie Duval, who was joint lead investigator for the project, said: “Even if they do not necessarily reflect the latest scientific evidence, some regulations are more specific than others.

“If we were to take the best from each regulatory framework (e.g. fitness for transport in Canada; providing species-specific thresholds for the temperature inside vehicles in the EU) and apply some of the propositions made by some countries (e.g. a ban of export outside the EU borders: proposition of some EU Member States), the ensuing regulations would be a major step closer to safeguarding animal welfare during transportation.”

Fellow lead investigator Dr Ben Lecorps, Animal Welfare Lecturer in the Bristol Veterinary School, added: “Our findings indicate that regulations are often insufficient or too vague to ensure they are fit for purpose. All studied countries fall short in guaranteeing adequate protection to livestock during transport.

“Whilst this does not mean that all animals transported will experience serious harms, major risk factors such as excessively long journeys, or journeys during hot weather, are not being addressed to a satisfactory level.”

The study was funded by a grant awarded to ED and MvK by the Humane Slaughter Association and the Hans Sigrist Research Prize awarded to MvK by the Hans Sigrist Stiftung Foundation.