On Thursday 27 October the Welfare Quality Network (WQN) held its annual seminar on animal welfare indicators. This year the meeting was jointly organised by the three EURCAWs, and held in Wageningen (The Netherlands). The target audience consisted of scientific institutes who act as support bodies to their governments on animal welfare issues. In addition, the meeting was attended by representatives from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the Dutch Competent Authority (NVWA) and industry aiming to improve welfare assessment through quality schemes. Around 40 people were physically present and 30 attended on-line.

Twelve speakers addressed the most recent developments in animal welfare assessment on farm, before and after transport and at the abattoir. Automated assessment of welfare and the role of animal based indicators in Quality Assurance schemes were among the key topics of the meeting. The full set of abstracts can be found on the WQN website http://www.welfarequality.net/en-us/home/

Photo: Local organisers Dionne Ruijter and Jamie Kater (EURCAW-Pigs) receive thanks for their work from Dr. Toni Dalmau (IRTA), who is the new Chair of WQN.