Journeys, Journey Conditions, and Welfare Assessment of Unbroken (Unhandled) Horses on Arrival at a Slaughterhouse in Italy.

Transportation of horses to slaughterhouses can pose a welfare concern, in particular when horses are unbroken/unhandled. This study aimed to describe their journeys and journey conditions, document their welfare status on arrival in a slaughterhouse in Italy, and investigate possible associations between journey conditions and welfare issues. A total of 395 unbroken draft horses in 20 different consignments were assessed with a standardized protocol. The most common departure point (16/20 consignments, 80%) was a French assembly center, but many of these horses had Spanish passports, suggesting they had previously been transported from Spain to France. The average journey duration was 34 ± 14 h, including journey breaks (i.e., short stops inside the vehicle and long resting stops at control posts), while transit time was 24 ± 4 h. The drivers were well experienced, the trucks were well equipped (i.e., forced ventilation, drinkers), and the horses traveled loose in small groups (n ≤ 4 horses) within pens inside the vehicle. On arrival at the slaughterhouse, the horses self-unloaded and showed minimal behavioral and health problems. The prevalence of injuries, diarrhea/abnormal feces, and nasal discharge were 1.52%, 6.58%, and 4.30%, respectively. Cold temperatures, space allowance, and lack of feeding during transport were found to be the main hazards of those problems (all p < 0.05). Our findings confirm that the correct assessment of the fitness for transport, adequate journey conditions, and experienced staff are crucial factors to safeguard the welfare of unbroken horses during long journeys.

Factors Affecting the Development of Bovine Respiratory Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study in Beef Steers Shipped From France to Italy.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a complex, multifactorial syndrome and one of the major welfare and economical concerns for the cattle industry. This 1-year cross-sectional study was aimed at documenting the prevalence of BRD-related pathogens and clinical signs before and after a long journey and at identifying possible predisposition factors. Male Limousine beef steers (n = 169) traveling from France to Italy were health checked and sampled with Deep Nasopharyngeal Swabs (DNS) at loading (T0) and 4 days after arrival (T1). Real-time quantitative PCR was used to quantify the presence of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1), bovine coronavirus (BCoV), bovine adenovirus (BAdV), bovine parainfluenza virus 3 (BPIV-3), Histophilus somni, Mannheimia haemolytica, Mycoplasma bovis, and Pasteurella multocida. Weather conditions at departure and arrival were recorded, and the travel conditions were taken from the travel documentation. At T0, even if no animals displayed clinical signs, some of them were already positive for one or more pathogens. At T1, the number of animals displaying clinical signs and positive for BCoV, BAdV, BRSV, H. somni, M. haemolytica, M. bovis, and P. multocida increased dramatically (p < 0.001). Transport also significantly increased co-infection passing from 16.0% at T0 to 82.8% at T1 (p < 0.001). An extra stop during the journey seemed to favor BRSV, M. haemolytica, and P. multocida (p < 0.05). Weather conditions, in particular sudden climate changes from departure to arrival and daily temperature variance, were found to be predisposing factors for many of the pathogens. The farm of arrival also played a role for BRSV, BAdV, and H. somni (p < 0.05). BCoV increased dramatically, but no associations were found confirming that it spreads easily during transport phases. Our findings increased our understanding of factors increasing the likelihood of BRD-related pathogens shedding and can be useful to minimize the incidence of BRD and to implement animal transport regulations.

Protection of Animals during Transport: Analysis of the Infringements Reported from 2009 to 2013 during On-Road Inspections in Italy.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 requires that vehicles that are transporting animals be subjected to checks conducted by competent authorities. Yearly, each member state sends a report to the European government on the infringements that have been discovered during on-road inspections. The reports that were published by the Italian Ministry of Public Health from 2009 to 2013 were analyzed. Possible associations between the type of infringement (related to animal welfare (AW), vehicle (V) and accompanying documents (D)), year, season, transported species, place of inspection, and competent authorities were identified. A total of 985 infringements were analyzed, with some vehicles receiving more than one (mean: 1.58; max: 9). A score (from 1 to 3) that was related to the severity of the infringements was created. In 2009 and 2010, there was a 50% higher probability of encountering penalties of a lower severity (D or V) than in 2011 (p < 0.0001). Vehicles that were transporting pigs showed the highest probability of committing animal welfare-related infringements (odds ratio (OR) = 3.85, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 1.82-8.76, p < 0.0001). Vehicles were four times more likely to suffer animal welfare-related penalties when traffic police worked in synergy with veterinary services (OR = 4.12, 95%CI = 1.70-11.13, p = 0.0005). Vehicles that were transporting Equidae and "other species," including pets, for commercial purposes were more likely to be fined for a lack or incompleteness of the veterinary documents than those transporting cattle (p = 0.002 and p = 0.004, respectively). This study gives statistical evidence of the implementation of EC 1/2005. The training of transporters and drivers on how to manage transport in an animal welfare-friendly manner and a standardized method on how to conduct road inspections among competent authorities are recommended.

Prevalence of Pathogens Related to Bovine Respiratory Disease Before and After Transportation in Beef Steers: Preliminary Results.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a serious health and economic problem in the beef industry, which is often associated with transportation and caused by different pathogens. The prevalence of bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BoHV-1), bovine adenovirus (BAdV), bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), bovine coronavirus (BCoV), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), bovine parainfluenza virus (BPiV), Pasteurella multocida, Mannheimia haemolytica, Histophilus somni, Mycoplasma bovis, in the nasal microbiota of beef steers before and after the same long-distance journey from France to southern Italy was documented. Fifty-six Limousine animals of three different shipments, travelling on three different days from February to April, were included. Prior to shipment (T0) and four days after arrival (T1), two DNS/animal were collected and tested by Real Time quantitative PCR (qPCR). Univariate logistic regression was carried out, considering time and day as fixed factors and the outcome of qPCR for each pathogen as a dependent categorical dichotomous variable (positive/negative, 1/0). The fact that the number of H. somni positive animals were found to be higher in the third shipment than the first and second one, indicating that this pathogen was already present before loading, is relevant. The prevalence of BCoV, BRSV, M. haemolytica, M. bovis, P. multocida was higher at T1 than T0, suggesting that other factors, such as stress and the epidemiological status of the arrival farm, played a role. The tested animals were not treated before and after transport, and our results are in agreement with the current literature, supporting the hypothesis that the prevalence of pathogens related to BRD would increase after travelling, with an increased risk of pathogens shedding.

Road Transport of Farm Animals: Mortality, Morbidity, Species and Country of Origin at a Southern Italian Control Post.

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.