Information monitoring system for surveillance of animal welfare during transport

Transport in general compromises animals' health and welfare, meat quality, increases the risk of spread of infectious diseases over large distances, and also degrades the environment in terms of pollution emanating from vehicles. Currently, no continuous information is available on (a) the climatic conditions, i.e., temperature, relative humidity, and level of gases in the loading compartment, (b) vehicle performance (particularly vibration), (c) driving routes and performances, and (d) animal behaviour when subjected to uncomfortable conditions during transport. In line with the above objectives, instrumentation of different categories and logistical and control system has been developed and tested has been developed. With the surveillance system it could be possible to trace all animals from the farm to the abattoir while animal welfare can be monitored by measuring climatic conditions in the vehicle and behavior, which gives an additional guarantee to the consumer.