The Regional Animal Welfare Centre (RAWC) actively participated in the Regional Workshop on Animal Welfare During Slaughter and on Developing National Action Plans for Animal Welfare, organised by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) – Regional Representation for Europe, in collaboration with the European Union and hosted by Albania. The workshop took place in Tirana, Albania, from 11 to 13 February 2025, gathering 32 participants – representatives from 12 WOAH Member Countries (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, and Ukraine) as well as five animal welfare experts.
The main objectives were to identify capacity-building needs and support WOAH Members in developing comprehensive national training programmes on animal welfare during slaughter, while preparing for the upcoming Training of Trainers (ToT) programme planned for late 2025. The event also guided countries in formulating sustainable, multi-annual national action plans to improve long-term animal welfare management, promoting knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and strategic planning. RAWC’s key contribution was prominently featured on the second day (dedicated to animal welfare during slaughter) during the session on “The role of regional stakeholders”. Representatives A. Hammond Seaman and T. Mikuš delivered a presentation titled “The role of regional stakeholders – RAWC”. Through this session, RAWC highlighted its central role as a regional partner in advancing animal welfare standards, supporting the implementation of WOAH standards, collaborating on slaughter-related topics, outcome-based welfare assessment, and developing field intervention tools. The presentation also emphasised the importance of regional cooperation, exchange of best practices, and balancing traditional practices with improved animal welfare standards (The presentation is available on the WOAH website: 8_RAWC.pdf).
The workshop covered essential topics such as ethical considerations, legislative frameworks, technical challenges in slaughter processes, the revised Chapter 7.5 of the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code, training approaches, public-private partnerships, and methodologies for developing action plans. Interactive group exercises enabled participants to identify national challenges and develop targeted strategies.This event reinforced the value of a regional approach and collaboration in advancing animal welfare, with RAWC demonstrating its important role as a connector, knowledge provider, and supporter of WOAH initiatives across the region. The full meeting report is available on the WOAH website: WOAH_Slaughter_AP_Europe_February_2025_meeting_report_web.pdf.
RAWC remains committed to regional initiatives for animal welfare, in close partnership with WOAH and other key stakeholders, with the aim of continuously raising standards across the region.