The Institute's Workshop in Egypt

A "Workshop on animal welfare during killing for disease control purposes", organised by the G. Caporale Institute and the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Programme (TAIEX) of the European Commission's Directorate General for Enlargement, was held in Cairo, Egypt from 22 to 24 November 2010.

The workshop, which focused on the welfare of animals which have to be killed for health or environmental reasons, arose out of an international mission which the Institute was asked to undertake by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in 2009, in the capacity of Collaborating Centre for Animal Welfare.

The mission was designed to verify the conditions under which pigs were killed in Egypt following the Egyptian parliament's decision taken to protect the population against swine flu. This study demonstrated the need to facilitate the acquisition by the Egyptian veterinary services of skills adequate to handle the animal welfare aspects associated with epidemic emergencies and natural and environmental catastrophes.

The G. Caporale Institute, in the performance of its duties as OIE Collaborating Centre, facilitated the implementation of a training programme, for which the European Commission provided the necessary funds, The Egyptian authorities present at the event praised the excellent technical skills of the Institute, which was represented at the workshop by Barbara Alessandrini, Paolo Dalla Villa and Armando Giovannini.