Marie-Christine Meunier-Salaün – Research engineer, Ethologist
June 2021
Marie-Christine Meunier-Salaün was one of the first ethologists recruited to INRAE in the early 1980s to study animal behaviour in livestock farming conditions at a time when regulatory changes in Europe were focusing on livestock building standards and practices. Research at INRAE aims to gain a better understanding of animals and their emotions. Awareness of the sensitive nature of farm animals is used to support and strengthen regulations. An AgriBEA network was set up in 1999, followed by the creation of the BEA National Reference Centre in 2017, reflecting a collective commitment.
Discover our thematic dossier
Thematic dossier
Animal welfare: science to inform public policy
Although animal welfare is now a pressing concern in our societies, the issue first came to the fore in the 1960s as a reaction to the intensive farming conditions developed to optimise practices and increase economic profitability at the expense of animals. It was in the 1980s, under the impetus of a few pioneering researchers, that the issue of animal welfare began to be taken into account at INRAE.
This dossier retraces the major stages in the Institute’s investment in this area, through research and in support of the associated public policies…
