Isabelle Bouvarel – Director of ITAVI (testimonial from the dossier “Animal welfare: Science to inform public policy” -2021)
“ITAVI is a technical institute that supports professionals in the poultry, rabbit and fish farming sectors. After the post-war priorities of food self-sufficiency and farm profitability, environmental and animal welfare issues emerged in the 1990s. These were taken into account in European directives and regulations, which set standards for animals and livestock buildings, for example. The BIRD ITAVI/INRAE joint technology unit set up in Nouzilly in 2006 is helping us to think about a more sustainable poultry industry. In 2017, the CNR-BEA, which brings together research, technical institutes and public authorities, will make it easier to handle complex assessments. Satisfying the demands of consumers, NGOs and distributors in terms of animal welfare, guaranteeing the same high standards in processed products and mass catering, keeping poultry farms in France at a time when substantial investment and changes in practices requiring time and knowledge are needed – are all challenges that require effective cooperation.”
Testimonial from our special report
Thematic dossier
Animal welfare: science to inform public policy
Although animal welfare is now a pressing concern in our society, 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 related public policies.
