Today, we paid a visit to Venneker in Germany to brainstorm animal welfare improvements in pig transportation. Venneker’s latest trucks are equipped with sprinklers and 60 fans to reduce heat stress. They also have smart cameras above the loading ramp. Currently, these cameras are primarily used for pig counting, but in the future, they could also be utilized for animal welfare monitoring during loading. Additionally, Venneker has developed its own program to track the journey of pigs from the farm to the final destination. The program assists drivers in determining, for example, the appropriate number of pigs that can be loaded onto the truck, while also providing insights into the duration and locations of (undesirable) waiting times. New technologies like these contribute to improving animal welfare. However, in practice, there are still significant challenges, such as training drivers to handle pigs calmly and with minimal noise and implementing consistent policies regarding “fitness for transport”.
We proposed several ideas regarding truck design, and Venneker will incorporate some of our training materials to instruct their drivers and staff at the assembly point.
