This study focuses on temperature data collected by public authorities during animal welfare inspections of long-distance pig transport in the EU and assesses the quality of these data in terms of animal welfare monitoring. The collection of temperature data by transporters is a legal requirement, and temperature records must be made available to public authorities upon request. Using the large-scale transport of weaned piglets from Denmark to other EU Member States as a case study, this article aimed to map and analyse the quality of records collected in this way by public authorities in order to provide information on animal welfare during transport.
Materials and Methods: Our analysis involved a point sample of data containing 180 returned records, relating to 124 journeys carried out in selected weeks of 2023. Data analysis revealed highly heterogeneous material, consisting of different types of text files. Variables considered crucial for understanding the file contents and interpreting their implications for animal welfare were identified.
Results: For the vast majority of the records returned, only a limited number of these variables were present. Diversity was evident, for example, in the number of sensors providing data per vehicle (from one to six sensors), the highly varied sampling intervals, the lack of information about external temperatures, and the absence of several types of data. Factors such as the lack of knowledge about sensor positioning (horizontal and vertical), the lack of knowledge about pig behavior during data collection, and the presence of missing data are discussed as potential limitations to the quality of the returned temperature records for animal welfare monitoring.
In conclusion, the heterogeneity of the material and the lack of knowledge about sensor positioning and pig behavior during data collection constitute significant limitations to interpreting the returned temperature records in terms of animal welfare. Alongside the future development of standardized digital solutions that create a more efficient, transparent, and applicable system, further validation studies are needed to identify the minimum requirements for systematic collection of temperature data and associated metadata in order to assess animal welfare during the long-distance transport of pigs.
Herskin MS, Toft-Petersen E and Krogh MA (2026) Quality of in-vehicle temperature data collected by competent authorities as part of inspection of animal welfare during long-distance transport of pigs: a Danish case study. Front. Anim. Sci. 7:1856039. doi: 10.3389/fanim.2026.1856039
