Table 39.

Sources of uncertainty in the assessment of ABM collected in slaughterhouses to monitor the level of on farm welfare of veal calves

Topic	Sources of uncertainty	Estimated impact on the assessment
Identification of slaughter ABMs associated with on‐farm welfare	Few studies published with data on ABMs of veal calf ABMs at slaughter Limited number of studies associating findings at slaughter with actual welfare situation on the farm	Underestimation or overestimation of welfare consequences
	Prioritisation of ABMs associated with several welfare consequences might have excluded measures that relate to a single welfare consequence	Underestimation of welfare consequences
	Not always possible to determine whether ABMs were already present on‐farm, or if resulted or made worse by transport and lairage	Underestimation or overestimation of welfare consequences
Current use of ABMs in slaughterhouses	Scarce published information on current use of ABMs MSs data focused on slaughter data of calves in general rather than veal calves.	Underestimation or overestimation of use of ABMs
Potential for automation	Technology Readiness Level hard to define for some ABMs. There may be technologies being developed, but unknown to the public due to Intellectual Property Rights.	Underestimation or overestimation of the potential for automation