This week our Political Affairs Manager Joe Moran speaks with MEP Tilly Metz, President of the Parliamentary Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals and Chair of the Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during Transport. She filled us in on last month's vote in the European Parliament, how successful she feels the Committee was, why the European Commission needs to urgently revise the rules, and much more.

With a big year in Brussels coming to an end, we review the key moments of achievement for animals in 2021 with MEP Anja Hazekamp. From the European Commission’s promise to phase out cages for farmed animals to a vote in favour of a comprehensive plan to phase-out experiments on animals in the European Parliament, there's lots to discuss!

With large numbers of animals being sold in online marketplaces in Europe, both animals and consumers are at risk. The Digital Services Act could help tackle this issue through improved regulation of digital markets. We speak with Georgia Diamantopoulou, EU Companion Animal Policy Coordinator at Four Paws, and Maryant Fernandez Perez, a lawyer and Senior Digital Policy Officer at the European Consumer Organisation BEUC, about how this legislation could better protect consumers and animals.

Millions of animals pass through the wildlife trade every year, threatening their welfare, human health, and contributing to dramatic biodiversity loss.

More than 200 million working animals support the livelihoods of over 600 million people. With Dr Joe Collins from The Donkey Sanctuary, we explore what kind of roles horses, donkeys and other working equines perform in the EU and beyond. From Greece to China, we explore how crucial working equines can be to developing communities and how we can work to protect their welfare and empower those persons who work with them.

Tests on animals for cosmetic products and their ingredients were banned in Europe in 2009, but the EU Chemicals Regulation is driving new tests on animals even for ingredients that have long been proved safe for use. A new European Citizens’ Initiative, Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics, is aiming to protect the ban and take this further by calling for a concrete plan to transition to non-animal science in Europe.

As outlined in the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, there is an urgent need to shift towards more plant-based diets and alternative proteins in Europe in order to improve animal welfare, mitigate climate change and prevent biodiversity loss. We are joined by MEP Francisco Guerreiro to discuss the importance of transforming food systems in the EU, and how we can make that happen.

On 30 June, the European Commission committed to phase out cages in animal farming across the EU by 2027, making history for farm animals.How did we achieve this historic result?

The unseen and unfamiliar life of fish has given them low visibility in society, in policy circles, and in the animal welfare movement. Yet hundreds of billions of fish are farmed or caught each year for slaughter. We explore how we can define and improve fish welfare by studying their needs, and question if farmed fish or wild caught fish experience more welfare issues.

What is the scale of the exotic pet trade in Europe, and how can it be tackled? This week we speak with Eric van Tilburgh, a veterinarian and the Head of the Policy team of the Animal Welfare Division of the Flemish government in Belgium.