Multispecies animal welfare monitoring

07 April 2026
Focus area: Animal welfare
Program stream: Industry excellence
Project number: 2025-1079

Research has shown that artificial intelligence-enabled monitoring systems can enhance animal welfare oversight at a multi-species abattoir, but also demonstrated that this technology should be integrated within structured governance, training and data management systems to achieve sustained improvements.

A project funded by AMPC deployed an AI-enabled monitoring system with CCTV and sensor devices at a commercial multi-species abattoir. The system was installed, trained, and integrated across calves, sheep and goats. Measurable welfare indicators were captured through a combination of computer vision, sensor integration, manual event logging and structured review processes.

The project demonstrated that AI-enabled monitoring systems are capable of providing continuous visibility of defined animal welfare indicators, supporting compliance activities and strengthening the traceability of corrective actions. Integration of electrical stunning data and other sensor device inputs improved insight beyond what visual monitoring from CCTV alone could provide. The development and implementation of training tools for staff further reinforced operational competency and contributed to measurable improvements in performance. 

Previous in this focus area 20 June 2025 Animal husbandry AI objective measurement validation in Australian processing plants  Next in this focus area 01 June 2015 Renewable energy options for off-grid red meat processing