**4. Conclusions**

Overall, the results obtained in this study broaden the knowledge on the Apulo-Calabrese pig breed, which showed higher levels of lactate, urea and AST after short distance transport indicating a more intense physiological response when compared with crossbreeds. With regards to meat quality, similar trends for pH, drip loss and cooking loss were found for both genetic types. The higher a\* coordinate found in Apulo-Calabrese pig indicates that meat from this breed has a deeper red colour and can be used for the production of typical cured meat which on the basis of the gathered evidence could be produced without the use of additives intended to improve colour. The results in this preliminary study may provide insight into the response of local breeds to the transport process. However, due to practical restraints, in this pilot research it was not possible to investigate the effects of different pre-slaughter treatments on the behavioural and physiological responses of the two genetic types, further research is needed to evaluate the effect of different transport durations and handling practices on welfare and meat quality traits when transporting local pig breeds.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following are available online at at http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/8/10/ 177/s1. Table S1: Percentages of Apulo-Calabrese and Crossbreed pigs showing the different behaviours during loading, unloading, and lairage with the P values of the differences between percentages; Table S2: Loadings of the PCA performed on blood parameters; Table S3: Significance of factors of variations included in the model used for meat quality traits; Table S4: Loadings of the PCA performed on meat quality traits.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization: L.N.C. and S.D.; methodology: L.N.C. and S.D.; formal analysis: F.T. and S.C.; investigation: G.A. and M.Z.; data curation: G.A., M.Z. and F.T.; writing—original draft preparation: G.A. and M.Z.; writing—review and editing: G.A., M.Z., S.D. and L.N.C.; visualization: G.A.; supervision: L.N.C. and S.D.; funding acquisition: L.N.C.

**Funding:** The work was funded by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (Italy).

**Acknowledgments:** The authors would like to thank all the staff of Cooperativa Agricola Calabrese (COZAC) Production chain.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
