Concepts in Animal Welfare

1
Module 8 ??8
Group assessment and management of
welfare ????????????
2
This module will enable you to????????

• Understand the principles of welfare assessment
  at group level???????????
• Identify different methods for assessment?????????
  
• Recognise applications for welfare assessment at
  group level?????????????
• Understand management of health and welfare in
  group systems??????????????

3
Introduction??
Assessment of individual animal
????????????? For example, assessment of comb
colour, feather-score, beak ????,????,?
How do you assess thousands?????????????
4
Principles of welfare assessment on group
level???????????

• Which groups of animals?????????
• Farms????
• Laboratory animals????
• Animals in shelters??????
• Wildlife????
• Etc.???

5
Principles of welfare assessment on group
level???????????

• Requirements for welfare indicators?????????
• Practicability???
• E.g. time constraints, expenses????????
• Reliability Amount of random error,
  including???????,??
• Agreement between observers?????????
• Agreement between different observations of the
  same observer????????????????
• Validity Meaningfulness of the
  parameter?????????

6
Epidemiological approach????

• Selecting a representative cross-section of
  groups of animals (e.g. from all dairy units of
  an area)???????????????????(???????????)
• Random selection of animals of a
  group?????????????
• Assessment??
• Severity and duration of a problem??????????
• Numbers of animals affected i.e. Prevalence and
  Incidence????????-???????

7
Methods??

• Input assessment ????
• Measurements of housing ????
• Provision of food and water??????
• Qualification of stockperson??????
• Medicine records ????
• Output assessment ????
• Assessment of live animal ??????
• Assessment of dead animal (abattoir, post
  mortems) ?????(???,???????)

8
Welfare Inputs Outputs??????????
WELFARE OUTPUTS???????
Disease/production?????
Behaviour??
Physiology??
9
Example 1 Animal-centred assessment
??1?????????(Main et al 2003)

• Welfare outputs
• ?????????
• Dairy cows??
• Farm records??????
• Farmers estimates
  of disease
  incidence, body condition etc????????????????
• Independent observations?????

10
Example 2 Animal Needs Index ??2??????(Bartussek
et al 2000)

• Uses welfare inputs outputs??????????????
• Space and movement?????
• Social interaction??
• Flooring????
• Light and air?????
• Stockmanship?????
• E.g. animal cleanliness?????

11
Can we describe welfare with one
score????????????

• A variety of parameters are assessed??????
• Can they be summarised to one score???????????????
  ??
• Are some more important than others??????????
• What is a normal level????????

12
Applications??

• Research??
• Health and welfare monitoring???????
• Impact assessment of interventions??????
• Voluntary Certification Schemes NGO???????
• E.g., American Meat Institute???????
• Legislation??
• Advisory - Preventive medicine??-????

13
Research examples????

• Monitoring ????????
• Assess range in normal groups????????
• Assess husbandry systems ??????
• Assess individual resources (risk factors)
  ????(????)??
• Assess certification schemes NGO??????
• Assess influence of new legislation?????
• Assess impact of projects ??????

14
Assess range in normal farms????????
15
Compare husbandry systems??????

• Group housing of pregnant sows??????
• 5.3 lame??
• 8.3 overgrown claws???
• 18.2 calluses???

• Individual housing of pregnant sows (Leeb et al,
  2001)???????
• 2.4 lame??
• 21.4 overgrown claws
• ???
• 41.7 calluses???

16
Assess effect of interventions???????

• Vaccination campaigns
• ??????
• Owner education
  and training???????
• Assess before after
  intervention???????
• Compare locations
  with and without intervention????????

17
Example Health monitoring??????

• Current policy ????
• Normal treatment and prevention protocol ??????
• Records ??-????
• Disease incidence
• Review ????
• Target levels????
• Intervention levels????
• Action plan ????

18
Health and welfare monitoring???????

• Also applicable for wild animals?????????
• Assessment of inputs e.g.
• ???????
• Adequate grazing????
• Access to water??????
• Assessments of outputs ??????
• Body condition score????
• Number of young????
• Physiological parameters - e.g. cortisol in
  faeces????-?????

19
Voluntary/certification examples NGO????

• Farm assurance schemes????
• Usually market-led???????
• Prime concern is food safety????????
• UK - Red Tractor Mark scheme, Freedom Foods??????
• USA Certified Humane Program??????
• Austria - Tierschutzgeprueft use Animal Needs
  Index for laying hens??????????????

20
Voluntary/certification examples NGO????

• EUREPGAP - international??????
• Organic certification systems??????
• Voluntary membership but some EU legislative
  requirements (EU reg. 1804/1999)??????
• Subsidy requirements????
• Voluntary system, can choose to join or not???????

21
Legislation examples????

• EU legislation 98/58/EC????
• Primarily resource-based standards??????
• However, some can be assessed by observing the
  animal??,?????????
• Austria Animal Needs Index in certain provinces
  ?????????????
• Salzburg Tyrol (?????)
• Minimum ANI score?????ANI??

22
Legislation examples????

• Ireland Individual cow health assessment????????
  ???
• Annual inspection of cow as part of TB test
• ?????????????
• Switzerland Assessment of system by research
  centre????????
• New husbandry systems assessed and
  authorised?????????

23
How do legislation or certification schemes
work?????????
Standards... .-(1) Where calves are housed in
groups, they shall have sufficient unobstructed
floor space to be able to turn round and lie down
without hindrance, and in any event each calf of
150 kg or more live weight must have at least 1.5
square metres unobstructed floor space.(2) Until
1st January 2004, the preceding sub-paragraph
shall not apply in relation to accommodation in
use before 1st January 1994.(3) Where tethers are
used, they must not cause injury to the calves
and must be inspected regularly and adjusted as
necessary to ensure a comfortable fit. Each
tether must be of sufficient length to allow the
calves to stand up, lie down, rest and groom
itself without hindrance. The design must be such
as to avoid, as far as possible, any risk of
strangulation or injury.2. Where a calf is housed
in an individual stall or pen-(a) the stall or
pen shall have at least one perforated wall which
enables the calf to see other animals in
neighbouring pens or stalls unless isolated for
veterinary reasons, except that -until 1st
January 2004. this shall not apply in relation to
accommodation in use before 1st January 1994(b)
the width of the stall or pen shall be no less
than the height of the calf at the withers(c)
the calf must be able to stand up, turn round,
lie down, rest and groom itself without hindrance.
Standards define the resources that should be
provided??(??)??????????
24
Standards Means-orientated??????

• Example Animals not kept in buildings shall at
  all times have access to a well-drained lying
  area???????????????????

• Resources are required independent of their
  actual effect??????????????
• Based on good practice/ welfare
  research????????????????
• Assessed by looking at resources????????????

25
Standards Goal-orientated??????(??????)

• Level of required resources is defined with
  reference to their effect on the animals on each
  farm????????????????????????
• Assessed by looking at the animal???????????

• Example Animals shall be fed a wholesome diet
  in sufficient quantity to maintain them in good
  health, satisfy their nutritional needs and
  promote a positive state of well-being.?????????
  ???,???????????????,????????????????

26
Advisory/Management examples??/????

• Problem analysis ????
• Perceiveevaluate-act-revaluate ?????-??-??-???
• Benchmarking system ??????
• Giving points of references for ??????????
• Animal based parameters ?????????
• Production performance ????
• Management system ????
• Health plan e.g. Farm Assurance requirement
  ????,???????
• HACCP systems????????????

27
Example Goat farm??????

• Perceive problem????
• Death of 3 adult breeding females 3????????
• Clinical evaluation e.g
• ?????
• Body condition
  score????
• Teeth????
• Superficial lymph
  nodes?????
• Mucous membranes??

28
Example Goat farm (cont)??????(?)
29
Benchmarking systems??????

• Welfare assessment of farm???????
• Compare with welfare on farms in the same
  area?????????????
• Produce farm-specific priorities for
  action?????????????
• Identify farm strengths and weaknesses????????

30
BenchmarkingExample 1 Calluses in sows????
??1 43??????????????

• (Leeb et al, 2001)

31
BenchmarkingExample 2 Health of dairy
cows??????2?????
32
Benefits of benchmarking???????

• Feedback to farmers motivates them????????????
• Encourage??
• Competition between farms over results?????(??)???
  
• Incentive system????
• Better price for animal products if criteria are
  met?????????????

33
Benefits of benchmarking???????

• Educate????
• Raise awareness of own performance?????????
• Awareness of husbandry solutions to
  problems??????????
• Enforce?????
• Define minimum welfare performance??????????
• Can be used to pass/fail e.g. animal-dependent
  legislation?????/??? ??????????
• Alternatively, farmer must produce and implement
  action plan for certification scheme??,???????????
  ??????

34
Health plan????

• 62. Each herd should have a written health and
  welfare programme produced, where necessary, with
  expert advice. This should set out health and
  husbandry activities covering the whole of the
  yearly cycle of production. The programme should
  be reviewed and updated annually by the farmer
  and should be available for inspection by
  enforcement authorities.
• ????????????????,?????????????????????????
  ???????????????????????????????
• Farm Animal Welfare Council Report on dairy
  cattle (1997)
• ?????????????(1997)

35
Who is responsible?????

• Responsibility for the success of a welfare
  action plan lies with?????????????
• Animal owner????
• Their advisors e.g. vet, nutritionist?????,???????
  
• The external assessor of the welfare
  scheme????????
• Owner??
• Overall responsibility?????
• Formulate plan for procedures??????
• Maintain records????

36
Who is responsible?????

• Advisor??
• Advice on plans and record system???????????
• Review of performance??????
• Advice on corrective action??????
• Assurance assessor?????
• Assess availability of health plans/records????/??
  ??
• Assess frequency of review??????
• Assess implementation of health plan????????
• Assess effectiveness of health plana????????

37
General comments?????

• Legislation and certification standards are
  mostly resourcebased????????????????
• They rely on welfare research?????????
• Legislation is variably enforced in many
  countries?????????????
• Certification schemes have a role in enforcing
  and going beyond legislation????????????????????
• Management systems (e.g. health plans) are not
  currently used much????(?????)???????

38
Conclusions/Summary?????

• Practicability, reliability and validity are
  important???????????????
• Depending on the aim, a combination of different
  parameters is favourable (inputs and
  outputs)?????,?????????????(?????????)
• Research, voluntary certification schemes,
  legislation and advisory tools are applications
  of welfare assessment at group level??????????????
  ????????????????????
• The aim of all assessments should be the
  improvement of animal welfare???????????????

39
Resources Animal welfare judging,
online??????????

• Michigan State University, Animal Behavior and
  Welfare Group
• ???????????????
• http//www.msu.edu/zanella/awjc.html

40
Resources websites????

• EurepGAP
• A private sector body that sets voluntary
  standards for the certification of agricultural
  products around the globe
• www.eurep.org
• COST Action a forum for methods of measuring and
  monitoring farm animal welfare and to stimulate
  welfare research
• www.cost846.unina.it
• UK Department of Environment, Farming and Rural
  Affairs
• http//www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/
• Welfare standards in organic farming
• http//www.veeru.reading.ac.uk/organic/proc/procee
  dings.htm
• http//www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/ahws/fhp/pdf/actio
  nplan.pdf
• Welfare Quality Project, EU. www.welfarequality.n
  et

41
Resources welfare assessment and
monitoring???????????

• Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm or Group
  Level - Proceedings of an international workshop
  organised by the Danish Institute of Agricultural
  Sciences and the Royal Veterinary and
  Agricultural University, 27-28 Aug. 1999,
  Denmark. Acta Agric. Scand. Sect. A Animal Sci.,
  2001 Suppl. 30, 3-4
• Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm or Group
  level- Abstracts of presentations and posters,
  University of Bristol (4-6 Sept. 2002, UK).
  Animal Welfare Volume 2003 Volume 12, Issue 4
• Ekesbo I. 1992 Monitoring systems using
  clinical, subclinical and behavioural records for
  improving health and welfare. In Moss, R. (ed)
  Livestock Health and Welfare, Bath press, Avon,
  UK pp 20-50

42
Further Reading????

• Bartussek H. 1999 A review of the animal needs
  index (ANI) for the assessment of animals
  well-being in the housing systems for Austrian
  proprietary products and legislation. Livestock
  Production Science, 61 179 192.
• Bartussek H, Leeb Ch Held S 2000. Animal Needs
  Index for Cattle. Federal Research Institute for
  Agriculture in Alpine Regions.
• Farm Animal Welfare Council 1997 Report on the
  Welfare of Dairy Cattle. Report 3426.
  www.fawc.org.uk/reports.htm
• Grandin T. Interpretation of the American Meat
  Institute Animal Handling Guidelines for auditing
  the welfare of cattle, pigs, and sheep at
  slaughter plants. http//www.grandin.com/interpret
  ing.ami.guidelines.html

43
Further Reading????

• Johnsen PF, Johannesson T Sandøe P. 2001.
  Assessment of farm animal welfare at herd level
  many goals, many methods. Acta Agriculturae
  Scandinavica, Section A - Animal Science 51
  (Supplement 30) 2001 26 33
• Leeb B,Leeb Ch, Troxler J, Schuh M. 2001 Skin
  Lesions and Callosities in Group-Housed Pregnant
  Sows Animal-Related Welfare Indicators. Acta
  Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section A - Animal
  Science 51 (Supplement 30)82 - 87
• Main DC, Whay HR ,Green LE Webster AJ. 2003.
  Effect of the RSPCA Freedom Food Scheme on the
  welfare of dairy cattle. Veterinary Record 153
  227-231
• Whay HR, Main DCJ, Green LE Webster AJF. 2003
  Assessment of dairy cattle welfare using
  animalbased measurementsdirect observations and
  investigation of farm records. Veterinary Record
  153 197-202