The interrelations of good welfare indicators assessed in working horses and their relationships with the type of work

This paper presents a different approach to the welfare of working horses through the indicators of good welfare, their interrelations and their relationships with the type of work performed by the horses. 697 working horses were assessed by using observation, behavioural tests, clinical exams and questionnaires. The correlated results highlight the complex and multiple interrelations between the good welfare indicators, showing once again that animal welfare is under the influence of all its three dimensions (physical and emotional wellbeing and naturalness). In working horses, the heavier the work they perform is, the more important it is for horse owners/breeders/farmers to fulfil their inherent needs so as to help them cope with the multiple specific risks imposed by their work.     

Prohibition to exhibit docked dogs--problems of execution

In Germany it is illegal to exhibit dogs when parts of their body are amputated to meet certain distinctions of their race except there has been a medical reason for the operation. Experiences in practice with the inspection of dog exhibitions reveal that this exceptional rule is not effective. Many breeders and owners of dogs, especially of the race "Doberman", try to escape the prohibition to exhibit docked dogs with the help of dubious veterinarian certificates. Therefore it is proposed to eliminate this exception from section 10 of the regulation on the welfare of dogs.     

Protection of farmed camels (Camelus Dromedarius): Welfare problems and legislative perspective

In the last years animal welfare has assumed an increasing interest in our society, influencing legislation to enact many provisions aimed at the protection of animals. Along with increased consumer awareness of the need to maintain ethically acceptable conditions of raised animals, scientists too have begun to investigate the conditions of animal welfare, the tools for its evaluation and for its improvement. Although there are many advances in knowledge, much remains to be investigated concerning many species considered "minor", that is, camels and dromedaries. Dromedaries, recently, have attracted the interest of some breeders following the results of studies concerning the nutritional and therapeutic properties of their products ‐ milk in particular ‐ that make them ideal for some particular categories of consumers, such as diabetics, obesity sufferers, lactose‐intolerant subjects, menopausal women and so on. Considering their use in dairy husbandry, dromedaries are reared under intensive and/or semi‐intensive systems with the resulting emergence of specific needs, which should be fulfilled in order to have appropriate welfare. This paper's purpose is to give practical elements in order to find out dromedary welfare standards, promoting a comprehensive set of regulations on welfare, care and protection of this animal.     

Assessment of animal welfare aspects in extreme breeds of pet animals: principles, rules and other measures

The review deals with fundamental aspects of the problems and the assessment of animal welfare aspects in extreme breeds of companion and pet animals, with legislation and with other measures to avoid breeding animals with extreme characteristics. Efforts are important in particular by breeding organisations to adapt breeding standards and to improve the education of judges and breeders. Furthermore adequate activities to correctly inform animal keepers are important.     

Sustainable transparent farm animal breeding and reproduction

Farm animal breeders are facing challenges. More and more powerful technologies are at their disposal for creating genetic change. At the same time, society is concerned about the impact of breeding practices and the use to which new technologies are being put. European breeders must compete in a global market. To meet these challenges, European farm animal breeders have conducted three projects to contribute to sustainable and transparent farm animal breeding and reproduction. In “Farm animal breeding and society”, an overview is presented of farm animal breeding in Europe and its technical, ethical, legal and consumer constraints and possibilities. In ‘SEFABAR’, European breeders, scientists and socio-economists have worked towards sustainable breeding and reproduction scenarios. In ‘CODE–EFABAR’, breeders aim to develop, with experts on ethics, communication and certification, and in close contact with NGOs, farmers' organisations and policy makers, a Code of Good Practice for farm animal breeding and reproduction organisations. Along this Code of Good Practice organisations will be able to explain their goals and practices to the public in a transparent way. This paper reviews these projects.     

数量遗传学和基因组学与未来的动物育种学

数量遗传学经过近 1 0 0年的发展 ,形成了一整套理论体系 ,其基本原理和方法已经发展成为动物育种学、植物育种学、人类遗传学和进化遗传学等四个相对独立的分支领域 ,然而这些领域之间的信息交流相当薄弱。在基因组学时代 ,随着对数量性状基因型的识别 ,人们通过对经典数量遗传学模型的修改 ,数量遗传学为分析表型信息和基因型信息提供了合理框架 ,数量遗传学将会比过去发挥更大的作用。讨论了一些在数量遗传学的各个分支领域发展起来的研究方法 ,动物育种工作者亟需广泛了解这些方法 ,为利用更加准确和复杂的模型来分析数量性状并指导动物育种创造条件     

American veterinarians' animal welfare limitations

American society is becoming increasingly interested in issues of animal welfare, and the public generally recognizes the need for guidance from experts in the field. Assessing an animal's welfare status requires a determination of the state of both its physical and its psychological well-being. American veterinarians are well trained to assess the physical state of most animals, but they do not receive equivalent training in assessing an animal's psychological state. Therefore, the recognized expertise of the American veterinary profession currently lies only in answering physical welfare questions, not in assessing the psychological (or societal) aspects of animal welfare issues. If American veterinarians wish to be seen as animal welfare experts, then it is critical for the profession to educate its members in assessing the psychological state of animals. Also, if the American Veterinary Medical Association wishes to be considered a leader in the field of animal welfare, it must partner with organizations with expertise in pertinent areas outside of the veterinary medical field to develop appropriate guidelines for American society, including the development of a widely accepted system for defining and determining overall animal welfare. If American veterinarians actively work to improve our strengths and combine them with those of experts in other fields, we can overcome our limitations as animal welfare experts and achieve wider acceptance as an important force for improving animal welfare.     

Do citizens and farmers interpret the concept of farm animal welfare differently?

Animal welfare is of increasing importance in livestock production and consumption debates. However, discordance exists between citizens' and farmers' perception of animal welfare. Since the search for, and the realization of improvements towards farm animal welfare is strongly driven by citizen expectations, it is of utmost importance to better understand this perceptual discordance. A quantitative study was done in Flanders, Belgium during 2006, including citizens as well as farmers, to obtain a detailed insight in the way the multi-dimensional concept of farm animal welfare is valued. This allowed to discriminate between issues of agreement and disagreement. In general, a similar interpretation of farm animal welfare in terms of animal welfare related aspect's ranking was found. Differences were mainly related to aspects dealing with the ability to engage in natural behaviour on the one hand and with production process-related aspects on the other hand. Citizens evaluate the current state of animal welfare as rather problematic, while farmers report a more satisfactory evaluation of the present condition of farm animal welfare. Especially differing opinions regarding the ability to engage in natural behaviour, together with aspects related to pain, stress and the availability of space seem to contribute to the discordance between farmers and citizens in terms of evaluative beliefs.     

肉鸡福利评价指标研究进展

随着高密度、集约化畜牧业的发展,动物福利问题不容乐观,严重制约了我国畜牧业的发展。这种以牺牲动物福利为代价的生产,对家禽的生长造成了不良的生理和心理反应,导致呼吸道疾病、腹水症等的爆发,降低了生产性能、经济效益和产品质量。近年来,各国对动物福利问题日益重视。本文通过总结和分析肉鸡福利评价的指标,旨在为我国家禽福利评价体系的建立提供理论依据,提高肉鸡养殖福利水平,推动畜牧业的健康发展。     

Beak trimming in turkeys

In Germany, Bio-beaker and infra-red irradiation (PSP) are used for beak trimming in turkey chicks as routine methods to prevent feather pecking and cannibalism. By both procedures the animals suffer from extensive damage and considerable continuous pain. Beak trimming is allowed by animal welfare legislation, but the operation requires an official permission and must be carried out under anesthesia. The official intention, due to animal welfare reasons, to decrease this operation and to question it permanently fails because beak trimming without anesthesia is tolerated. Elaboration of alternative programs has been demanded for a long time. Therefore selection of stocks tending less to cause feather pecking and cannibalism as well as adequate keeping and housing conditions during hatching and rearing are proposed.     

Results of a national survey of US veterinary college faculty regarding attitudes toward farm animal welfare

OBJECTIVE: To examine attitudes toward farm animal welfare among veterinary college faculty. DESIGN: E-mail survey. STUDY POPULATION: 157 US veterinary college faculty with large animal or food animal emphasis. PROCEDURE: Veterinarians from 27 US veterinary colleges were contacted via e-mail and asked to complete a 7-page survey relating to farm animal welfare issues. Thirty-one percent of those contacted responded. RESULTS: 71% of respondents self-characterized their attitude toward farm animal welfare as "we can use animals for the greater human good but have an obligation to provide for the majority of the animals' physiologic and behavioral needs." An additional 19% of respondents were more concerned about animal welfare than was indicated by that statement, and 10% were less concerned about farm animal welfare than was indicated by that statement. Significant relationships among demographic variables and attitude scores were observed, including more concerned attitudes among females, those with more liberal political views, and those who cited lower religiosity. No relationship between attitude and age was observed. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Veterinary college faculty have the opportunity to impact many stakeholders within the animal agriculture industries (eg, future veterinarians and policy makers looking for a veterinary science perspective). Results indicated that a considerable level of concern toward farm animal welfare is present in this population. Although the process of change may not be rapid, it is likely that the influence of these respondents will factor heavily into enhancing farm animal welfare.     

我国养猪业的福利问题及对策

动物福利已越来越受到人类社会的关注。本文介绍了动物福利的概念,我国养猪业中动物福利存在的问题,提出了改善养猪业动物福利的有关措施。     

动物园环境丰容与动物福利管理

环境丰容是我国动物园近十几年来新接触的概念。近年来,环境丰容逐渐地被引入到我国动物园的建设和管理中,我国动物园相继开展丰容的相关工作,并取得了一定的成效,是动物园工作中的一个热门话题。动物福利是动物的一种康乐状态。开展动物福利,对于人类、自然及社会的和谐发展有着重要的作用。要强化和完善我国的动物福利保护,必须明确动物福利的管理,确定有关的强制性法律规范,提高民众的动物福利意识。本文简要介绍了丰容原则、内容和动物福利的管理,为动物园今后更好地开展环境丰容的相关工作和如何提高动物福利的问题提供借鉴。     

Content and structure of Swedish animal welfare legislation and private standards for dairy cattle

In this study the animal welfare legislation and three private standards in Sweden, focusing on dairy cows, were analysed. The aim was to investigate to what extent these regulations consisted of resource-, management- or animal-based requirements, to analyse the content and discuss consequences. The results showed a higher proportion of management- and resource-based requirements than animal-based in all regulations. However, the borders between these categories were not as distinct as expected. The private standards put slightly more emphasis on the animal-based requirements and on animal welfare at herd level. It was primarily the organic standard that included higher animal welfare demands than the legislation. Due to vague wording and guideline statements it was not always clear if the welfare level achieved would be the same in practice although the requirements were similar. It will be necessary to clearly distinguish between requirements and measures to make the policy process more transparent.     

Animal welfare education: development and prospects

Animal welfare has developed rapidly as a scientific discipline since the 1980s. Concepts have been refined, methodologies for assessment developed, and links made to other areas of science. Changes in the subject and in its teaching are required. Since 1986, a series of senior academic teaching posts in the subject have been created, especially in the last 10 years. Veterinary and animal science students should receive a specific course on animal welfare, in addition to mention of the subject in other courses. In the future, more allusion to developments in understanding of welfare in relation to disease and brain measures of welfare is likely. The central role of animal welfare in veterinary and animal science teaching will become more firmly established.     

Comparison of early socialization practices used for litters of small-scale registered dog breeders and nonregistered dog breeders

OBJECTIVE-To compare early socialization practices between litters of breeders registered with the Canine Control Council (CCC) and litters of nonregistered breeders advertising puppies for sale in a local newspaper. DESIGN-Retrospective cohort study. Animals-80 litters of purebred and mixed-breed dogs from registered (n = 40) and non-registered (40) breeders. PROCEDURES-Registered breeders were randomly selected from the CCC website, and nonregistered breeders were randomly selected from a weekly advertising newspaper. The litter sold most recently by each breeder was then enrolled in the study. Information pertaining to socialization practices for each litter was obtained through a questionnaire administered over the telephone. RESULTS-Registered breeders generally had more breeding bitches and had more litters than did nonregistered breeders. Litters of registered breeders were more likely to have been socialized with adult dogs, people of different appearances, and various environmental stimuli, compared with litters of nonregistered breeders. Litters from registered breeders were also much less likely to have been the result of an unplanned pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE-Among those breeders represented, litters of registered breeders received more socialization experience, compared with litters of nonregistered breeders. People purchasing puppies from nonregistered breeders should focus on socializing their puppies between the time of purchase and 14 weeks of age. Additional research is required to determine whether puppies from nonregistered breeders are at increased risk of behavioral problems and are therefore more likely to be relinquished to animal shelters or euthanized, relative to puppies from registered breeders.     

农场动物福利的评估

畜牧业中的动物福利问题越来越为人们所关注,评估动物福利是提高畜禽福利的基础。行为是评价动物福利最容易理解和最通常使用的指标,特别是异常行为的出现。应激相关生理表征也说明动物处于不适环境。但福利评估是一个复杂而棘手的问题,其他很多指标也可用于福利评估,特别是情感状态。论文较为全面地介绍了动物福利常用的评估指标和新的评估手段。