浅谈动物福利

畜产品安全引起人们从另一个角度对动物福利的关注,片面地追求GDP和人的福利,忽略甚至否定动物福利的必要性,最终结果是危害人类自身的健康。保护动物福利可以提高畜产品的品质,保证食品安全。草地农业系统为动物福利提供了生态系统基础。在实现动物福利时,要结合国情把握好“度”。国内外动物福利的研究有一定区别,因时代局限性和不同步性,动物福利发展受到多因素的影响。我国制订动物福利法刻不容缓,可以通过草畜耦合、完善草地农业系统,提高动物福利的社会承认度,全面实现动物福利。     

Animal behavior and animal welfare

The value of behavioral techniques in assessing animal welfare, and in particular assessing the psychological well being of animals, is reviewed. Using cats and horses as examples, 3 behavioral methods are presented: (1) comparison of behavior patterns and time budgets; (2) choice tests; and (3) operant conditioning. The behaviors of intact and declawed cats were compared in order to determine if declawing led to behavioral problems or to a change in personality. Apparently it did not. The behavior of free ranging horses was compared with that of stabled horses. Using two-choice preference tests, the preference of horses for visual contact with other horses and the preference for bedding were determined. Horses show no significant preference for locations from which they can make visual contact with other horses, but they do prefer bedding, especially when lying down. Horses will perform an operant response in order to obtain light in a darkened barn or heat in an outside shed. These same techniques can be used to answer a variety of questions about an animal's motivation for a particular attribute of its environment.