Voluntary testing procedures of farm animal housing equipment according to the Animal Welfare Act of 1998]

Before its broad application in practice, housing equipment should be tested, in particular with regard to animal welfare. The differing positions of the German Federal Council (Bundesrat) and the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag), whether such testing should be mandatory or voluntary, have been conciliated in the amended animal welfare act by empowering the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries (BML) to fix official standards for voluntary testing procedures by regulation. On request of the BML, a report as scientific basis for a draft regulation is currently prepared by the scientific animal welfare committee of the German Agricultural Society (DLG). The scientific animal welfare committee has been appointed by the DLG in order to provide support in the effort to strengthen animal welfare aspects in the DLG-utility testing procedure of housing equipment, which is in place since 1953. The committee elaborates standards concerning testing methods, assessment criteria and the necessary size of investigations. As required, the scientific animal welfare committee may support the DLG-testing bodies in the implementation of the animal welfare part of the testing procedure. It will, moreover, be involved in the welfare assessment based on the testing results. The amendments of the already established testing procedure will help to fulfill the general requirements on an acceptable animal welfare testing procedure. While keeping in mind that there are certain limits in what can be achieved by a voluntary testing procedure, the enhanced consideration of animal welfare aspects within the DLG-utility testing procedure has the advantage to be relatively unbureaucratic and in line with EU legislation, and is, therefore, an appropriate tool for a contibrution to improved animal welfare in livestock housing.     

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.     

The importance of applied ethology for the execution of animal welfare legislation]

Applied ethology in general and farm animal ethology in particular have a great importance in connection with animal welfare regulations on a national and international level. They have through the legislation on animal welfare brought about important repercussions on housing of farm animals, wild animals and experimental animals in Switzerland. The animal welfare legislation has been a considerable boost to scientific research. The application of ethological knowledge in the legislation and in practice has indeed also its limits. The importance of applied ethology for animal welfare and for animal husbandry will still increase in future.     

我国动物福利立法探讨

动物福利法在西方已有～。百多年的历史,美国、欧盟、加拿大、澳大利亚等经济发达国家已为动物福利立法。西方发达国家常以自己国家的动物福利法案为法律依据,要求进口动物产品必须满足其福利规定,实质上形成了动物福利壁垒。随着经济和社会的进一步发展,动物福利和动物福利立法在中国开始被提到议事日程中,成为公众和知识界关注的话题。     

Treatment of vertebrates according to Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act]

Relating to Section 4 of the Animal Protection Act "Operations on animals", general principles and arguments of the animal protection law are demonstrated; questions about painfulness and necessity of operations on vertebrates are discussed considering the recent states of knowledge and practice. Problems mainly relate to the sensation of pain in juvenile animals during operations without anaesthesia, and to castration and amputation (tails, horns, beaks, combs/wattles, teeth) as well as to destruction or removal of tissues (notching or perforation of ears) in various animal species. Finally, it is recommended to question the indispensability of operations both continuously and more frequently, and to anaesthetize young animals for specified operations despite the legal possibility to dispense from anaesthesia.     

动物福利立法的困境与思路

一动物福利概述 1动物福利的概念 现代的动物保护运动是从西方开始的。英国1822年“马丁法令”首次以法律条文的形式规定动物的利益,保护动物免受虐待,成为世界上第一部反对虐待家畜动物的法案,也被认为是动物保护史上的一座里程碑。2002年,德国修改了宪法,写上保障动物权利,并在国家尊重和保护人的尊严的条款上,加上了“以及动物”的字眼,     

Development of animal welfare legislation for the European Community

Animal welfare is of increasing importance for the European Community, which is reinforced by the Protocol to the EC Treaty on protection and welfare of animals. After the recent improvements to the legislation on the protection of pigs, the next priority for the Commission is the further development of the standards of animal transportation, particularly since a report of the Commission pointed out shortcomings in the enforcement of the existing rules in this area.     

动物福利与我国畜牧业的持续发展

近些年来,国内外畜禽设施养殖业取得了迅速的发展。这种在人工创造的设施环境条件下进行的集约式和工厂化的养殖业,大大地提高了养殖业的生产效率,但它是在人为控制和保护下进行的高效养殖业生产活动,不考虑或很少去注意动物自身的健康生长和福利,把动物长期饲养在有损健康生长     

Animal welfare aspects of animal slaughter

For many years animal welfare aspects of slaughtering were not discussed. But in the last ten years the research has much increased in this field. The new knowledges will be taken in account in national and european legislation. The question if ritual slaughtering without pre-slaughter stunning has to be allowed, was answered by the amendment of the Animal Welfare Act: This form of slaughtering is now only allowed in the context of constitutional guaranteed religious liberty.     

Entrance of behavioral science into animal welfare legislation

In W. Germany came the ethology the first time in a law 1972. The way was no easy work.     

Animal welfare, animal rights and agriculture

The past decade has witnessed a major revolution in social concern with animals. Philosophically, this revolution entails a significant revision in traditional ways of conceiving our moral obligations to other creatures. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the social and conceptual basis for what is widely termed "animal rights." The agricultural community has mistakenly tended to dismiss this new thinking as fringe and emotionally based. In actuality, it is a natural extension of earlier social thought. The case of new laws regulating biomedical research illustrates the rapidity of social change in this area, as do recent developments in European regulation of agriculture. The relevance of this new moral thought to what has hitherto been understood purely in economic terms must be assimilated by the American agricultural community before the agricultural community can respond appropriately and non-reactively.