Lecture 14 - Animal Welfare Audits Flashcards

1
Q

What are the three spheres of animal welfare?

A
  1. Biological functioning
  2. Natural living
  3. Affective state
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2
Q

What is included in the natural living sphere?

A
  • Environment
  • Social opportunities
  • Motivated behaviours
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3
Q

What is included in the biological functioning sphere?

A
  • Health
  • Nutrition
  • Disease
  • Injury
  • Hygiene
  • Mortality
  • Performance
  • Production
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4
Q

What is included in the affective state sphere?

A
  • Pain
  • Stress
  • Fear
  • Frustration
  • Pleasure
  • Comfort
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5
Q

Definition of animal welfare audit

A

Certification programs set standards and guidelines for the humane care of various livestock species such as cattle, swine, sheep, and poultry. Once a farm is certified, these programs will perform periodic audits to ensure compliance with the program

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6
Q

What are the stages of animal welfare audits?

A
  1. Guidelines standards are set
  2. Farm visit
  3. Does farm meet guidelines?
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7
Q

What is the goal of animal welfare audit programs?

A

To evaluate whether a farm is meeting the standards of the specific program. Every Animal Welfare Assurance Program has their own set of standards.

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8
Q

Why are animal welfare audit programs important?

A
  • They are a response to public concern over the welfare of food animals.
  • Animal welfare standards were developed.
  • Assuring the public that farm animals are cared for according to certain standards.
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9
Q

Can animal welfare audits and standards ensure good welfare?

A

No

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10
Q

Sometimes assessments are referred to as _____.

A

Audits

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11
Q

Assessment/Audit is conducted to provide ____ about the state of animal welfare on a specific farm under a specific program.

A

assurance - NOT GUARANTEE

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12
Q

Who is a first party auditor?

A

A person employed by the farm.

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13
Q

Who is a second party auditor?

A

A person or group affiliated with a company that is affected by the outcomes of company actions.

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14
Q

What is an example of a second party auditor?

A

ProAction (Canadian dairy)

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15
Q

What is a third party auditor?

A

A person or organization independent of the consumer-supplier relationship and is free of any conflict of interest.

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16
Q

What is an example of a third party auditor?

A

PAACO (Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization) or SPCA Certified.

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17
Q

What type of auditor has a significant conflict of interest?

A

First party

18
Q

What are the formats of animal welfare assurance programs?

A
  • Non-mandatory welfare codes and guidelines
  • Regulations
  • Product differentiation (labelling) programs
  • Corporate specifications
19
Q

What are non-mandatory welfare codes and guidelines?

A
  • Recommendations based on science.
  • Earliest responses to animal welfare concerns.
  • Various groups can make codes, including industry groups, sometimes governments, multi-agency organizations.
20
Q

What are regulations?

A
  • Compliance with the law.
  • Federal and provincial levels.
21
Q

What is the federal level of regulations?

A
  • Health of Animals Act (Transport and Slaughter) enforced by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
  • Criminal Code (Criminal offences) enforced by the federal government.
22
Q

What is an example of a non-mandatory welfare code and guideline.

A

National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) made ProAction.

23
Q

What is the provincial level of regulations?

A

Animal protection law

24
Q

What are product differentiation programs?

A
  • Aka. Labelling programs
  • Labels products produced with a higher welfare standard.
  • Consumers may elect to purchase these products.
  • Typically sold at higher price than conventional products.
25
Q

What are corporate specifications?

A
  • Restaurants, grocery store chains, retailers developing programs and policies for animal welfare.
  • Assurance to their customers about the food they sell.
26
Q

What is evaluated during an audit?

A
  • Resources
  • Protocols
  • Animals
27
Q

What is evaluated in resource based measures?

A

Looks at:
- Food and water
- Stocking density
- Access to cool stuff (number of cows/brush)
- Social environment
- Outdoor access/protection from heat and cold.
- Special needs housing.

28
Q

Resource based measures definition?

A

They specify certain environmental requirements, identification of risk factors for animal-based measures.

29
Q

Management based measures definition?

A

Identify certain actions that should be taken in specific circumstances (e.g., down cow, euthanasia).

30
Q

Example of what to evaluate in dairy cattle.

A
  • BCS
  • Cleanliness
  • Density
  • Locomotion
  • Stall length
  • Behaviour
31
Q

What are evaluated in management based measures?

A
  • Euthanasia
  • Painful procedures
  • Fitness for transport
  • Standard operating procedures (SOP)
32
Q

Animal-based (outcome-based) measures definition.

A

Assesses actual state of welfare of the animal, without specifying how it should be achieved.

33
Q

What are the key numerical animal based values in dairy cows?

A
  • % lame animals
  • % poor body condition
  • % dirty animals (udder, legs, flank)
  • % injuries (hock, neck, knee, broken tails)
  • % abnormal behavior
  • % falling or vocalizing during handling
34
Q

What are the values for gait scoring?

A
  1. Normal
  2. Mildly lame
  3. Moderately lame
  4. Lame
  5. Severely lame
35
Q

Cleanliness scoring

A

0 = Clean. No dirt or minor fresh or dried splashing present
1 = Dirty. An area of dirtiness at least palm size
2 = Very dirty. An area of dirtiness amounting to at least forearm length

36
Q

Stall indices as measure of cow comfort

A

CCI: Cow Comfort Index
- Proportion of cows touching the stall that are lying down

SUI: Stall Use Index
- The proportion of cows that are in the pen, not feeding, and that are lying down in the stalls

37
Q

What does a stocking density of 120% indicate?

A

20% of cows cannot eat at the same time.

38
Q

Animal behaviour observations

A
  • Abnormal behaviour
  • % falling or vocalizing during handling
39
Q

What does falling or vocalizing during handling indicate?

A

Handling quality

40
Q

Which measures are unlikely to be observed in an audit?

A

Management based (euthanasia, painful procedures) because they are not done frequently.

41
Q

What are the zone thresholds for animal based measures?

A
  • Green: Meets excellent target.
  • Yellow: Corrective action plan recommended.
  • Red: Corrective action plan required.
  • Dark red: Corrective action plan and increased cattle assessments required.
42
Q

How does the timing of assessments change if the farm is in the dark red zone?

A

The next cattle assessment will be due in 12 months with a larger sample size to assess if there has been improvement.