Evaluating Approaches to Farm Animal Welfare Flashcards
What is animal welfare?
3 overlapping domains.
- Physical
- Mental
- Natural
Life being worth living.
How animals should be treated – ethics.
How animals must be treated – legislation.
Impact of treatment on animals – scientific.
Four ethical principles.
Stakeholders with opinions on these principles.
Beneficence (doing good), non-maleficence (not doing any harm), autonomy (freedom of choice), justice (fair distributions of benefits and harms amongst all).
Animals, farmers, vets, government, assurance body, welfare charity, consumers.
- 3 Rs.
- Five freedoms.
- Replacement, reduction, refinement.
- Freedom from hunger and thirst.
Freedom from discomfort.
Freedom from pain, injury and disease.
Freedom to express normal behaviour.
Freedom from fear and distress.
- Purpose of beak trimming.
- Considered as by legislation?
- EU legislation?
- UK legislation?
- What needs to be considered to justify beak trimming?
- How can science be used to consider both sides of the argument?
- Reduce impact of injurious pecking in laying hens.
- Mutilation.
- Not allowed in EU.
- Derogation to allow beak trimming.
- The ethical implications of not beak trimming.
- Welfare science to assess impact of beak trimming vs injurious pecking on birds, looking at:
- Physical damage.
- Mental harms w/ changes in behaviour and stress.
According to Animal Welfare Act 2006…
1. Who is responsible for an animal’s welfare?
2. Person commits an offence if…
3. Consideration of unnecessary suffering?
- Person in charge of and/or owns the animal.
- Action or failure to act cause an animal to suffer unnecessarily.
Allows another person to cause an animal to suffer unnecessarily. - If it could have reasonable been avoided.
Legitimate purpose?
Proportionate to situation?
- What is considered an “animal” in the Animal Welfare Act 2006? (except subsections 4 and 5).
- What is considered a “protected animal” under Animal Welfare Act 2006.
- A vertebrate other than man.
- Of a kind that is commonly domesticated in the British Islands.
Under the control of man whether on a permanent or temporary basis.
Not living in a wild state.
Animal’s needs according to Animal Welfare Act 2006?
Suitable environment.
Suitable diet.
To be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns.
To be housed with, or apart from. other animals.
Protection from pain, suffering, injury and disease.
Specific offences around mutilations.
A person carries out an offence if:
They carry out/cause to be carried out/allow a prohibited procedure. (involves interference w/ sensitive tissues or bone structure of the animals, other than for medical treatment.
Docking of dogs’ tail.
- They remove or cause to removed the whole or any part of a dog’s tail.
Administration of poisons
- They administer or cause to be administered any poisonous or injurious drug.
Fighting
They cause; receive money for; publicise; bet or enable betting on; take part in; keep or train animals for; keep a premises for animal fighting.
The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007.
- Applied to farmed animals: an animal bred or kept for the production of food, wool or skin or other farming purpose (not fish, reptiles or amphibians).
- Persons responsible for animals must be familiar with the relevant codes of practice (guidance often framed around 5 freedoms) (not legislative but could be used to provide evidence).
- Stipulations around staffing, inspection, record keeping, freedom of movement, buildings, accommodation and environment, (automatic) equipment, feed and water, breeding procedures and electronic immobilisation.
- Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.
- According to this act, what is an “animal” defined as?
- Government must establish an ‘Animal Sentience Committee’.
Committee to review and report on any/all government policy and the extent to which it affects animal welfare. - Any vertebrate other than homo sapiens.
Any cephalopod mollusc.
Any decapod crustacean.
Other legislation relevant for farm animal welfare.
The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006.
The welfare of animals at markets order 1990.
Welfare at the time of killing (WATOK).
Codes of practice for each animal.
Why should we assess welfare?
Prioritise vet input.
Management tool (health planning).
Encourage implementation of good practice.
Compliance with farm assurance schemes.
Compliance with legislation.
Research.
What should a welfare assessment do?
Monitor animals for signs of pain, suffering and distress.
Recognise and promote positive / good welfare.
Identify appropriate indicators of suffering and wellbeing for each spp.
Incorporate expertise of researchers, vets, animal technologists farmers, and care staff – evidence based.
Look at changes through time within a group of animals and compare different groups of animals.
What should a welfare assessment allow us to do?
Identify and reward farmers who are doing well.
Identify and help farmers who are falling short.
See an improvement in scale of specific welfare issues over time.
Encourage farmers to be involved in assurance schemes for financial reward e.g. Red Tractor, RSPCA Assured, Soil Association, AssureWel (not an assurance scheme. Is a scientifically supported and tested means of assessing welfare – dev in conjunction with RSPCA).
What are farm inputs?
– Give examples.
Welfare factors, resources, provisions.
– Training of personnel e.g. stock-keeper.
– Housing/diet/environment.
– Breeding.
