Lecture 9/10 - Assessing Animal Welfare

Question 1

what is the most important factor forcing intensive production

Answer 1

Economic pressures

Question 2

What are some recommendations from the brambell report

Answer 2

Training, empathy of caretakers, hiring policy

Question 3

What were the original five freedoms

Answer 3

Stand up, lie down, turn around, groom themselves and stretch limbs

Question 4

What was missing from the original five freedoms?

Answer 4

Mental health

Question 5

What are the cons of the five freedoms

Answer 5

Means “as free as possible”

Question 6

What are the five freedoms

Answer 6

Hunger, thirst
Discomfort
Pain, injury, disease
Normal behaviour
Fear and distress

Question 7

How did the five freedoms evolve

Answer 7

Freedoms to domains
Freedoms to provisions to animal welfare aims

Question 8

What are the five domains

Answer 8

Nutrition, environment, health, behaviour, mental state

Question 9

What are the five provisions

Answer 9

Good nutrition, environment, health, behaviour, mental experiences

Question 10

Animal welfare aims use the word

Answer 10

Minimize

Question 11

When are animals feed restricted

Answer 11

Molting of chickens, breeding stock

Question 12

What can feed/drink affect

Answer 12

Survival, performance, reproductive success

Question 13

What is pain

Answer 13

Unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage

Question 14

What is nociception vs pain

Answer 14

Nociception = ability to feel negative stimuli
Pain = includes emotional experience, CNS process

Question 15

How do you determine if an animal is in pain

Answer 15

Physiology, behaviour, sensory testing, grimace scale, lameness score, posture, gait, vocalization, activity

Question 16

What does the grimace scale measure

Answer 16

Orbital tightening, cheek tension

Question 17

Main concerns of pain?

Answer 17

Animal welfare issue
Metabolic changes
Immunosuppression

Question 18

What are motivational states. Example?

Answer 18

States in brain that determine likelihood/intensity of behavioural pattern (e.g. pregnant sow making nest)

Question 19

What does being unable to satisfy motivational states lead to

Answer 19

Frustration, aversive

Question 20

Why assess animal welfare?

Answer 20

Required by retailers/restaurants
Required for research
Transparency
Credibility

Question 21

Point of assessing animal welfare? Improve/identify…

Answer 21

Improve it
Identify best practices
Identify areas of opportunity
Assess with how animals are managed
Certify a facility

Question 22

Who assesses animal welfare

Answer 22

Producers, vets, auditing orgs, scientists

Question 23

What are the two forms of assessment

Answer 23

Internal, external (second/third party)

Question 24

What is the critical level in animal welfare

Answer 24

Separates acceptability from unacceptability

Question 25

What is a random audit

Answer 25

Unplanned or unannounced

Question 26

What is a second party assessment

Answer 26

Performed by customer/other body that gains from assessment (e.g. retailer

Question 27

What is a third party audit

Answer 27

Performed by auditing/certification body, independent body

Question 28

What is a trigger audit

Answer 28

Follows a trigger (complain/non-compliance)

Question 29

Benefits of self assessment?

Answer 29

Measure continuous improvement Measure benefits of efforts

Question 30

Self assessment negatives?

Answer 30

Bias, “barn blindness”

Question 31

Benefits of second party assessment?

Answer 31

Promote partnerships, understanding Prep for third party Verify requirements are followed

Question 32

Goal of third party audit?

Answer 32

Validate program Evaluate care/welfare Tool for processors, retail No education

Question 33

What are the different tiers of business benchmark

Answer 33

Gold: leading in commitment (3 policies) and transparency Silver: significant C and T Bronze: some C and T Fourth: significant C, no T Fifth: some C, no T Sixth: no C, some T Seven: none of either

Question 34

What Canadian food brands are in tier two

Answer 34

Only Cargill and Maple leafs

Question 35

Three types of AW assessment?

Answer 35

Input/resourced based measures (environment) Animal/outcome based measures Management based measures

Question 36

What is the animal/outcome based measure? Advantage/disadvantage?

Answer 36

Assess stage of the animal Body condition scores Adv: directly related to AW, easy/reliable, diversity Dis: costly, time, training, no indication of cause

Question 37

What is the input/resource based measures? Advantages/disadvantages?

Answer 37

Assess animals environment Adv: easy, useful if factor affects welfare, well chose criteria can prevent welfare problems Dis: no flexibility

Question 38

What is the management based measure? Advantages/disadvantages

Answer 38

assess overall level of management Adv: assess practices Dis: not direct measure of AW, extensive record keeping

Question 39

How do we rank which disease most affects AW

Answer 39

Severity, duration, incidence

Question 40

What are the four questions when developing AW measures

Answer 40

Practical? Does it tell you something important? Can you get the same answer another way? Influence by weather, season, time, day?

Question 41

Steps to establishing measures?

Answer 41

1. Measure (gait score, body condition) 2. Risk factors (genotype, history, stocking density, conditions, nutrition) 3. Inform 4. Improve (restriction, breeding)

Question 42

Two scores for assessing cow welfare?

Answer 42

Body condition, hindquarter cleanliness

Question 43

Other methods: what are the minimalistic and comprehensive approaches to AW assessment

Answer 43

Minimalistic: identify small # of indicators to predict AW Comprehensive: several indicators/protocols to predict AW = truer assessment

Question 44

Stress vs distress?

Answer 44

Stress= causes change in physiological homeostasis or psychological wellbeing Distress= aversive state in which coping does not return organism to homeostasis

Question 45

Causes of stress?

Answer 45

Physical, physiological, psychological