Thesis (M.A.)--Rowan University, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

The present report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions of Security Council resolution 1612 (2005). It is presented to the Council and its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict as a second country report from the monitoring and reporting mechanism referred to in paragraph 3 of that resolution. The report, which covers the period from May to July 2006, specifies incidents of grave child rights abuses, indicative of the nature and trend of systematic violations in the Sudan. The report focuses specifically on the killing and maiming of children, their recruitment and use as soldiers, grave sexual violence, abductions and denial of humanitarian access to children, and indicates that these violations continue in the Sudan largely unabated. The report explicitly identifies parties to the conflict who are committing grave abuses, including the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, the Popular Defence Forces, the Sudan Liberation Army, the White Army, the Janjaweed militia, the Lord's Resistance Army and Chadian opposition forces. The report stresses that individual commanders of the numerous armed forces and groups in the Sudan bear responsibility for the commission of grave violations by their forces, but that the Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan are also directly accountable for the commission of violations by individuals within their command structures. This government accountability is a critical as groups are incorporated into the legally regulated armed forces under government control. The report highlights action plans and other programme responses in place to address violations against children, and contains a series of recommendations with a view to securing strengthened action for the protection of war-affected children in the Sudan. / "S/2006/662." "Distr: General." "17 August 2006." "Original: English." Title taken from title screen (viewed October 27, 2006).

Thesis (M.A.)--Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1987. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-107).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed 16 January, 2007). Advisor: Erin O'Brien. Keywords: charitable choice, faith-based organizations, welfare, poverty, evangelicals. Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-176).

The increased public interest in the welfare of animals used in food production has led to the emergence of welfare assessment schemes for a range of livestock species. There are currently over 100 million sheep in the EU which are primarily bred for milk, meat and wool production and the majority of these animals are managed extensively. The general perception of sheep in extensive systems living “natural lives” with few welfare compromises, along with the practical challenges of adequately assessing their welfare, has caused them to be largely ignored in comparison to other species. It was only relatively recently that the lack of animalbased welfare assessments for extensively kept small ruminants was recognised. Thus, the aim of this project was to evaluate potential animal-based welfare indicators for use during on-farm welfare assessments of extensively managed sheep. The current project used the Welfare Quality® 4 principles and 12 criteria as a foundation for selecting indicators for the assessment of extensively managed sheep. Following a comprehensive review of the scientific literature and a meeting attended by experts from across the EU, 16 indicators were selected for evaluation. Each principle and criteria were covered by at least one of these 16 indicators ensuring the main aspects of sheep welfare were addressed. The indicators selected for investigation could either be applied without handling or gathering the animals during an 'Assessment in the Field', or during a more thorough hands-on 'Assessment at Gather'. The reliability, feasibility and validity of some indicators (e.g. body condition scoring) are already established. However for others (e.g. Qualitative Behavioural Assessment approach), at least one of these criteria required further investigation before the indicator could be accepted. The reliability of selected measures was evaluated by assessing their repeatability and inter-observer agreement. Face validity was assumed for the indicators selected during the expert meeting, and further cross validation was performed when appropriate using additional information collected on the animal’s physical health status. During the Assessments at Gather blood samples were collected for the assessment of metabolic profiles, and faecal samples provided gastro-intestinal parasite counts. The Assessments at Gather were performed on the same 100-135 Scottish Blackface ewes across a two year period (2011-2013) on a Scottish hill farm. The Assessments at Gather occurred five times a year coinciding with key points in the ewes’ reproductive cycle: pre-mating, mid-pregnancy, late pregnancy, mid lactation and weaning. During the assessments data were collected on the ewe’s body condition, coat cleanliness, faecal soiling score, respiratory conditions, anaemia, lameness and udder condition (udders assessed during lactation only). Current stage in the reproductive cycle and seasonality were found to have significant impacts upon the long-term reliability of the following measures: body condition score, tooth loss, nasal discharge and anaemia scores (P < 0.001) with variation both within, and between years. On commercial farms older and less productive ewes tend to be removed from the flock once a year prior to mating. Of the indicators applied to the ewes during the Assessments at Gathers, tooth loss and body condition score were the best predictors for the ewe’s exclusion from the flock, predicting the future removal of a ewe from the flock 12 months in advance of the shepherd’s decision. For the Assessments in the Field, indicators which did not necessitate close contact were required. A whole-animal method (Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA) was therefore particularly useful as it can be performed with minimal disturbance. Rather than quantitatively scoring the behaviour patterns of an animal the assessor focusses on how the animal interacts with their environment. This information is translated in to qualitative descriptors such as “calm” or “agitated”. Good interobserver reliability was found when three observers assessed 49 individual ewes on two occasions (W=0.77, P < 0.001). When QBA was applied 13 times to 50 individual ewes over a six-month time period (spanning late pregnancy to post-weaning) four meaningful Principal Components were identified; the first two accounted for more than half of the explained variation between sheep. The two main components were ‘General Mood’ (PC1), describing the overall affective state of the ewe, and ‘Arousal’ (PC2) reflecting energy levels. General Mood scores significantly increased in the post-lambing period compared to pre-lambing observations, and significantly increased again post-weaning (P < 0.001). Ewes were significantly experiencing significantly higher Arousal in post-lambing and post-weaning conditions compared to pre-lambing (P < 0.001), but there was no difference between post-lambing and post-weaning. During the Assessments in the Field data were also collected on: the ewe’s response to human approach, a surprise test, the ewe’s social group size, group demographics and behavioural synchrony. Ewes with lower mood scores tended to have larger distances between them and other ewes (P=0.023). The distance to which a human could approach before the ewe fled was significantly related to Arousal (P=0.05), as ewes in a higher energy state fled from the approaching human sooner than those who were in lower Arousal states. Ewes in social groups with higher numbers of ewe and lamb vocalisations tended to have lower General Mood scores (P=0.014), and lower Arousal scores (P < 0.001) than those in smaller groups. Indicators which met the conditions of feasibility, reliability and validity (for example, those reported above) proved to be suitable for use when assessing the welfare of extensively managed sheep. The effect of time on the reliability of the indicators applied during the assessments have important implications for understanding temporary fluctuations in the animal’s welfare caused by either internal (reproductive state) or external (environmental) factors. These fluctuations may not be representative of a farm’s overall welfare levels in the long term and therefore further careful consideration of the most appropriate time to apply the selected indicators is required.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Ethical issues in livestock breeding have been in focus of public interest recently. A strong attention is paid to living space, ability to express natural behaviour, and good care of animals known as welfare. Presented thesis aims in evaluation of animal welfare indicators on 20 farms with organic dairy production using the methodology of Welfare Quality (WQ). The following criteria were assessed: absence of prolonged hunger and thirst, comfort around resting, ease of movement, absence of injuries, disease, and pain induced by management procedures, expression of social and other behaviours, human-animal relationship, and emotional state. These criteria are combined into four basic principles: good feeding, good housing, good health, and appropriate behaviour. Principal attention is paid to the relationship between animal welfare and health. Most farms showed high scoring of good feeding including the proportion of very lean cows and sufficient water supply. Good housing got also high evaluation, because the organic farming standards require loose housing and majority of time spent grazing on pastures. Lower scoring of good health was caused by dehorning on a part of farms, which decreases the absence of injuries evaluation. Farms had mostly low proportion of lame cows, cows with lesions and hairless patches, and cows with discharges and diarrhoea; no cow had mastitis. No expression of agonistic behaviour was recorded, the scoring of human-animal relationship and positive emotional state was fairly good, too. Obtained scores were generally higher compared to results from conventional farms published in literature. All farms were evaluated as enhanced or excellent. Larger herds had generally lower scoring of human-animal relationship, but higher scoring of positive emotional state. Farms with dehorned animals exhibited lower proportion of very lean cows and nasal discharge. A higher percentage of lame cows was found on farms with worse cleanliness compared to farms with cleaner conditions. Proportion of lame cows correlated with the proportion of very lean cows, and together with the proportion of cows with integument alterations it was influenced by the comfort around resting. It was confirmed that good conditions of cow breeding and good welfare lead to better health and behaviour of animals. Organic farming creates favourable conditions for good animal health and welfare. The output of the thesis provides farmers an evaluation of animal welfare on their farms and a comparison with other farms.

This thesis is focused on evaluation of welfare quality in dairy cows at 10 farms (factory farming) in the Czech Republic. Studies concerned with this topic are showing that the quality of welfare and the farm environment has a significant influence on their efficiency. Welfare evaluation in this thesis was done in accordance to European project Welfare Quality. In processing of this thesis was evaluated ten of totally twelve criterions; absence of prolonged hunger and thirst, comfort around resting, ease of movement, absence of injuries, diseases and painful procedures, expression social and other behaviours, and good human animal relationship. From four principles based on criterions above, i.e. good feeding, good housing, good health and appropriate behaviour, were only three evaluated. Most of the farms had a low scoring of good feeding including part of very lean cows and bad access to the water. Favourable was evaluation of good housing, because 60% of farms had above-standard results. Lower evaluation was in the principle of good health due to dehorning on all monitored farms. Czech farms had significantly higher percent of very lean cows comparing to foreign breeds. Lameness in the Czech Republic was different in comparison with foreign studies. Small part of cows suffering of discharge, cough, or hampered respiration was detected. Number of animals suffering from diarrhoea is comparable to foreign studies. Expression of agonistic behaviour was minimal in monitored farms. That is displayed in excellent evaluation of criteria expression of social behaviour. Almost all farms had acceptable evaluation of good human animal relationship. Hypothesis, that in farms with lower quality of environment is higher percentage of cows that hobble, than in farms with better quality of environment, was not confirmed. Another hypothesis was partly confirmed. The farms with higher percentage of cows with health issues struggle with problems during the rest time, than the farm with lower percentage of cows with health issues. Part of cows that lameness correlate with part of cows with patches and part of very lean cows is affiliated to part of cows with diarrhoea. Welfare quality in monitored herds, were at an acceptable level. Most need to improve the area of good feeding, but for accurate results it would be appropriate to evaluate a greater number of farms.

No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology / Daniel U. Thomson / Cattle health and welfare are of utmost concern to producers, packers, processors, and consumers of beef. In addition, poor animal welfare can lead to decreases in economic return, in the form of production losses, product losses, or even live animal losses. Two major contributors to such losses include carcass bruising and cattle fatigue, or Fatigued Cattle Syndrome. Bruising in fed beef cattle costs the industry millions of dollars annually, and cattle fatigue leads to production losses and animal death during and after transport. Much research in cattle welfare is focused upon the more vulnerable classes of cattle in the industry, such as small calves, cull beef cows, and cull dairy cows. Limited research exists on the animal welfare concerns in fed beef cattle, likely because these animals are considered healthier and better fit for transport compared to other classes. The overall goal of this research was to assess the health and welfare of fed cattle after transport to commercial slaughter facilities by addressing two large concerns in the industry: 1) bruising in fed cattle and 2) Fatigued Cattle Syndrome and its prevalence and physiologic characteristics. The first objective of this research focused upon bruising, and was to determine whether a relationship exists between trauma incurred during unloading and prevalence of carcass bruising in finished beef cattle at commercial slaughter facilities. In addition, other risk factors which may contribute to carcass bruising in finished beef cattle are addressed. The second and third objectives focused upon Fatigued Cattle Syndrome in the fed cattle population. The second objective of this research was to determine the prevalence of abnormal mobility scores and the clinical signs associated with to abnormal mobility in finished cattle in six commercial slaughter facilities across the United States. The third objective was to determine if mobility score and clinical signs reflect concurrent changes in physiologic parameters such as blood concentrations of specific biochemical markers and biomechanical integrity of hooves. This information is both valuable and novel in the fed beef cattle industry. Along with the implementation of practices that will promote better health and welfare of fed cattle presented to slaughter facilities, gathering such information will help improve animal welfare, increase economic returns, and strengthen consumer confidence in the industry.