No description available.

Sweden’s animal legislation was adopted in 1988 and is one of the most rigorous legislations in the world. Despite this, Sweden import beef from countries where animal legislation is not in accordance to the Swedish legislation. The meat consumption in Sweden has, just like the importation of beef, increased while Sweden’s own beef production has decreased. The countries Sweden import most beef from are Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands, and Brazil outside of the EU. The purpose of this study has been to compare the legal regulation according to the animal husbandry, transportation and slaughter in the EU and in the respective countries. The comparison has been based on the Welfare Quality®’s assessment protocol, which is based on four main principles: good feeding, good housing, good health and good appropriate behavior. The result indicates that the Swedish legislation is most optimal from an animal welfare point of view. Germany, as well as Sweden keeps a good standard of their national animal legislation. The main differences between Sweden and Germany’s legislation are the regulation about good feeding and anesthesia during surgical procedures and slaughter.

L’objectiu d’aquesta tesi és avaluar i discutir l’aplicació pràctica, la validesa i la repetibilitat d’un sistema d’avaluació del benestar en granges comercials de porcs d’engreix. La capacitat d’aplicació, la sensibilitat, selectivitat, validesa contextual i repetibilitat al llarg del temps de les mesures basades en l'animal incloses al protocol Welfare Quality® es van avaluar mitjançant cinc estudis. A més a més, al llarg de la tesi es va considerar la utilització del protocol com a eina d’assessorament per resoldre problemes de benestar. En el primer estudi es presenta una anàlisi descriptiva de les mesures basades en l’animal incloses al protocol d’avaluació del benestar. En aquest treball es va avaluar tant l’aplicació pràctica del protocol en 30 granges intensives com la seva capacitat per discriminar-les entre sí. Tanmateix, el treball proposa una metodologia pràctica per identificar granges que presenten algun problema de benestar. Al segon i tercer estudi, es van avaluar un total de 11,647 porcs allotjats en 91 explotacions comercials provinents de tres sistemes intensius (convencional a França i Espanya, sobre palla a França, i Ibèric intensiu a Espanya) així com dos sistemes extensius (Ibèric en extensiu, Porc Negre Mallorquí) mitjançant el protocol Welfare Quality®. Tot dos estudis descriuen dades sobre la prevalença i distribució de diversos indicadors de benestar en una gran varietat d’explotacions amb la finalitat d’identificar una sèrie de factors causals. Els resultats corresponents als principis de bona alimentació i bon allotjament es presenten en el segon estudi mentre que els de salut es descriuen en el tercer. El quart estudi es centra en l’avaluació del benestar mitjançant mesures de comportament en porcs Ibèrics en condicions intensives i extensives. En aquest treball, el quart principi del Welfare Quality®, titulat “comportament adequat”, es va avaluar en 21 granges (11 extensives i 10 intensives), les quals allotjaven una totalitat de 25,856 porcs Ibèrics. Finalment, el cinquè estudi avalua, en una mostra de 15 granges intensives convencionals, la repetibilitat després d'un temps perllongat de les mesures basades en l’animal incloses en el protocol Welfare Quality®. Els resultats es van discutir des d’un punt de vista discriminatiu i avaluatiu. Com a comentari general, el protocol Welfare Quality® per porcs d’engreix es pot aplicar fàcilment en una gran varietat d’explotacions comercials. Tot i així, la durada total del protocol pot ser percebuda com a massa llarga per part d’alguns dels agents implicats (com ara ramaders, industria o empreses certificadores). La sensibilitat dels indicadors de salut és aparentment massa baixa. La interpretació d’alguns resultats en termes de benestar animal, especialment els de comportament, s’ha de realitzar amb molta cura sobretot quan es comparen explotacions provinents de sistemes de cria molt diversos. Una interpretació equivocada d’un resultat pot erròniament afavorir o perjudicar un ramader o un sistema. Finalment, el protocol Welfare Quality® pot tenir enfocaments diversos que poden ser pràctics i complementaris com a eina d’assessorament, tot i que es va dissenyar com una eina per auditar. / The objective of the present thesis is to evaluate and discuss the feasibility, validity and repeatability of a welfare assessment system for growing pigs on commercial farms. The feasibility, sensitivity, selectivity, contextual validity and repeatability over time of several animal-based measures of the Welfare Quality® (WQ®) protocol were evaluated in five studies. Furthermore, across the thesis, the use of the protocol as an advisory tool is considered. The first study presents a descriptive analysis of several animal-based measures of the welfare assessment protocol for pigs kept under intensive conventional conditions on 30 farms in Spain. It evaluates the feasibility of the protocol on intensive farms and its capacity to discriminate among intensive conventional farms. It also aims to propose a practical methodology to identify farms with a particular welfare problem. On the second and third studies, a total of 11,647 pigs housed on 91 commercial farms of three intensive systems (conventional in France and Spain, straw bedded in France, and Iberian intensive in Spain) as well as two extensive systems (Iberian extensive, Mallorcan Black pig) were assessed applying the overall WQ® protocol. Both studies yielded data about the prevalence and distribution of several welfare outcomes on a wide variety of commercial farms with the aim to identify possible causal factors. The results from the good feeding and housing principles are presented in the second study whereas those of health are given in the third study. The fourth study focused on the assessment of welfare through behavioural measures in Iberian pigs in intensive and extensive conditions. The fourth principle of the WQ® protocol, labelled “Appropriate behaviour”, was assessed on 21 farms (11 extensive and 10 intensive) housing a total of 25,856 Iberian pigs. Changes in occurrence of behaviour and qualitative measures were evaluated and discussed when comparing Iberian pigs either in intensive or extensive rearing conditions. Finally, the fifth study evaluated the test-retest repeatability over a long period of time of the mean prevalence of several measures from the WQ® protocol on a sample of 15 intensive conventional farms of growing pigs. The results were discussed from a discriminative approach and from an evaluative approach. As a general comment, the WQ® protocol for growing pigs is feasible in a wide range of commercial conditions even though the overall duration may be perceived as too long by stakeholders. The sensitivity of health indicators appears to be low. Interpretation of several outcomes, especially behavioural ones, in terms of animal welfare, must be cautious, especially when comparing farm units from diverse rearing systems. An erroneous interpretation of an outcome can wrongly favour or prejudice a farmer. Several approaches of the WQ® protocol can be practical and complementary to be used for advisory purposes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 308-322).

O mundo atual passa por uma revolução na produção industrial de animais, busca-se atender as exigências do mercado focando na qualidade do produto final e nos sistemas de produção. A partir da preocupação pública com a melhoria do bemestar de animais de produção e o maior controle da cadeia produtiva, protocolos internacionais com recomendações de boas práticas de produção foram desenvolvidos, a fim de simplificar e esclarecer os princípios de bem-estar animal (BEA) para o setor produtivo. No Brasil, os sistemas existentes e as pesquisas direcionadas ainda estão na fase de avaliar os gargalos tecnológicos, oriundos de sistemas de produção com diferenças em relação às escalas de produção. Nesse contexto, há a necessidade de avaliar cada sistema brasileiro de produção, suas particularidades e comparar aos sistemas europeus e americanos. O Brasil é um país de destaque na produção de proteína animal, e deve estabelecer suas próprias condições de qualidade frente à sua escala e a suas particularidades de produção. Não há como simplesmente aderir às exigências internacionais, sem atentar para a realidade nacional seja ela de produção, de nível tecnológico e de exigências/dificuldades dos produtores rurais. Baseando-se na necessidade do estabelecimento de padrões para o sistema brasileiro de produção de leite em pasto, conforme Instrução Normativa 56/2008, do Ministério da Agricultura Pecuária e Abastecimento (MAPA), esse estudo propôs uma adaptação do sistema de avaliação do protocolo Welfare Quality® Assessment protocol for cattle - applied to dairy cows (2009) para avaliação do bem-estar de vacas leiteiras em sistema de pastejo. A aplicação do protocolo Welfare Quality adaptado para o sistema de pastejo possibilitou a avaliação e a classificação de forma quantitativa e qualitativa em relação ao bem-estar geral do rebanho, e consequentemente da propriedade leiteira. / The current world is going through a revolution in the industrial livestock production, so it is important to meet market demands by focusing on product quality and farming systems. Based on public concern regarding farm animal welfare improvement and greater control of the productive chain, international protocols with good production practices recommendations were developed in order to simplify and clarify animal welfare principles to the productive sector. In Brazil, the existing systems and targeted researches are still at the stage of assessing technologic bottlenecks, arising from production systems with differences related to production scales. In this context, there is a need to assess each Brazilian production system, their peculiarities and to compare European and American systems. Brazil is a country of prominence in animal protein production and shall establish its own quality conditions ahead of its scale and its production particularities. There is no simply meeting international requirements without considering the national reality of production, technological level and farmers\' demands/difficulties. Relying on the need to establish standards for Brazilian system of milk production in pasture, according to Normative Instruction n° 56/2008, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), the present paper proposed an adapted evaluation system from Welfare Quality Protocol® -Assessment protocol for cattle - applied to dairy cows (2009) to assess the welfare of dairy cows raised in pasture. The implementation of the WQ adapted protocol allowed the evaluation and classification of the farms quantitative and qualitatively in relation to general animal welfare, and consequently the production facility.

Die Nutztierhaltung in Nordwestdeutschland befindet sich derzeit in dem empfindlichen Dilemma zwischen den wirtschaftliche Erfordernissen, welche der internationale Strukturwandel in der Nutztierhaltung an die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit stellt, und den derzeitigen Entwicklungspotentialen in der Region. Zum einen begrenzen die natürlichen Potentiale eine weiter ansteigende räumliche Verdichtung der Nutztierhaltung. Des Weiteren hat sich das gesellschaftliche Anforderungspotential an die Landwirtschaft als auch an den ländlichen Raum geändert und forciert keinen weiteren Anstieg der Nutztierhaltung. Die Bedingungen durch die hohe Tierdichte verlangen zunehmend, dass in Nordwestdeutschland eine nachhaltige Ausrichtung der Nutztierhaltung in höherem Maße verankert wird. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt hierfür wesentliche Herausforderungen der Nutztierhaltung in den Bereichen Umweltschutz, der Tiergerechtheit intensiver Haltungssysteme und regionale Ressourcenkonflikte. Umweltschutz: Die Stoffdynamik von Stickstoff (N) und Phosphor (P) sämtlicher Betriebsgüter wurde auf sechs intensiven schweinehaltenden Betrieben über einen Zeitraum von 5 Jahren analysiert. Es wurde deutlich, dass die hohe Leistung und die leistungsbezogene Fütterung sich positiv auf Nährstoffeffizienz in der Tierhaltung auswirken, im Pflanzenbau jedoch Defizite bestehen. Insbesondere die Wahrnehmung der anfallenden Menge tierischer Exkremente als (N, P) Dünger ist unzureichend. Die Düngewirkung des Wirtschaftsdüngers [Unterschätzung N = 7,6 % (10,6 kg/ha), P = 33,6 % (11,6 kg/ha)], aber auch die Anwendung von Mineraldünger [N um 4,1 % (8,1 kg/ha), P um 12,7 % (1,5 kg/ha)] wurden deutlich unterschätzt. Als Folge hatten die Betriebe große Nährstoffverluste (104,5 kg N/ha; 11,7 kg P/ha) zu verzeichnen. Die Studie bewertet die kritischen Aspekte des Nährstoff-Managements und diskutiert mögliche Verbesserungen für die Zukunft. Tiergerechtheit intensiver Haltungssysteme: Auf drei Mastbetrieben intensiver Haltungsformen wurden jeweils sechs Analysen (wöchentlich) mit dem Bewertungssystem nach Welfare Quality® durchgeführt, um aufzuzeigen, inwiefern dieses geeignet ist, die Tiergerechtheit in intensiven Haltungssystemen zu analysieren. Es wird die Durchführbarkeit des Systems bewertet und analysiert, welche Rückschlüsse sich durch die Bewertung auf die Tiergerechtheit intensiver Haltungsformen ziehen lassen. In der Gesamtbewertung (excellent, enhanced, acceptable or not classified) wurden 72,3 % aller Untersuchungen der zweiten Bewertungskategorie "enhanced" zugeordnet, während 27,7 % die dritte Kategorie 7. Zusammenfassung 79 "akzeptabel" erreichten. Die Hauptkritikpunkte waren eine unzureichende Wasserversorgung, vorhandene Schleimbeutelentzündungen durch die Besatzdichte und das Ausleben natürlicher Verhaltensweisen. Die Untersuchung zeigt, dass das Bewertungssystem grundsätzlich geeignet ist, die Tiergerechtheit in intensiven Haltungssystemen zu analysieren, jedoch scheinen nicht alle Messungen (insbesondere im Bereich „Good Housing“ und „Good Health“) empfindlich genug zu sein, um Unterschiede der Tiergerechtheit zwischen intensiven Haltungssystemen in ausreichendem Maße bewerten zu können. Weitere Analysen mit einer größeren Anzahl von Betrieben sind hier nötig. Die Arbeit diskutiert mögliche Ansatzpunkte für die Verbesserung der Tiergerechtheit intensiver Haltungssysteme und greift hierbei auch die derzeitige gesellschaftliche Diskussion auf. Wachsende Konkurrenz um begrenzte regionale Ressourcen: Die Studie stellt dar, welche Anreizmechanismen und Konflikte die Nutztierhalter als regionale Indikatoren für die Zukunftsfähigkeit des Standortes wahrnehmen. Auf Grundlage der theoretischen Erklärungsansätze für Auswirkungen von intensiven Tierhaltungsregionen ist ein Fragebogen konzipiert worden, welcher in Form einer Onlinebefragung bei 137 Landwirten in der gesamten Region Nordwestdeutschlands durchgeführt wurde. Es wird deutlich, dass sich die Nutztierhaltung, mit den regionalen Herausforderungen einer zunehmend verdichteten Tierhaltung deutlicher konfrontiert sieht, als vorteilhafte Produktionsbedingung wahrgenommen werden. Als bedeutende Ressourcenkonflikte sind eine ansteigende Flächenknappheit für die Verwertung des Wirtschaftsdüngers, die Anforderungen durch den Natur- und Landschaftsschutz als auch eine ansteigende Standortproblematik für Bauvorhaben ausschlaggebend. Im Gegensatz zu dieser hohen Wahrnehmung negativer Auswirkungen des Produktionsstandortes in Nordwestdeutschland wird noch erhebliches Potential für weitere Erweiterungsmöglichkeiten der Tierbestände in Nordwestdeutschland gesehen. Zugleich werden der intensiven Tierhaltung in Nordwestdeutschland auch bedeutende vorteilhafte Produktionsbedingungen zugesprochen. Die Nutzeffekte werden vor allem im human- und social-Kapital gesehen werden. Diese Elemente verursachen jedoch ebenso ein geringes geografisches Reaktionsvermögen auf die zunehmenden Problemstellungen und lassen die Raumnutzungskonflikte weiter ansteigen. Durch die Wahrnehmung der Standortauswirkungen trägt die Arbeit dazu bei, die Anforderungen der Nutztierhalter an die Produktionsbedingungen in der Regionalentwicklung stärker zu berücksichtigen und bestehenden Problemstellungen entgegenzuwirken.

No description available.

O mundo atual passa por uma revolução na produção industrial de animais, busca-se atender as exigências do mercado focando na qualidade do produto final e nos sistemas de produção. A partir da preocupação pública com a melhoria do bemestar de animais de produção e o maior controle da cadeia produtiva, protocolos internacionais com recomendações de boas práticas de produção foram desenvolvidos, a fim de simplificar e esclarecer os princípios de bem-estar animal (BEA) para o setor produtivo. No Brasil, os sistemas existentes e as pesquisas direcionadas ainda estão na fase de avaliar os gargalos tecnológicos, oriundos de sistemas de produção com diferenças em relação às escalas de produção. Nesse contexto, há a necessidade de avaliar cada sistema brasileiro de produção, suas particularidades e comparar aos sistemas europeus e americanos. O Brasil é um país de destaque na produção de proteína animal, e deve estabelecer suas próprias condições de qualidade frente à sua escala e a suas particularidades de produção. Não há como simplesmente aderir às exigências internacionais, sem atentar para a realidade nacional seja ela de produção, de nível tecnológico e de exigências/dificuldades dos produtores rurais. Baseando-se na necessidade do estabelecimento de padrões para o sistema brasileiro de produção de leite em pasto, conforme Instrução Normativa 56/2008, do Ministério da Agricultura Pecuária e Abastecimento (MAPA), esse estudo propôs uma adaptação do sistema de avaliação do protocolo Welfare Quality® Assessment protocol for cattle - applied to dairy cows (2009) para avaliação do bem-estar de vacas leiteiras em sistema de pastejo. A aplicação do protocolo Welfare Quality adaptado para o sistema de pastejo possibilitou a avaliação e a classificação de forma quantitativa e qualitativa em relação ao bem-estar geral do rebanho, e consequentemente da propriedade leiteira. / The current world is going through a revolution in the industrial livestock production, so it is important to meet market demands by focusing on product quality and farming systems. Based on public concern regarding farm animal welfare improvement and greater control of the productive chain, international protocols with good production practices recommendations were developed in order to simplify and clarify animal welfare principles to the productive sector. In Brazil, the existing systems and targeted researches are still at the stage of assessing technologic bottlenecks, arising from production systems with differences related to production scales. In this context, there is a need to assess each Brazilian production system, their peculiarities and to compare European and American systems. Brazil is a country of prominence in animal protein production and shall establish its own quality conditions ahead of its scale and its production particularities. There is no simply meeting international requirements without considering the national reality of production, technological level and farmers\' demands/difficulties. Relying on the need to establish standards for Brazilian system of milk production in pasture, according to Normative Instruction n° 56/2008, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), the present paper proposed an adapted evaluation system from Welfare Quality Protocol® -Assessment protocol for cattle - applied to dairy cows (2009) to assess the welfare of dairy cows raised in pasture. The implementation of the WQ adapted protocol allowed the evaluation and classification of the farms quantitative and qualitatively in relation to general animal welfare, and consequently the production facility.

In the UK, laboratory-housed dogs are primarily used as a non-rodent species in the safety testing of new medicines and other chemical entities. The use of animals in research is governed by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (1986, amended 2012) and legislation is underpinned by the principles of humane experimental technique: Replacement, Reduction and Refinement. A link between animal welfare and the quality of data produced has been shown in other species (e.g. rodents, nonhuman primates), however, no established, integrated methodology for identifying or monitoring welfare and quality of data output previously existed in the laboratory-housed dog. In order to investigate the effects of planned Refinements to various aspects of husbandry and regulated procedures, this project sought to integrate behavioural, physiological and other measures (e.g. cognitive bias, mechanical pressure threshold) and to provide a means for staff to monitor welfare whilst also establishing the relationship between welfare and quality of data output. Affective state was identified using an established method of cognitive bias testing, before measuring welfare at ‘baseline’ using measures of behaviour and physiology. Dogs then underwent ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ behavioural challenges to identify the measures most sensitive to changing welfare and most suitable for use in a framework. The resulting Welfare Assessment Framework, developed in three groups of dogs from contrasting backgrounds within the facility, found a consistent pattern of behaviour, cardiovascular function, affect and mechanical pressure threshold (MPT). Dogs with a negative affective state had higher blood pressure at baseline than those with positive affective states, and the magnitude of the effect of negative welfare suggests that welfare may act as a confound in the interpretation of cardiovascular data. The responses to restraint included increases in blood pressure and heart rate measures which approached ceiling levels, potentially reducing the sensitivity of measurement. If maintained over time this response could potentially have a negative health impact on other organ systems and affecting the data obtained from those. Dogs with a negative welfare state also had a lower mechanical pressure threshold, meaning they potentially experienced greater stimulation from unpleasant physical stimuli. Taken together with the behaviours associated with a negative welfare state (predominantly vigilant or stereotypic behaviours) the data suggest that dogs with a negative welfare state have a greater behavioural and physiological response to stimuli in their environment; as such, data obtained from their use is different from that obtained from dogs with a positive welfare state. This was confirmed by examining the effect size (Cohen’s d ) resulting from the analysis of affective state on cardiovascular data. An increase in variance, particularly in the small dog numbers typical of safety assessment studies, means a reduction in the power of the study to detect the effect under observation; a decrease in variation has the potential to reduce the number of dogs use, in line with the principle of Reduction and good scientific practice. The development of the framework also identified areas of the laboratory environment suitable for Refinement (e.g. restriction to single-housing and restraint) and other easily-implemented Refinements (e.g. feeding toy and human interaction) which could be used to improve welfare. As a result of this, a Welfare Monitoring Tool (WMT) in the form of a tick sheet was developed for technical and scientific staff to identify those dogs at risk of reduced welfare and producing poor quality data, as well as to monitor the effects of Refinements to protocols. Oral gavage is a common regulated procedure, known to be potentially aversive and was identified as an area in need of Refinement. A program of desensitisation and positive reinforcement training was implemented in a study also comparing the effects of a sham dose condition versus a control, no-training, condition. A number of the measures used, including home pen behaviour, behaviour during dosing, MPT and the WMT showed significant benefits to the dogs in the Refined condition. Conversely, dogs in the sham dose condition showed more signs of distress and took longer to dose than dogs in the control condition. The welfare of control dogs was intermediate to sham dose and Refined protocol dogs. This project identified a positive relationship between positive welfare and higher quality of data output. It developed and validated a practical and feasible means of measuring welfare in the laboratory environment in the Welfare Assessment Framework, identified areas in need of Refinement and developed practical ways to implement such Refinements to husbandry and regulated procedures. As such it should have wide implications for the pharmaceutical industry and other users of dogs in scientific research.

As activity levels of intensively managed broiler chicken vary over time, detailed knowledge on their influence is potentially useful to further adjust welfare assessment schemes. Therefore, this study investigated the influence of daytime and age on the performance of broiler chicken in two applied fear tests.On-farm studies were carried out in 14 flocks of intensively managed broiler chicken. A forced and a voluntary approach test were conducted during morning and evening hours and at three different ages (1: 6-12d; 2: 21-24d; 3: prior to slaughter). At each observation, avoidance distances (AD) and the number of animals voluntarily approaching (VA) an observer were collected.No significant correlation was found between daytime and AD or VA. When tested at different ages, daytime and VA were significantly correlated (1: r= 0.56*; 2: r= 0.40*; 3: r= 0.64*), but the results were not consistent. At three weeks the VA was found to be higher in the morning but at younger age and prior to slaughter, more birds approach an observer in the evening. Both, approach and avoidance peaked at three weeks and decreased prior to slaughter. Further, the effect of differing observer locations in the chicken house on the behavioural response of broiler chicken was studied. A higher proportion of birds voluntarily approached an unknown human in the area close to the main entrance door, but the avoidance behaviour was not affected.From the results of this study I conclude, that the time of assessment has no effect on avoidance or approach behaviour of commercial slow-growing broiler chicken. However, fear related behaviour changed depending on age. This makes the applied tests potentially applicable independent of daytime restrictions when performed with birds of the same age.