A Protocol to Assess the Welfare of Patagonian Huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) in Conservation Centers
Animal-welfare-assessment protocols are important for identifying welfare problems in conservation programs. This study aimed to develop a baseline welfare protocol for the assessment of the welfare of Patagonian huemuls (Hippocamelus bisulcus) in conservation centers. This protocol is based on the Welfare Quality® (WQ) framework for cattle and was developed with the consideration of the available […]
Do farmers and scientists differ in their understanding and assessment of farm animal welfare?
In response to an increased public awareness regarding how livestock are reared, animal welfare scientists have attempted to develop new methods of welfare assessment at the farm level. Furthermore, in recent years they have increasingly moved away from the conventional approach of evaluating the provision of resources necessary to ensure good welfare, and have instead […]
The performance of farm animal assessment
This paper argues that the current drive towards greater use of animal-based measures for welfare assessment raises important issues for how farm visits by welfare assessors are performed. As social scientists, we employ a number of contemporary social science ideas to offer a new approach to examining the practice and performance of farm animal assessment. […]
Assessment of sheep welfare using on-farm registrations and performance data
Farm animal welfare is a societal concern, and the need exists for scientific protocols to assess welfare. This paper describes the development of a protocol to assess the welfare of sheep (Ovis aries) and its application in 36 farms in Norway. There were two parts to the protocol; the animal- and resource-based measurements obtained during […]
Designing animal welfare policies and monitoring progress
A single solution to promote higher animal welfare across the whole EU is unlikely due to significant regional differences and because what is most appropriate for each region depends on many factors. Based on analyses of eight member and candidate EU countries, this paper provides a conceptual framework, an ‘animal welfare roadmap’, which can be […]
Statement on the use of animal-based measures to assess the welfare of animals
The overall aim of the work outlined in this statement is to help establish a common framework for future scientific opinions dealing with the use of animal-based measures to assess the welfare of animals. The statement is mainly intended to support the work of EFSA, and a list of considerations for experts working on these […]
Application of the Welfare Quality® protocol to assess growing pigs kept under intensive conditions in Spain
This study is a first step toward the validation of the Welfare Quality® protocol for assessing welfare of growing pigs kept on farms. The feasibility and sensitivity of the entire protocol was evaluated on 30 conventional farms in Spain, and a methodology to identify farms with particular welfare problems was proposed. A total of 64,496 […]
Can animal-based welfare assessment be simplified? A comparison of the Welfare Quality® protocol for dairy cattle and the simpler and less timeconsuming protocol developed by the Danish Cattle Federation
Welfare assessment protocols using primarily animal-based measures are believed to give valid information about the welfare of animals. However, they tend to be time consuming and therefore costly, thus in practice there is often considerable reluctance to use them. In the present study, the relatively quick to use, simple but non-validated welfare assessment protocol for […]
C-Well: The development of a welfare assessment index for captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)
The field of welfare science and public concern for animal welfare is growing, with the focus broadening from animals on farms to those in zoos and aquaria. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are the most common captive cetaceans, and relevant regulatory standards are principally resource-based and regarded as minimum requirements. In this study, the farm animal […]
Comparison of animal welfare indices in dairy herds based on different sources of data
The present study seeks to evaluate the potential of a more cost-efficient animal welfare assessment by investigating the association between animal welfare indices (AWI) based on different data sources, namely register data (AWI 1, ie routine registrations, such as treatment, reproduction and abattoir data) and resource data (AWI 2, ie barn design and equipment) validated […]