Animal Welfare With Special Reference To Cattle and Education

Animal welfare has a special significance for the veterinary profession. allveterinarians in the uk and many other countries make an oath to advance the care ofanimals. animal welfare has both legal and ethical connotations, the former promotedthrough national laws and regulations or in eu, increasingly through brusselsdirectives.the phrase from farm to fork graphically illustrates the range of those directlyinterested in farm animal welfare, from the farmer producer through to the consumerin the supermarket. numerous national and international bodies act as pressure groupsin promoting their own views on the best practice of animal welfare or wellbeing.controversial areas include objective versus subjective assessment or valuejudgements , species variation (e.g. horse versus mouse), national and cultural customs(bullfighting in spain, dog-fighting in kandahar, afghanistan) economicconsiderations and mandatory versus voluntary regulation.the five freedoms (5fs) are rules covering the basic needs of farm animals, be theydairy cows or broiler chickens. to meet the welfare needs an assessment of animalfeelings (sentience) is required to judge their quality of life, and little research hasbeen done in this area.experimental animal procedures are usually strictly controlled by law, withrestrictions in the experimental licenced facility (often an institute or university) andcentrally, in the uk by home office inspectors. the principle of the three rs (3rs),replacement, refinement, and reduction, introduced by russell and burch about 50years ago, has led, following worldwide adoption, to continuing critical assessment ofthe needs and methodology of experimental procedures.in cattle, the advent of farm assurance schemes, whereby the supermarket controls thestandards of animal husbandry on its supplier farms through regular visits byinspectors to the dairy farm (milk, butter, cheese, possibly beef) has also led toimproved and enforceable standards.lameness in dairy cows persists nevertheless as a major welfare problem in manyunits. improved flooring, good bedding in enlarged cubicles, regular use of footbaths, and better tracks have improved the welfare standards. the recent interest incompetent foot-trimming has stimulated the introduction of a certificate ofcompetence for trimmers, which could eventually reduce the lameness problem.stockmanship is believed to be a weak link in the cattle welfare chain. rejecting amandatory scheme for the examination of stockmen, the fawc is encouragingvoluntary learning programs which include on-farm instruction from veterinariansand others, along with computer programs. the funding of such stockmanshipventures is likely to be problematical.