Assessing the Welfare of the Individual Animal or the Herd

Health includes the mental and physical aspects of animals. The World Health Organization defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not just the absence of disease or infirmity.”⁶ Animal welfare is characterized by lives that are worth living.⁷ This begins with providing for the physi­ologic needs of animals (housing, nutrition, disease, and injury prevention) and includes their mental/emotional well-being.

Welfare, including both physical and mental (emotional) components, is usually assessed using a combination of physical signs, behavioral observations, and sometimes references to the natural state of an animal. A physical examination for the health of an animal assesses each organ system to determine if the organ system is within normal limits or if abnormalities are found. An animal, or group of animals, is considered to be in ill health or to have disease when an observation or sign is outside the normal function or physiologic norm for that organ system. The same approach is applied to examining the welfare of animals: Understand what normal welfare is and assess the animals systematically to determine if welfare is compromised.

In some situations both welfare and health are compromised. Heat stress seriously affects physiology and thus both welfare and health. Animals are lame, an obvious health problem, because they have pain, a welfare problem.

Mastitis is a clinical health disease and can, in many cases, be painful. Poor nutrition not only makes an animal hungry but can result in compromised immune functions and increased risk of infection.

Welfare assessments often determine whether the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare (Box 1.1) are being met. The

■ BOX 1.1

Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare Five Freedoms^9,10 categorize the basic elements of animal welfare and therefore allow determination of the state of an animal in each area. An animal has poor or compromised welfare if any of the Five Freedoms is not being met.

As a general example, nutrition is a basic need (food and water). Hunger or thirst for extended periods would be a compromise in this area. Overcrowding a pen could result in animals being unable to eat when they are hungry or drink when they are thirsty. Animals can experience distress with overcrowding from hindered access to feed and water, lack of ability to lie down when tired, or inability to avoid dominant or aggressive pen mates.

Assessing Welfare

The tools used to assess welfare in the field are mainly observa­tion of animals for physical outcomes and behaviors that indicate affective states. A basic tenet of welfare is that housing should be clean, dry, and comfortable. The animals will show if that is the case: if the housing and lying areas are clean, then the areas they lie in are clean. If the housing and resting areas are comfortable, the animals will not have skin or leg lesions or abrasions from hard surfaces. Behaviors associated with compromised welfare include aggression, cannibalism, depres­sion, and stereotypies. Stereotypies are what animals display to compensate for inabilities to express innate behaviors or for boredom. They include biting other animals, excessive licking or chewing, tongue rolling, and banging on enclosures. Scoring systems^11,12 have been developed or adapted to quan­titatively assess four aspects of welfare (Table 1.6): body condi­tion score, hygiene score, leg lesion score, and locomotion score.

These scoring systems are used in formal welfare audits and evaluations of dairy cattle, and species-specific systems can be used for other animals.

Some aspects of welfare are not readily assessed by observing animals. These encompass painful or distressing procedures such as dehorning, castration surgery, parturition, and treat­ments, including treatments for lameness. These procedures can affect welfare if not done humanely. Also included in this area are situations that are infrequent, such as handling disabled or nonambulatory animals and animals that require euthanasia. These areas are not often observed during a welfare assessment and are therefore evaluated by reviewing protocols and training for these tasks. Reviews of procedures that will cause pain must include assessment of pain management including postprocedure analgesia.

The behavioral aspects of welfare are assessed by understand­ing the species-specific behaviors of animals and determining if the animals observed have the ability to express the funda­mental behaviors considered important. The abilities to move, associate with other animals when desired, and lie in comfortable positions are considered basic behaviors of livestock. Species have specific behavioral needs, such as cud-chewing in ruminants and rooting in pigs. Welfare evaluation of the housing and management of animals must consider the animals' ability to express normal behaviors.

■ TABLE 1.6

Animal Scoring Systems Used to Evaluate the Welfare of Dairy Cattle

Pain, anxiety, and distress are affective states that need to be minimized for animals to have good welfare.

In conclusion, evaluation or assessment of the welfare of an animal or a group of animals is similar. The most generic version of a welfare assessment is the FARM program (http://www.nationaldairyfarm.com/animal-care#standardsapp). It includes the FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) manual that details most of the points discussed. The practitioner must understand what normal, or good, welfare is, and then through systematic evaluation of each of the Five Freedoms determine if an animal's welfare is normal/acceptable for that species or is compromised.