Livestock Animal Welfare Research Articles

Values of Australian Meat Consumers Related to Sheep and Beef Cattle Welfare: What Makes a Good Life and a Good Death?

There has been growing global interest in livestock animal welfare. Previous research into attitudes towards animal welfare has focused on Europe and the United States, with comparatively little focus on Australia, which is an important location due to the prominent position of agriculture economically and culturally. In this article, we present results from qualitative research on how Australian meat consumers conceptualise sheep and beef cattle welfare. The study was conducted in two capital cities (Melbourne, Victoria and Adelaide, South Australia) and a much smaller rural centre (Toowoomba, Queensland) using focus groups (involving 40.9% of participants) and mall-intercept interviews (59.1% of participants), totalling 66 participants. Qualitative analysis highlights that participants had clear ideas of what it means for an animal to live a 'good life' and experience a 'good death,' with their beliefs strongly tied to their expectations and cultural understandings of what Australian agriculture 'should be.' In response to open-ended questions, participants expressed attitudes that relied on romanticised visions of the 'rural idyll' as seen in frequent discussions about what is 'normal' for sheep meat and beef production, and relatedly, what count as 'natural behaviours.' Many participants rejected anything associated with the 'other,' classifying it as not 'normal': we argue that which is not considered normal, including intensive production, foreign ownership, and halal slaughter practices, appear to place participants' conceptualizations of an animal's 'good death,' and in turn the potential for a 'good life,' at risk.

Nutrigenomic Interventions to Address Metabolic Stress and Related Disorders in Transition Cows.

For dairy cattle, the period involving a shift from late pregnancy to early lactation termed transition or periparturient is an excruciating phase. Health-related disorders are likely to happen in this time frame. Timely postpartum and metabolic adjustments to this new physical state demands correct management strategies to fulfill the cow's needs for a successful transition to this phase. Among the management strategies, one of the most researched methods for managing transition-related stress is nutritional supplementation. Dietary components directly or indirectly affect the expression of various genes that are believed to be involved in various stress-related responses during this phase. Nutrigenomics, an interdisciplinary approach that combines nutritional science with omics technologies, opens new avenues for studying the genome's complicated interactions with food. This revolutionary technique emphasizes the importance of food-gene interactions on various physiological and metabolic mechanisms. In animal sciences, nutrigenomics aims to promote the welfare of livestock animals and enhance their commercially important qualities through nutritional interventions. To this end, an increasing volume of research shows that nutritional supplementation can be effectively used to manage the metabolic stress dairy cows undergo during the transition period. These nutritional supplements, including polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, dietary amino acids, and phytochemicals, have been shown to modulate energy homeostasis through different pathways, leading to addressing metabolic issues in transition cows.

Pluripotent Stem Cells for Livestock Health and Production.

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) have unlimited capacity for self-renewal and differentiation so that they can potentially produce any cell or tissue of animal's body. The PSCs derived from livestock represents a more appropriate model than a rodent for investigating human diseases due to their higher anatomical and physiological resemblance with human. Apart from that, livestock PSCs hold immense promises for innovative therapies, transgenic animal production and their biomedical interest. The realization of the full potential of PSCs, however, depends on the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms which play a critical role in the maintenance of pluripotency and reprogramming procedure remains poorly understood in livestock which in turn impedes the generation of true PSCs and their usage for clinical research. An in-depth understanding of pluripotency is extremely essential for improving health and welfare of livestock animals. Therefore, the present review focuses on the milestone achievements of PSCs in livestock animals and their potential application in health and production of livestock.

The specific enthalpy of air as an indicator of heat stress in livestock animals.

Along with recognition of environmental effects on the performance and welfare of livestock animals, studies have been proposing new methodologies and parameters to diagnose the heat stress of animals through the physical properties of air. This article aims to present the state-of-the-art on the use of the specific enthalpy of air as an indicator of heat stress in livestock animals. As a starting point, conceptual considerations were made about the connection between homoeothermic animals and the environment. Variables for heat stress evaluation based on psychrometric air properties are then described, including dry bulb temperature and relative humidity, which are often used microclimate variables, and the specific enthalpy of dry air, which acts as a thermal comfort index. Final considerations highlight the recent history of the use of specific enthalpy of air equations as indicators of heat stress in livestock animals, with the intention of better understanding the relationship between animals and the environment. As a conclusion, the specific enthalpy of air is recommended as an indicator in the assessment of livestock housing conditions as, unlike other indices, it is based on thermodynamic air properties and not on linear regressions.

Dietary effect of lemon verbena extract on selected blood parameters and on plasma oxidative profile in Avelignese horses.

The effect of Lippia citriodora extract on selected blood parameters and on plasma oxidative markers in Avelignese horses was evaluated. Twenty-four horses were divided into three groups, consisting of eight animals each. Results of two experimental groups, 0.5mg of verbascoside per kg of metabolic body weight (bw0.75 ) in the low-dose group (LVB) and 1.0mg of verbascoside per kg of metabolic body weight (bw0.75 ) in the high-dose group (HVB), were compared to the control group (CON). Groups fed L.citriodora extract (HVB and LVB) showed a significant decrease in triglycerides, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (p<.01), bilirubin, and transaminases (p<.05), and an increase in HDL cholesterol (p<.01) compared to the CON group. Oxidative status was improved due to significant decrease in plasma concentration of ROMs and TBARS (p<.01) and increase in levels of vitamin A and vitamin E (p<.01). Based on obtained results, it is assumed that dietary supplementation with L.citriodora extract might find a useful application in horse feeding, with positive impact observed in blood parameters and plasma oxidative markers, with beneficial effects on the physiological welfare of livestock animals.

Source of Water and Potential Sanitizers and Biological Antimicrobials for Alternative Poultry Processing Food Safety Applications

The landscape of commercial poultry production is changing due to increasing trends in consumer preference for organic sources of poultry products. This is in part due to perceptions regarding food safety and environmental issues, along with concerns for livestock animal welfare. Consequently, alternative poultry production systems such as small-scale farming and mobile poultry processing units (MPPUs) have achieved a certain level of popularity. However, these alternative production systems, like conventional poultry processing systems, face food safety concerns, due to potential of Campylobacter and Salmonella prevalence. Unlike stationary processing systems, MPPUs may have limited access to sanitation products as they often attempt to comply with organic processing regulations. They may also have limited access to a consistent, high quality water supply which may pose additional food safety and microbial contamination concerns. Due to these food safety concerns and potential limitations on traditional sanitizers, botanicals, organic acids, dry acids, bacteriocins, and phages may offer alternative potential solutions to ensure poultry product safety. The objective of this review is to discuss food safety concerns within alternative poultry processing systems, particularly MPPUs, and describe potential sanitizer strategies.

Dietary effects of plant extracts, based on verbascoside, lycopene and horseradish on several blood variables and plasma oxidative status in growing rabbits

Abstract Oxidative stress can cause damage to lipids, proteins and nucleic acids in several biological systems, leading to the functional and structural impairment of individual molecules that may be involved in various diseases. The aim of study was to evaluate the effect of dietary plant extract supplementation, based on Lippia citriodora , horseradish ( Raphanus sativus L.) and lycopene ( Solanum lycopersicum L.), on several blood parameters and plasma oxidative status in growing rabbits. The experiment lasted 80 days and was conducted on 160 weaned-rabbits, divided into four groups of 40 animals each, matched by age (38 ± 2 days) and body weight (1.49 ± 0.07 kg). The control group (CON) received a weaning-fattening feed without any feed additives, while of the other three experimental groups, the first group received a supplement of plant extract based on Lippia citriodora , containing 5 mg of verbascoside/kg feed (VB group), the second group received 5 mg of lycopene/kg feed, tomato fruit extract (LIC group), and the third received 350 mg of Raphanus sativus root extract/kg feed (RAF group). The feed additives, based on verbascoside ( Lippia citriodora ), horseradish ( Raphanus sativus L.) and lycopene ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) resulted in a marked decrease in blood content of low density lipoprotein cholesterol and bilirubin. In addition, only when verbascoside was supplemented, were improvements in high density lipoprotein cholesterol and AST enzyme levels observed. Plasma oxidative markers significantly improved for all three extract groups. There was a significant reduction in ROMs and TBARS values, as well as an increase in the content of retinol and alfa-tocopherol, confirming the strong antioxidant ability of the plant extracts used. A dietary supplementation with phyto-extracts, based on Lippia citriodora , horseradish and lycopene can thus be effectively used in rabbit feeding due to the positive effects observed on the blood parameters and plasma oxidative status, with possible beneficial effects on the welfare of livestock animals.

Legal Issues on Livestock Animal Welfare in Korea

Legal Issues on Livestock Animal Welfare in Korea

Public attitudes predict community behaviours relevant to the pork industry

Concerns about livestock animal welfare are well documented worldwide. Public attitudes are often studied as indicators of risk for the livestock industries, but are less often studied in relation to behaviours that may affect the livestock industries. The present paper examines the relationships between public attitudes, opinion leadership and self-reported pork consumption and community behaviours that may have a negative impact on livestock industries by promulgating views that farming engages in unacceptable practices. To the extent that these attitudes and behaviours are based on a lack of knowledge or a lack of understanding about the actual relationship between current practices and animal welfare and farm productivity, care needs to be exercised to determine what industry practice change should occur or what should be done to inform the public. The results showed that in regard to consumption, being male and holding positive attitudes towards eating meat and livestock welfare explained 11% of the variance in pork consumption. Notably, however, information seeking and trust in information, attitudes related to animal welfare and the livestock industries, and membership to an animal-welfare group, accounted for 44% of the variance in community behaviours that express dissatisfaction with the livestock industries. Opinion leaders, that is, people in the community who indicate that they are used by others as a source of information about livestock animal welfare, tended to eat less pork and engaged in many more community behaviours, such as calling talkback radio or writing to politicians. Together, these results suggest that more needs to be done to identify the population segment of opinion leaders and to engage them in dialogue about pork production.

Effects of demographic factors and information sources on United States consumer perceptions of animal welfare.

As consumers have become more interested in understanding how their food is produced, scrutiny and criticism have increased regarding intensified food animal production methods. Resolution of public concerns about animal agricultural practices depends on understanding the myriad factors that provide the basis for concerns. An online survey of 798 U.S. households was conducted to investigate relationships between household characteristics (demographics, geographic location, and experiences) and level of concern for animal welfare as well as sources used to obtain information on the subject. Because recent media attention has focused on animal care practices used in the U.S. swine industry, respondents were also asked specific questions pertaining to their perceptions of pig management practices and welfare issues and their corresponding pork purchasing behavior. Respondents reporting higher levels of concern about animal welfare were more frequently female, younger, and self-reported members of the Democratic Party. Fourteen percent of respondents reported reduction in pork consumption because of animal welfare concerns with an average reduction of 56%. Over half of the respondents (56%) did not have a primary source for animal welfare information; those who identified a primary information source most commonly used information provided by animal protection organizations, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Midwest participants were significantly, at the 5% significance level, less concerned about domestic livestock animal welfare and more frequently reported not having a source for animal welfare information than those from other regions of the United States. Overall, the U.S. livestock and poultry industries and other organizations affiliated with animal agriculture appear to be less used public sources of information on animal welfare than popular animal protection organizations. Improved understanding of the factors that contribute to consumers' evolving perceptions of the care and welfare of farm animals is an essential step toward enhanced sustainability and social responsibility in contemporary food production systems.

Preparatory work for the future development of animal based measures for assessing the welfare of pig ‐ Report 2: Preparatory work for the future development of animal based measures for assessing the welfare of weaned, growing and fattening pigs including aspects related to space allowance, floor types, tail biting and need for tail docking

The EFSA Animal Health and Welfare panel is requested to develop several scientific opinions concerning animal based measures to assess the welfare of livestock animals. Before this work can start, it is important that conclusions and recommendations of the EFSA scientific opinions are up

Cotton manufacture and the ring frame

In this chapter the aim is to discuss the relevance of public perceptions of animal welfare in the sheep industry for the sustainability of the industry in terms of licence to farm, best management practices on-farm and the public consumption of produce obtained from sheep. With the given threats to the social licence, there is a need to understand the community expectations, if sheep industries are to be sustained both with regard to farming practices and access to markets. Public opinions change over time. Livestock animal welfare issues, thought to be particularly salient at one point in time can be superseded by another animal welfare issue at another point in time. Following the review of public attitudes to consumption of sheep products including meat and fibre, the relationships between these attitudes and public expressions of opposition of the sheep industry and industry responses, it is concluded that knowledge of public perceptions towards the sheep industry and livestock animal welfare in general can be used to inform the industry of the possible changes in practice throughout the supply chain and provide a basis for educating the public where this is desirable.