13. Animal Welfare

Question 1

How do we know an animal is coping with the conditions it lives in? (6)

Answer 1

Consider if the animal is:
1. Healthy?
2. Comfortable?
3. Well-nourished?
4. Safe?
5. Able to express innate behavior?
6. In a good emotional state (free from fear or distress)?

Question 2

Good animal welfare and wellbeing requires: (4)

Answer 2

1. Understanding of animal requirements
2. Preventative and veterinary treatment
3. Appropriate shelter, management, and nutrition
4. Humane handling and humane slaughter

Question 3

What are the Five Freedoms of animal welfare? (5)

Answer 3

1. Freedom from hunger and thirst
2. Freedom from discomfort
3. Freedom from pain, injury, and disease
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour
5. Freedom from fear and distress

Question 4

What are some examples of prohibited practices in livestock production according to the of Animal Care Act? (3)

Answer 4

1. Loading or transporting sick, injured, or fatigued animals unable to stand or that would suffer unduly during transport
   2 Empowers veterinarians to report suspected animal abuse.
2. Empowers operator of the commercial animal markets to report unfit animals.

Question 5

What is the National Farm Animal Care Council?

Answer 5

NFACC brings together animal welfare groups, enforcement, government and farmers under a collective decision-making model for advancing farm animal welfare.

Question 6

What does the NFACC work towards? (5)

Answer 6

1. Uphold a credible, science-informed approach for the development of Codes of Practice for the care and handling of farm animals.
2. Promote a standard approach for the development of animal care assessment programs.
3. Facilitate information sharing and communication on farm animal care and welfare issues.
4. Promote Canada’s approach internationally.
5. Provide a link between government and other partners regarding farm animal care and welfare developments domestically and internationally.

Question 7

What are the Codes of Practice? (2)

Answer 7

1. Nationally developed guidelines for the care and handling of farm animals.
2. Serve as our national understanding of animal care requirements and recommended practices.

Question 8

Give 5 examples of on-farm programs

Answer 8

1. Verified Beef Production Plus
2. Canadian Pork Excellence (PigTRACE, PigSAFE, PigCARE)
3. ProAction
4. Egg Quality Assurance
5. Canadian Verified Sheep

Question 9

Give 10 examples of prohibited practices in transport/handling

Answer 9

1. Beating, throwing, or kicking animals.
2. Poking out eyes or cutting tendons to restrain an animal.
3. Dragging and dropping animals.
4. Overloading trucks (trampling of downed animals).
5. Deliberately driving animals over the top of other animals.
6. Putting injured/sick animals on trucks.
7. Poking animals in sensitive areas (eyes, anus, mouth).
8. Breaking tails or legs.
9. Overloading and working to exhaustion (draft animal).
10. Poking with pointed sticks or objects.
11. Conditions that cause injuries (frequent falling and bruising).

Question 10

Give 5 examples of prohibited practices in housing and environment

Answer 10

1. High ammonia levels causing eye and lung damage.
2. Extreme heat or cold that causes severe stress or death.
3. Swelling/ injuries due to lack of bedding or poor design.
4. Dirty animals or birds covered with manure – no dry place to lie down.
5. Lameness – walking surfaces, floors that causes animals to slip.

Question 11

Give 10 examples of prohibited practices in nutrition and health

Answer 11

1. Starvation (severe dehydration, in poor body condition).
2. Failure to treat obvious health problems.
3. Nutritional problems that compromises the animal’s health.
4. Dirty animals or birds covered with manure on a working animal.
5. Failure to euthanize severely injured or sick animals that would not recover.
6. Neglect health problems such as necrotic prolapse or advanced cancer eye.

Question 12

What slaughter practices are prohibited? (4)

Answer 12

1. Scalding, skinning, leg removal, or other carcass dressing procedures performed on sensible conscious animals
2. Immobilizing animals with an electric current (not electric stunning)
3. Immobilizing animals by severing the spinal cord (does not cause instant insensibility)
4. Highly stressful methods of restraining conscious animals, e.g., hoisting animals by one leg

Question 13

Answer 13

Question 14

Explain micro and macro environment in confinement production

Answer 14

Microenvironment: Immediate area around the animal
Macroenvironment: The building/ shelter that protects the animals

Question 15

An environment that achieves the best output (4)

Answer 15

1. Improve productivity: Higher ADG, Higher milk production
2. Less disease,
3. Conducive to successful breeding,
4. Low levels of animal stress.

Question 16

What are different elements of environment (5)

Answer 16

1. Thermal environment: Air temperature, wind speed and moisture,
2. Physical environment: Pens, walls and floors,
3. Social environment: Pen mates etc.,
4. Disease and microbial environment,
5. Diet

Question 17

Explain the importance of controlling thermal environment (3) and 3 strategies to provide heat

Answer 17

1. Young animals require higher temperatures.
2. Comfortable for human workers.
3. Maintain high animal productivity..

Strategies to provide supplemental heat
a. shelter
b. heating the entire building
c. heating zones within the building.

Question 18

What are the objectives of ventilation (cold) and how do they change with the seasons?

Answer 18

1. Cold weather: conserve energy
2. Balance between moisture produced and removed
   - Excess moisture – vehicle for microorganisms, damages insulation and wet animals
3. Air movement from inlet to fan at sufficient speed to prevent cold draft drop onto the animals.

Question 19

A properly ventilated building…. (2)

Answer 19

1. Draft free
2. Provides clean fresh air without chilling the animals

Question 20

Primary air current vs secondary air currents

Answer 20

1. As the primary air current moves through the building, it warms and generates secondary air currents.
2. Secondary air currents are warm and they move around the animals are warm because they have had time to equilibrate with the inside air temperature

Question 21

What are the objectives of ventilation (warm) and how do they change with the seasons?

Answer 21

1. Warm weather: removal of heat
2. Moisture is removed at high
   ventilation rate.
   - A mechanical ventilation system will not provide an inside temperature lower than the outside temperature