Devising & Applying A Welfare Protocol

Question 1

Define welfare assessments

Answer 1

A standardised protocol for describing the welfare of an animal or population of animals

Question 2

What types of measures do welfare assessments use?

Answer 2

Resource based
Animal based
Quantitative
Qualitative
Objective
Subjective

Question 3

What are the 6 purposes of welfare assessments?

Answer 3

1) To be able to assess and monitor welfare in a standardised and appropriate way
2) Regular checks to determine any changes the welfare indicators of the individual or the population show
3) Veterinary examination
4) Assurance schemes
5) Scientific investigation
6) Legal requirements

Question 4

What are the 3 main components of a welfare assessment?

Answer 4

1) Relevant set of welfare indicators
2) A procedure for measuring the indicators
3) They need a procedure for using the welfare assessments findings to make decisions about the welfare state of the animal

Question 5

True or false

Some assessments will be tailored to individual animals, while other assessments will be tailored to animal populations

Answer 5

True

Question 6

What 6 characteristics does a welfare assessment have?

Answer 6

1) They were all made by an author and/or an organisation
2) They should have an aim and/or purpose
3) They should also have aspects of welfare to capture
4) Welfare assessments also need practical considerations
5) Each welfare assessment needs a specific data collection procedure
6) Each welfare assessment needs a way to develop a final outcome

Question 7

How do you apply a welfare assessment to a population of animals?

Answer 7

You look at a proportion of the population
That proportion of the population will then be used as a representative sample of the entire population to make a generalised assessment of the entire populations welfare state

Question 8

What 3 things does welfare selection depend on?

Answer 8

1) Species
2) Context of the assessment
3) Time-frame

Question 9

What’s the first thing you should do when selecting a welfare assessment?

Answer 9

First you need to determine what the welfare assessments aim is
This determines which aspects of welfare you’ll want to look at

Question 10

True or false

You can do a broad brush overview of all the welfare states of the animal population

Answer 10

True

Question 11

True or false

You can also look at welfare in a specific way to address a particular issue

Answer 11

True

Question 12

True or false

No single indicator is perfect

Answer 12

True

Question 13

True or false
Together the welfare indicators should create an overall profile of an animals (or group of animals) welfare based on the assessments aim

Answer 13

True

Question 14

What kind of welfare indicators are needed for acute welfare states?

Answer 14

For acute welfare states you need a welfare indicator that is:
Highly responsive
Short-lived

Question 15

What kind of welfare indicators are needed for chronic welfare states?

Answer 15

For chronic welfare states you need a welfare indicator that is:
Robust
Long-lasting

Question 16

If you want to use a cross-sectional study for a snapshot of welfare you’ll need to compare your results with what?

Answer 16

A reference

If you want to use a cross-sectional study for a snapshot of welfare you’ll need to compare your results with a reference

Question 17

If you want to use a longitudinal study to assess changes over time you may compare the data to what?

Answer 17

A reference
The changes over time between each welfare assessment

If you want to use a longitudinal study to assess changes over time you may compare the data with a reference and the changes over time between each welfare assessment

Question 18

Depending on the aim of the assessment you’ll have what 3 things?

Answer 18

1) Differing indicators to meet the aim
2) Differing labour demands based on the indicator and what needs to happen to ensure they work
3) Differing reliability of the measures in relation to timeframes

Question 19

It is always important to remember the underlying biology of the indicators in terms of what 3 things?

Answer 19

Predictions of changes you anticipate
Timeframe
The function of what you’re measuring

Question 20

What 3 things do you need to be aware of in terms of logistics when selecting a welfare indicator?

Answer 20

You need to be aware of how much time you have

You need to be aware of how much money it will cost

You need to be aware of how much technical expertise is needed to do the assessment

Question 21

What 2 things are important when looking at the ethical considerations and relevance when selecting a welfare indicator?

Answer 21

Invasiveness

Intrusiveness
Causing disruption or annoyance through being unwelcome or uninvited

Question 22

If the indicator is a surgical implantation for scientific research with no other alternatives the indicator would also need to be assessed under what law?

Answer 22

The Animal Scientific Procedures Act

Question 23

What can intrusive assessments do?

Answer 23

Change behaviour
Disrupt behaviour and emotional states
Cause fear

Question 24

If the welfare assessment is intrusive then what needs to be done?

Answer 24

If the assessment is intrusive then the animal needs to be habituated to it
This is done to ensure that the data collected is representative of the welfare in the desired context and not representative of how animals welfare is affected by the assessment itself

Question 25

What type of welfare indicators can anyone use?

Answer 25

Subjective and low tech indicators

Question 26

Due to subjective low tech indicators being able to be used by anyone they are what?

Answer 26

Cheaper | Able to capture subtleties that objective measures can't

Question 27

Give examples of subjective low tech measures

Answer 27

Scoring scale Qualitative Behavioural Assessments Body condition scores

Question 28

Most objective low tech indicators are what type of indicator?

Answer 28

Resource based indicators

Question 29

What is a disadvantage of objective low tech behaviour indicators?

Answer 29

They can be time consuming

Question 30

Give examples of objective low tech indicators?

Answer 30

Resource based indicators Behavioural indicators Physical indicators Visible bodily secretions

Question 31

For an objective low tech indicator to be objective what must you do?

Answer 31

For these types of indicators to be objective you just measure, or score their presence or absence

Question 32

Name some objective high tech indicators?

Answer 32

``` Resource based indicators Behavioural indicators Hormones Biochemistry Neurotransmitters Pathologies ```

Question 33

What is the disadvantage of using objective high tech indicators?

Answer 33

They require: - Expensive equipment - Delicate equipment - training to use the equipment

Question 34

True or false | We can use a combination of subjective and objective methods to measure many indicators

Answer 34

True

Question 35

What do welfare measurements need?

Answer 35

Welfare indicators should be valid Welfare indicators need to be reliable Welfare indicators also need to be sufficiently sensitive to capture changes, or differences, between populations

Question 36

Who created the Welfare Quality assessment?

Answer 36

The Welfare Quality assessment was created by a European research project focussing on harmonising the animal welfare standards across the human food chain

Question 37

What were the aims of the Welfare Quality assessment?

Answer 37

The research group looked at the welfare of farm animals during their rearing, transport and slaughter The research group wanted to be able to give feedback and advice to producers so changes can be made The researchers wanted to also provide a quality monitoring aspect to the human food chain to provide welfare information for retailers and consumers

Question 38

What are the 4 domains of the Welfare Principals?

Answer 38

Good feeding Good housing Good health Appropriate behaviour

Question 39

What are the Welfare Principals good feeding principles 2 sub-principles?

Answer 39

Absence of prolonged hunger | Absence of prolonged thirst

Question 40

What are the Welfare Principals good housing principla's 3 sub-principles?

Answer 40

Comfort around resting Thermal comfort Ease of movement

Question 41

What are the Welfare Principals good health principla's 3 sub-principles?

Answer 41

Absence of injuries Absence of disease Absence of pain induced by management procedures

Question 42

What are the Welfare Principals appropriate behaviour principla's 4 sub-principles?

Answer 42

Expression of social behaviours Expression of other behaviours Good human-animal relationships Positive emotional state

Question 43

How do you process data from the Welfare Principals?

Answer 43

First you'd gather data from 30-50 measures You'll then convert all the data into sub-principle scores The different sub-principle scores are then combined to form principal scores After that an overall assess of welfare is done How good the welfare standards present are then displayed on a scale of 0-100 0 = worst situation you can find on a unit 50 = neutral 100 = best situation possible

Question 44

True or false | Decision trees are generally used for data taken on a farm

Answer 44

True

Question 45

Getting principal scores from sub-principle scores involves the calculation of a type of weighted mean known as a choquet integral Why do you need choquet integrals?

Answer 45

By converting the data into choquet integrals it makes all the scores equal to each other, so that they won't affect each other when turned into principle scores

Question 46

What are the 7 criticisms of Welfare Quality assessment?

Answer 46

It's time consuming The larger the herd the longer it takes Even though the data has been weighted a few severely affected animals can go unnoticed Some of the data weightings are based on assumptions Inter-observer reliability can be hard to achieve on farms Can 1 aspect of welfare truly compensate for poor welfare in another? How are problems communicated to ensure practical solutions are done to improve welfare standards With the Welfare Quality assessment what can be classed as a good welfare assessment has a very low baseline

Question 47

What makes up the Welfare Quality assessment?

Answer 47

Welfare Principals | Qualitative Behavioural Assessments