intro to animal welfare Flashcards
welfare refers to
the state of an individual as it attempts to cope with its environment
thermoneutral zone (TNZ)
where adaptive responses can maintain homeostasis
two ends are LCT (temperature where metabolic rates rises above basal levels to generate heat ie shivering) and UCT (temp where evaporative cooling is triggered ie sweating)
prescriptive zone
body temp changes due to exercise and metabolic rate, a little uncomfortable but adaptation mechanisms allow body to be fine
tolerance zone
outside of prescriptive zone, stress, adaptation alone is not enough to maintain body temp, may compromise physiologic functions but will survive
survival zone
outside of tolerance zone, risk of death, severe stress
biological function
behaviour, physiology, health and productivity
-welfare is good when animals coping well
-welfare poor when these bodily functions not within normal limits
affective state
ability to experience positive and negative feelings or emotions
-good AW when animal adapts without suffering in interactions w other animals, environments and people
natural state view
-ideal environment for a particular species
-AW may be compromised depending on how far its immediate conditions differ form original wild state
concept of AW is a framework of what three concepts to explain AW
biological function, affective state and natural state view
sentience
animals are recognized as sentient; awareness, sensation, consciousness, sense, perception, alertness
five freedoms vs 5 domains
freedom from hunger and thirst: nutrition
freedom from discomfort: environment
freedom from pain, injury and disease: health
freedom to express normal behaviour: behaviour
freedom from fear and distress: mental state
early AW focus was on ensuring absence of negative experience, now shifting to:
importance of positive experiences
AW is a spectrum
positive and negative, not all suffering is bad, AW changes throughout the day
values
deeply held personal principles that reflect what you believe to be correct, important, desirable
morals
value judgements or beliefs about right or wrong, good or bad
ethics
study of concepts of right and wrong when applied to conduct or behavior
how you use morals to change your behavior
institutional ethics
often based of a code of conduct at a workplace
professional ethics
code of conduct describing behavioural expectations for specific professions
social license
regulatory permission alone is not sufficient, must also maintain social permission
AW vs animal rights
rights: based on philosophical views
AW : can be used but should be managed to ensure good welfare
stereotypies
repetitive behaviour w no obvious purpose , may be an indication of poor welfare if seen frequently
qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA)
emerging method in measuring AW, human observers collect and interpret animal behaviour data
production measures
many farms collect production data: animal counts, fertility, growth, BCS, production, culling rates
health data on farms
- disease. occurrence, infectious vs non infectious, physical state, physical injury, mortality
physiologic measures as indirect measures of welfare
temp, heart rate, resp rate, BCS, hydration status, hematology, etc
abattoir inspection
look for skin lesions and injuries ante-mortem and then post mortem exams too
ways to assess AW:
behavior, physiologic measures, environmental assessment
farm based assessments usually based on
5 freedoms/ domains
name an example of what would be assessed for each
quality assurance schemes (QA)
for farming systems, voluntary, documented performance, leads to certification, audit the farm
values, morals and ethics
values= personal beliefs
values form morals
ethics study of right and wrong
