Welfare - L3

Question 1

For an animal to be capable of perceiving states that we consider reflect its welfare, it must be:

Answer 1

Sentient - capacity to have subjective experiences that matter, capacity to experience pain.

Conscious - unconscious animals cannot experience anything.

Question 2

Why might we assess animal welfare, why might we want/need to assess it?

Answer 2

• understand welfare state - identify areas of improvement
• financial reasons - profitability
• social licence - prove that we are managing animal welfare
• prevent abuse - negative welfare
• to assess risk
• to test impacts of new drugs or treatments
• to evaluate methods for pest control

Question 3

What are welfare indicators?

Answer 3

Observable or measurable variables that provide information in the welfare status (affective state)

Question 4

What are the two broad categories of welfare indicators?

Answer 4

• Non- animal based
• Animal based

Question 5

Describe animal based indicators

Answer 5

Indicators that are direct measures of an animal’s welfare derived from observing the animal itself or assessing its physiological and behavioural states.

Question 5

Describe non-animal based indicators

Answer 5

These indicators are resource based - measures of the physical environment and the resources available to the animal

Question 6

Types of indicators?

Answer 6

Resource based - water availability

Animal based (more direct) - plasma osmolarity, skin tent test, body condition.
This tells us more about the functional state.

Question 7

Animal welfare is…

Answer 7

• State within the animal (internal, subjective)
• integration of mental experiences/affective states (negative/positive)
• welfare status exists on a continuum (poor to good)