Animal Welfare Issues in the Dairy and Swine Industries

Jeffrey Rushen
Dairy and Swine Research and Development Centre
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada

biography

The potential for North American legislation similar to what has been passed in European countries is sometimes the primary reason the dairy and swine industries in North America are concerned about animal welfare issues. The concern that such legislation may restrict or influence international trade in dairy and swine products is a valid concern that needs further analysis. Interest in animal welfare issues is also driven by evidence that consumers may be willing to buy food products based on the perceived impact on animal welfare of the method of animal rearing. Consumption patterns of ecological milk, especially in Nordic countries, suggest that "welfare friendly" dairy products represent a significant niche market in some developed countries. Consumers' beliefs that some farming systems lead to poor animal welfare may magnify their anxieties about food safety and environmental problems. However, the main reason I believe that the dairy and swine industries should be more concerned about animal welfare issues is the often-stated but often-forgotten fact that poor welfare often results in poor health and reduced productivity. The link between animal welfare and animal health is likely to assume increasing importance in light of the growing concern about antibiotic use in animal agriculture. In this talk, I present a number of examples from the dairy, veal and swine industries where poor animal welfare is clearly linked to poor health and poor productivity. Most concern about animal welfare arises from the way that the animals are housed, or from certain practices, such as tail docking, that are thought to be painful to the animal. Unfortunately, the adoption of alternative housing systems that provide for greater social contact and behaviour of the animals do not automatically improve overall animal welfare. Alternative systems need a greater input in terms of research and development before they can be judged fairly. However, the nature of the relationship between farm animals and the people who handle them can have a substantial impact on the animals' welfare independently of the way that the animals are housed, and this I illustrate for both dairy cattle and swine. Jeffrey Rushen is a researcher in stress physiology and animal behaviour at the Dairy and Swine Research and Development Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. His current research interests are in dairy cattle's fear of people and the acute stress that can result from poor cattle handling practices, and welfare issues associated with the housing of both dairy cows and calves. He obtained his Ph. D. in animal behaviour from the University in Queensland, and since then has worked in Canada, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.