livexchange conference 2013 animal welfare session dr leisha hewitt- guidelines to standards – the...

Guidelines to Standards

The Challenges

Dr Leisha HewittMurdoch University

• Public and consumer pressure for animal welfare assurances

• Wide range of public and private standards

• Legislation – Time consuming, minimum welfare standards, variation

• Private standards – retailers and producers

Introduction of animal welfare standards

OIE Code is the reference document for:

• Technical standards - The ‘Checklist’

• Standard Operating Procedures

• Work Instructions

OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code

• Standards contain “MUST” clauses• ‘must’

• ‘shall’

• ‘It is essential that…’

• ‘It is prohibited to…’

• Guidelines contain “SHOULD” clauses• ‘should’

• ‘It is recommended that…’

Standard and guideline definitions

Australian Animal Welfare Strategy

Development of nationally consistent legal arrangements, including standards for regulation, which will be a part of future animal welfare legislation

• Details specific provisions for restraining animals:• Provision of a non-slippery floor

• Avoidance of the application of excessive pressure

• Engineered to reduce noise (hissing/clanging metal)

• Absence of sharp edges

• Avoidance of jerking or sudden movement

• “under no circumstances should animal handlers resort to violent acts to move animals, such as”• Crushing and breaking tails

• Grasping their eyes

• Pulling by the ears

OIE animal welfare standards

OIE animal welfare standards

Restraining methods that immobilise by electro-immobilisation or by injury - such as breaking legs, cutting leg tendons or severing the spinal cord must never be used.

An effective animal welfare standard should fulfil the following:

• Improve animal welfare

• Include requirements that must be met

• Include recommendations to encourage continuous improvement

• Be practical

• Be focused on outcomes rather than prescriptive requirements

An effective animal welfare standard

• Necessary – sound welfare reason with a real welfare outcome

The challenges

Welfare outcome

Is the animal healthy and producing well? Is the animal happy or is it suffering from pain or undesirable emotions? Is the animal able to perform its normal behaviour and thus live a relatively natural life?

Resource-based measures

Describe the animal’s environment. Easy to develop and audit. Compliance is not necessarily indicative of good animal welfare. Used to identify risk factors.

Animal-based measures

Describe the welfare state of the animal. Can be difficult to develop and audit. The best standards include measures that refer to both the input and the animal welfare outcome.

• Necessary – sound welfare reason with a real welfare outcome

• Technically correct and based on sound science

The challenges

Based on sound science and technically correct

Acceptability of a procedure depends as much on ethical decisions as on scientific evidence.

Based on sound science and technically correct

• Necessary - sound welfare reason with a real welfare outcome

• Technically correct and based on sound science

• Applied universally - cost bases and throughout chain

The challenges

Applied universally

It is important that the standards applied in-market are consistently achieved in our own farms, feedlots, transport systems and abattoirs.

Consistency with regulation

Animal welfare standards must recognise and if necessary, integrate regulatory requirements - Consideration overseas

• Necessary – sound welfare reason with a real welfare outcome

• Technically correct and based on sound science

• Applied universally – cost bases and throughout chain

• Practical and verifiable

The challenges

Verifiable

Auditing is challenging if animal welfare standards are poorly written. Standards must be not be open to individual interpretation.

Audit consistency

Audit consistency

The audit must follow a structured, consistent protocol and involve the expert evaluation of the evidence.

• Necessary – sound welfare reason with a real welfare outcome

• Technically correct and based on sound science

• Applied universally – cost bases and throughout chain

• Practical and verifiable

• Indicate severity and prevalence of an issue

The challenges

Severity

MINOR

MAJOR 0-3 4-7 8-15 15+

0

BLUE (with BDP)

GREEN AMBER RED

GREEN

1-3 AMBER AMBER AMBER RED

4+ RED RED RED RED

• Necessary – sound welfare reason with a real welfare outcome

• Technically correct and based on sound science

• Applied universally – cost bases and throughout chain

• Practical and verifiable

• Indicate severity and prevalence of an issue

• Provide opportunity for implementation of effective corrective and preventive action

The challenges

Corrective and preventive action

Reference to acceptable corrective and preventive action should a welfare issue arise

• The influx of welfare standards is only going to increase

• Stakeholders need to be involved in the development and implementation

Compliance with animal welfare standards is not optional – you will not receive more money for being part of the process. It is the key to staying in business

The future

Dr Leisha HewittMurdoch University

Leisha.hewitt@gmail.com