Animal Welfare in Relation to Standards in Organic Farming

Abstract

<p/> <p>The new EU-regulations on organic farming (1804/1999) are also influencing the animal welfare. A lot of positive regulations is to find, but also regulations that seen to mind more about the general public and customer and their view on organic farming, than the health and welfare of the animals.</p> <p>The paper specially focus on the impact of the regulations and the recommendations that phytotherapeutic essences and homeopathic products take precedence over the so called chemically-synthesised allopatic veterinary medical products, and that the use of the same is prohibited for preventive treatments. Key questions here are the lack of scientific evidence concerning homeopathy in animals, and that Swedish veterinarians are not allowed to work with homeopathy.</p> <p>Differences in interpretation of the regulations between animal owners and veterinarians will also be discussed. What is a disease that needs treatment? Who is to decide about the treatment? Parasitic infections are discussed as an illustrative example.</p> <p>Other consequences of the regulations concerning the animal welfare are problems in certain geographical zones, for instance subarctic areas where necessary crops are impossible to grow.</p> <p>Animal transports and splitting mother-offspring are briefly discussed as future problems to be handled in the regulations, and the paper ends by presenting the need of regulated herd health control programs in organic husbandry, which can detect and focus on welfare and production problems. The organic movement is not static, and must not be so.</p

Organic Food: Buying More Safety or Just Peace of Mind? A Critical Review of the Literature

“…Nevertheless, the efficacy of homeopathic and phytotherapeutic medicinal products for animal treatment is for the most part undocumented and under debate (Cabaret et al, 2002a;Loken, 2001), thus giving cause for concern regarding increased use of synthetic medicines. Key points here include the lack of scientific evidence concerning homeopathy in animals (Hammarberg, 2001), the lack of experience of most veterinarians to work with homeopathy (Hammarberg, 2001), the differences in interpretation of the regulations between animal owners and veterinarians (Hammarberg, 2001), and the lack of information about biosecurity, disease detection and disease prevention (Berg, 2001). Still, more than half of the organic producers in the US never use herbal remedies or homeopathy to manage animal disease; they mostly rely on pasture foraging, rotational grazing, mineral or vitamin supplementation, and vaccine administration (Walz, 1999).…”

Investigations of the motivation underlying Norwegian dairy farmers' use of homoeopathy

“…Furthermore, there are no reports of clinical efficacy, which are acceptable by the standards of evidence-based medicine in the treatment of either animals or human beings (Kleijnen and others 1991, Vaarst 1996, Linde and others 1997, Waller and others 1998, Cucherat and others 2000, Ernst 2002. It has also been suggested that if homoeopathic treatments are used to the exclusion of conventional treatments, there may be adverse effects on the animals' welfare (Ekesbo 2000, Hammarberg 2001, Hovi 2002 Qualitative research methods, that is methods that generate results by investigations not involving statistical procedures or other means of quantification, have been developed in the human and social sciences. These methods are used to some extent in human medical research (Malterud 2001), but rarely in veterinary medicine.…”

“…Furthermore, there are no reports of clinical efficacy, which are acceptable by the standards of evidence‐based medicine in the treatment of either animals or human beings (Kleijnen and others 1991, Vaarst 1996, Linde and others 1997, Waller and others 1998, Cucherat and others 2000, Ernst 2002). It has also been suggested that if homoeopathic treatments are used to the exclusion of conventional treatments, there may be adverse effects on the animals' welfare (Ekesbo 2000, Hammarberg 2001, Hovi 2002)…”

Natural living—a precondition for animal welfare in organic farming

“…In organic farming a more natural environment is preferred over a well-controlled environment where the animal is protected from dangers but less able to have a natural life. Hence free ranging animals have become a symbol of organic farming in spite of implying increased risks of predator and parasite exposure and related diseases, e.g., Coccidiosis and Ascarid infections in poultry (Heuer et al, 2001;Permin et al, 1999), piroplasmosis and severe gnat problems in cattle (Hammarberg, 2001), and trichinosis and Erysipelas infections (Kugelberg et al, 2001) in pigs. Likewise, free-range systems are stipulated for poultry although outbreaks of feather pecking or cannibalism cause greater damage in large groups compared to among caged hens (Bilcik and Keeling, 1999).…”