“Cattle Welfare Is Basically Human Welfare”: Workers' Perceptions of ‘Animal Welfare' on Two Dairies in China

Abstract

‘Animal welfare' (动物福利) is a foreign term in China, and stakeholder interpretations can affect receptiveness to the concept. Our aim was to explore workers' perceptions of animal welfare on two dairies in China. We used a mini-ethnographic case study design, with the first author (MC) living for 38 days on one farm and 23 days on a second farm. MC conducted semi-structured interviews (n = 13) and participant observations (n = 41) with farm management and staff. We used template analysis to generate key themes from the ethnographic data. Responses revealed a connection between human and animal welfare. Workers saw human welfare as a prerequisite to animal welfare, and cattle welfare as potentially mutually beneficial to humans. Some workers also saw an ethical obligation toward providing cattle with good welfare. Though some workers were unfamiliar with the term ‘animal welfare,' in daily practice caring for cattle led farm workers to ponder, prioritize, and make decisions relevant to welfare including lameness, morbidity, and nutrition. Workers in management positions appeared to embrace evidence-based animal care improvements, especially those which were perceived to also benefit people. Based on our findings, we suggest animal welfare initiatives should (1) consider worker welfare, (2) clearly communicate the concept of ‘animal welfare,' (3) identify mutual benefits, and (4) provide pragmatic, evidence-based strategies to improve welfare.

Animal welfare with Chinese characteristics: Chinese poultry producers’ perceptions of, and attitudes towards, animal welfare

“…Recent research suggests increased awareness and knowledge of animal welfare among Chinese producers [ 50 , 52 ]. However, those outside the farming leadership in China, such as dairy farm workers [ 45 , 46 ], workers in the transportation and slaughter sectors [ 63 ], and the public [ 64 , 65 ], remain less acquainted with the concept.…”

“…Template analysis is a form of thematic analysis which enables a structured approach to data coding with the flexibility of adapting it to the needs of a study [ 58 ], which helps understand a relatively under-explored topic [ 59 ]. It has been used to analyse qualitative data collected from focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews with farm animal producers from different countries and cultures, including China [ 45 , 46 , 59 ].…”

“…different species and their needs) [ 42 , 43 ], and farm-specific contexts (e.g. leadership and organisational culture) [ 44 – 46 ]. Therefore, understanding personal and contextual factors is a crucial step in improving animal welfare [ 47 ] within Europe and across Asian nations [ 30 , 39 ].…”

“…Participants exhibited varying degrees of intention to enhance animal welfare [ 49 , 51 ], prioritised distinct animal welfare issues [ 30 , 43 ], encountered varied challenges [ 49 ], and proposed context-specific solutions for animal welfare improvement [ 30 , 52 ]. In addition, qualitative investigations have recently delved into farm workers’ understanding and attitudes towards animal welfare in the Chinese dairy [ 46 ] and aquaculture sectors [ 42 ]. These studies revealed that participants in different job roles had divergent levels of animal welfare awareness, accompanied by varying degrees of significance placed on animal welfare in practice, and leadership support played a pivotal role in enhancing animal welfare [ 45 , 53 ].…”

How and why animal welfare concerns evolve in developing countries

“…This definition of animal welfare based on the three pillars does not have a direct pendant in many societies of developing countries ( Sinclair and Phillips, 2018 ; Doyle et al., 2019 ; Carnovale et al., 2021 ; Chen and Weary, 2021 ). In certain societies, people may understand animal welfare to mean only the absence of physical suffering, in others, animal welfare includes animals’ mental states, environments, health, nutrition, and behaviors.…”