Costs and Benefits of Improving Farm Animal Welfare

Abstract

It costs money to improve the welfare of farm animals. For people with animals under their care, there are many factors to consider regarding changes in practice to improve welfare, and the optimal course of action is not always obvious. Decision support systems for animal welfare, such as economic cost–benefit analyses, are lacking. This review attempts to provide clarity around the costs and benefits of improving farm animal welfare, thereby enabling the people with animals under their care to make informed decisions. Many of the costs are obvious. For example, training of stockpeople, reconfiguration of pens, and administration of pain relief can improve welfare, and all incur costs. Other costs are less obvious. For instance, there may be substantial risks to market protection, consumer acceptance, and social licence to farm associated with not ensuring good animal welfare. The benefits of improving farm animal welfare are also difficult to evaluate from a purely economic perspective. Although it is widely recognised that animals with poor welfare are unlikely to produce at optimal levels, there may be benefits of improving animal welfare that extend beyond production gains. These include benefits to the animal, positive effects on the workforce, competitive advantage for businesses, mitigation of risk, and positive social consequences. We summarise these considerations into a decision tool that can assist people with farm animals under their care, and we highlight the need for further empirical evidence to improve decision-making in animal welfare.

The Animal Welfare Science of Working Dogs: Current Perspectives on Recent Advances and Future Directions

“…Regular evaluation and adjustment of practices is essential so that the evidence gained through animal welfare science research can guide best practice and standards. Providing working dogs with positive life experiences (good physical and mental animal welfare) is likely to share the positive consequences observed when farm animal welfare is improved (167). This includes better performance, program efficiency, staff satisfaction, social, and economic benefits.…”

Slaughter Conditions and Slaughtering of Pregnant Cows in Southeast Nigeria: Implications to Meat Quality, Food Safety and Security

“…This generally happens when food-producing animals, prior to slaughter, are subject to poor welfare conditions [14]. Such meat defects pose detrimental effects to the quality indices, which impedes profitability and sustainability of any meat production enterprise [15]. Therefore, cruel practices like dragging, dropping, throwing or hoisting during the slaughter process should be prohibited, as it is not part of the humane handling practices [16].…”

“…Further, bad slaughter management operations can decrease carcass quality, which could arise because of cross-contamination [2,13]. Some carcass/meat defects caused by preslaughter stress or poor welfare conditions are Pale, Soft, Exudative (PSE) and Dark Firm and Dry (DFD) meats [14,15]. Humane handling of slaughter-cattle prohibits cruel practices such as dragging, dropping, throwing or hoisting during the slaughter process [16].…”

Positive Welfare in Science and Society: Differences, Similarities and Synergies

“…Within the positive welfare literature, emphasis is often placed on the welfare gains and benefits from providing animals with greater opportunities to have positive experiences (e.g., Fernandes et al, 2021). This is an important and critical point, and one which has helped to advance and develop welfare science in recent years.…”