The Ticking Clock: Addressing Farm Animal Welfare in Emerging Countries

Abstract

Over the last decade many emerging economies, and in particular Brazil, have established themselves as major players in global food animal production. Within these countries much of the increase in food animal production has been achieved by the adoption of intensive housing systems similar to those found in most industrialized countries. However, it is now well established that many of these systems are associated with numerous welfare problems, particularly with respect to restriction of movement. Previous work has shown that people living in industrialized' countries broadly support farm animal welfare reform, and that similar criticisms may be voiced from citizens living in developing countries as they become more aware of confinement housing and potentially contentious husbandry practices. Given the developments that have taken place in other countries, there are lessons that could be learned and applied by emerging economies that would undoubtedly ease or prevent the challenges observed in other countries. Thus, we briefly describe the vehicles used by different countries when addressing animal welfare that may provide insights into identifying possible challenges and potential solutions for Brazil and other emerging economies. Where available we review the associated science and identify gaps where more research is needed. We conclude by providing a possible roadmap on how farm animal welfare reform may be addressed in emerging countries. Solutions will need to be tailored, culturally relevant, and science must play a key role in supporting animal welfare reform in the emerging countries.

Smallholder family farmers’ perceptions, attitudes and choices regarding husbandry practices that influence performance and welfare of lactating dairy calves

“…These results are similar to other surveys involving smallholder dairy farmers of other regions of Brazil (HÖTZEL et al, 2014a;SANTOS & BITTAR, 2015), which indicated a need for programs seeking to improve calf management that may influence calves' performance, survival and welfare. Farmers and other industry stakeholders should be made aware of the potential repercussions to the dairy industry of consumers' growing concerns towards animal welfare (VON KEYSERLINGK & HÖTZEL, 2015). Recent research has shown that Brazilians (HÖTZEL et al, 2017), like citizens from other countries (ELLIS et al, 2009;CARDOSO et al, 2016a) are concerned with dairy cattle welfare and reject some of the practices reported to be prevalent in this study.…”

Human values and preferences for cleaner livestock production

“…Consumer awareness of food quality has recently led to greater attention being paid to meat production practices (Von Keyserlingk and H€ otzel, 2015). Our study contributes to the increasing strand of literature that highlights European consumers' concerns about the environmental and social impacts of intensive pig farming (Ngapo et al, 2003;Edwards, 2005;McGlone, 2013).…”

Determinants of Individual Attitudes Toward Animal Welfare-Friendly Food Products

“…While consumers are becoming increasingly demanding in their food choices, their awareness of animal production practices is increasing and the food animal industry is ever more committed to making its production processes more acceptable (Von Keyserlingk and Hötzel 2015;Caracciolo et al 2016). Animal welfare is a complex and multifaceted construct that comprises cognitive and emotional dimensions, and it has been widely shown to affect consumers' food choice (Harper and Makatouni 2002;Ventura et al 2015).…”

“…Consumer concerns are even greater when meat production processes come into play, encouraging worldwide implementation of public and private regulatory systems on animal welfare (Lundmark et al 2014;Heerwagen et al 2015). Current livestock production techniques of a highly intensive nature have contributed over time to a rise in consumer sensitivity to animal welfare, resulting in a change in purchase preferences (Verbeke and Viaene 2000;Frewer et al 2005;Caracciolo et al 2016;Von Keyserlingk and Hötzel 2015). Recent studies have focused upon two particular factors that could affect the purchase decisions of consumers with regard to highly intensive livestock production: concerns for livestock production systems which are more respectful of animals (Harper and Henson 2001;Toma et al 2012), and their impact on the environment (de Vries and de Boer 2010).…”