FAWC farm animal welfare report
The Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) has discussed the impact of physical and mental disease on animal welfare in a recent report.
FAWC says that, while there is much published on the physiological basis of disease in animals, there is relatively little on how disease affects welfare and even less on how it impacts on mental health.
The report discusses some of the critical issues in farm animal disease and welfare, such as responsibility and cost sharing, public and private surveillance, resistance to antibiotics and anthelmintics, breeding for disease resistance, and the vet's duty to the animal, the client and the business - described as the veterinarian's trilemma.
Also in its report, FAWC says that the farm animal vet is the pivotal link to continual improvements in farm animal health and welfare, and second only to the stockperson in ensuring the humane treatment of farm animals in Great Britain.
The report covers the main species of farm animal - though the committee believes the broad principals it sets out should apply to other species, too - and is hoped to stimulate discussion amongst farmers, the wider food industry, citizens and consumers.
FAWC Chairman Christopher Wathes notes in a forward to the report: "By focusing on the direct impact of disease, and understanding the interactions (positive and negative) between physical and mental health, the report seeks to highlight the potential to reduce individual animal suffering."
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
