New legislation on animal welfare standards has created the need for welfare programmes to be implemented on farms, during transportation and in slaughter plants, but while there is a wealth of information on animal behaviour, ethics and factors affecting welfare, there is little to guide veterinarians and managers in evaluating and improving animal welfare.
Drawing on the author’s extensive experience in teaching and auditing, and contributions from expert guest authors, this textbook bridges the gap between scientific research and practical application. It provides a guide to evaluating and auditing welfare problems, and emphasizes the importance of measuring conditions that compromise welfare.
It is an essential text for veterinarians and veterinary students, welfare auditing or welfare officer training, and broader animal welfare topics, helping students to apply their knowledge in the field.
1. Why is animal welfare important?
2. The importance of using measurement to improve animal welfare
3. Writing effective standards and scoring systems for accessing welfare
4. The power of economic factors to improve animal welfare
5. How to improve handling, reduce stress, and lower death losses
6. How to access welfare on the farm
7. Improving welfare in slaughter plants
8. Genetic factors that are detrimental to animal welfare
9. Painful management procedures
10. Why are an animal's behavioural needs important?
11. How are behavioural needs measured?
12. On-farm euthanasia and prevention of non ambulatory animals
13. Improving the welfare of draft and work animals
14. Animals really do feel fear and pain
15. Successful technology transfer of behavioural research
Dr. Grandin is a designer of livestock handling facilities and a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. Facilities she has designed are located in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. In North America, almost half of the cattle are handled in a center track restrainer system that she designed for meat plants. Curved chute and race systems she has designed for cattle are used worldwide and her writings on the flight zone and other principles of grazing animal behavior have helped many people to reduce stress on thier animals during handling.
She has also developed an objective scoring system for assessing handling of cattle and pigs at meat plants. This scoring system is being used by many large corporations to improve animal welfare. Other areas of research are: cattle temperament, environmental enrichment for pigs, reducing dark cutters and bruises, bull fertility, training procedures, and effective stunning methods for cattle and pigs at meat plants.
She obtained her B.A. at Frankin Pierce College and her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University. Dr. Grandin received her Ph.D in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. Today she teaches courses on livestock behaviour and facility design at Colorado State Univeristy and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling, and animal welfare. She has appeared on television shows such as 20/20, 48 Hours, CNN Larry King Live, PrimeTime Live, the Today Show, and many shows in other countries. She has been featured in People Magazine, the New York Times, Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, Time Magazine, the New York Times book review, and Discover magazine. Interviews with Dr. Grandin have been broadcast on National Public Radio. She has also authored over 400 articles in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals on animal handling, welfare, and facility design. She is the author of "Thinking in Pictures", "Livestock Handling and Transport," "Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals," and "Humane Livestock Handling." Her books "Animals in Translation" and "Animals Make Us Human" were both on the New York Times best seller list. "Animals Make Us Human" was also on the Canadian best seller list