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FAWC highlights impact of physical and mental disease on welfare

THE farm animal veterinarian 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, says a recent report by the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC). Its ‘Report on Farm Animal Welfare: Health and Disease’ discusses the impact of physical and mental disease on farm animal welfare and 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 what it describes as ‘the veterinarian’s trilemma’ – a duty to the animal, the client and the business. Writing in a foreword to the report, Christopher Wathes, chairman of the FAWC, notes that there is a considerable body of scientific evidence that farm animals are sentient and can suffer. ‘Therefore, the effects of disease on mental wellbeing, eg, fear, distress, anxiety, do affect their welfare,’ he says. ‘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.’ The report covers the main species of farm animal – cattle, sheep, poultry and pigs – but the FAWC believes that the broad principles it sets out should apply to other species. The committee hopes that it will stimulate discussion among farmers, the wider food industry, citizens and consumers, of the complex issues around health and disease in farm animals and the impact on their welfare. The report is divided into a number of sections considering the impact of disease on animal welfare; surveillance and monitoring of farm animal disease; the prevention of disease; the treatment of disease; and future strategies to improve animal health and welfare and the role of different stakeholders. Discussing the impact of disease on welfare, the FAWC says that, while there is much published research 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. ‘Behavioural changes are rarely assessed in conjunction with clinical diagnostics in more than a qualitative manner, and there is little quantitative information of the effects of disease on welfare,’ it says. Among its recommendations is that government and industry should ensure that emphasis on links between mental and physical aspects of animal health is strengthened in both strategy and policy areas of decision making. It also recommends that a transparent discussion is held among all parties, including farmers, stockpeople and vets, about the likely causes of negative animal health effects from modern livestock farming, putting the welfare of the farmed animal at the heart of the discussion.