Current Options in Farm Animal Welfare Audits - Jim Reynolds

Current Options in Farm Animal Welfare Audits and Evaluations Jim Reynolds DVM, MPVM

Current options in Animal Welfare Certification
The value of certification
How to determine if you should become part of one of these programs

First: what is animal welfare and how do we assess it?
Welfare is something the animal has;
Not something we do to it.
We can affect the welfare of animals by our housing and management of them.

What is animal welfare?
Animal welfare means how an animal is coping with the conditions in which it lives . An animal is in a good state of welfare if (as indicated by scientific evidence) it is healthy, comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express innate behavior, and if it is not suffering from unpleasant states such as pain, fear, and distress. Good animal welfare requires disease prevention and veterinary treatment, appropriate shelter, management, nutrition, humane handling and humane slaughter. Animal welfare refers to the state of the animal ; the treatment that an animal receives is covered by other terms such as animal care, animal husbandry, and humane treatment. 1 Protecting an animal's welfare means providing for its physical and mental needs .
http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/default.asp 1-24-2012

Why do we have Farm Welfare Audits / Certifications?
There are 2 main reasons for current welfare audits or assessments:
Response to criticism of husbandry.
Industry / Retailers set up programs to assure consumers that animals have good welfare.
2) Management desires to have the best welfare possible for the animals.
The farm intends to provide good welfare and has third-party audits in ensure the programs are working.

Goals for Welfare Assessments and Audits
To determine if the welfare for animals on a farm is appropriate for that species
Verification using a written audit tool
Uses standards developed for that species and production system
Can be used to:
Assure consumers animals are cared for properly
Internal verification for dairy management
Find areas for veterinary consultation

Welfare Audit Principles
Welfare is a combination of facilities and people
Welfare audits should not dictate the management of a farm
Audits should verify that animals are cared for properly, to contemporary standards
The farm management will meet each standard in its own way

Welfare Assessments and Audits
Approach to assure consumers animal care meets standards
Non-governmental
Market - driven
Provides an assessment or an audit to the farm regarding animal care and welfare
Assessment provides report to owner detailing strengths and weaknesses on farm
Audit covers all areas of cow comfort and welfare

Techniques for assessing welfare
2 basic methods:
1) outcome based
- Use animals to see if standards are met
2) protocols
- Create a system or facility that should result in the desired outcome
These are used in combination in the various programs

Areas on the Farm Audited or Assessed
General Animal Management
Feed & Water Access and Quality
Herd Health
Facilities
Housing
Parlor Behavior
Special Needs management
Handling & Transportation
Replacement Cattle
Management
All animals on the farm will be observed
Must have Down Cow and Euthanasia Protocols

Areas for welfare protocols:
Maternity pen
Colostrum feeding
Holding area
Transportation
Calf processing
Feeding
Water and grain
Sanitation
Recognizing illness
Treatment
Euthanasia
Emergency plans
Handling
Dehorning
Castration
Veterinarians and Extension can help develop protocols, train and manage workers.

Animal Production Industry Standards
1) Must be clear that the welfare and interests of the animals have appropriate weight relative to the human use of the animals
2) Consumers must have confidence that the standards are taken seriously and that livestock producers will follow the recommended practices
3) Producers must believe the standards are established and administered fairly
Thompson, P. B. 2005. Animal agriculture and the welfare of animals. J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc. 226:1325–1327.
Standards must be real and they must be enforced

Major Dairy Programs Available in the US:
American Humane Association
American Humane Certified
National Milk Producers
Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM)
New York State Cattle Health Assurance Program (NYSCHAP)
Cattle Welfare Certification Program
Validus
Animal Welfare Review – Dairy (AWR-D)

http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/programs/farm-animal-welfare.html

American Humane Certified Program
An audit program
Detailed questionnaire, checklist and animal observations developed by the AHA Scientific Committee
Annual re-certification
Required by some processors
Dairy, swine and poultry programs
Utilizes PAACO certified auditors

National Dairy FARM Program Farmers Assuring Responsible Management SM
Mission: “To demonstrate and verify that U.S. milk producers are committed to providing the highest standards of animal care and quality assurance.”
“ A nation-wide, verifiable program that addresses animal well-being. Third-party verification ensures the validity and the integrity of the program to our customers and consumers.”

http://nationaldairyfarm.com/index.html

National Dairy FARM Program Farmers Assuring Responsible Management
Industry established standards developed by NMP via adhoc committee of dairy owners, veterinarians, consultants
Questionnaire, checklist and animal observations
All on the FARM website
Evaluators certified through NMP FARM program training; can be veterinarians, producer (COOP) personnel, extension, consultants
Second party evaluations at least every 3 years
Third party evaluations based on random sample of dairies
Third-party evaluations are of the program, not the dairy (process verification)

Well-Being Principles & Guidelines National Dairy Animal Well-Being Initiative Continuous Improvement Cycle Conduct internal assessment to measure program effectiveness Apply Principles & Guidelines to on-farm well-being programs Third-party program verification Facilitate producer awareness and implement education programs Implement on-farm well-being programs

How does the 2 nd party evaluation start?
Sit-down interview and review of pertinent records.
First 45 questions in the FARM checklist.

What about the evaluation checklist ?
Different types of evidence can be used:
(e.g. written documents, employee interviews, visual)
Are answered “Yes”, “No” or “Not applicable” to the farm.
Scoring will be required for lameness, body condition,
hock lesions and cleanliness.

How does the 2 nd party evaluation proceed?
On-site facility observations, last 32 checklist questions.
Scoring lameness, body condition, leg lesions and hygiene.

http://nyschap.vet.cornell.edu/

http://nyschap.vet.cornell.edu/module/welfare/welfare.asp

NYSCHAP
An evaluation program
Annual review required
Herd veterinarian must be present during review
Standards developed by Scientific Committee
PAACO, ISO, USDA process verified

http://www.validusservices.com/verifying-certifying/on-farm-animal-welfare-audits/

Validus
Program designed to first provide an assessment, then audit
Annual recertification required
Standards developed by Scientific Committee
Validus trains auditors
Audits animals in risk groups (sampling size developed for every group)
PAACO, ISO, USDA process verified

Comparison of Animal Observations Between Programs Dr. Sandy Goff; AABP Animal Welfare Pre-seminar 2011 Program Observations AHA  Random sample/select 20 cows for every 100 lactating and dry cows on-site Validus  Observations focus on risk groups  Reports individual problem pens  Highest number of animal observations  Parlor turns must be evaluated FARM  Observations in every pen  Reports herd averages NYSCHAP  Evaluates SOPs & training records prior to certification visit  Close involvement with herd vet; must be present at certification  Each animal management group scored (milking/dry cows & young stock)

Comparison of Critical Control Points of Animal Observations Between Programs Dr. Sandy Goff; AABP Animal Welfare Pre-seminar 2011 CCP AHA Validus FARM NYSCHAP Lameness 95% score 1 or 2 <5% score > 3 90% score < 2 < 15% score >3 < 1% score 5 (or 1 animal) BCS 98% score >2 & <4.5 <3% score <2 <10% score > 4 90% score >2 & <4.5 < 5% score <2 90% score >1 Leg lesions 80% score 0 or 1 <2% score 3 90% score 1 99% score < 2 Recorded, no CCP Hygiene 90% score 1 or 2 <10% score >2 90% score <3 Minimize score >3*

http://www.animalauditor.org / PAACO certifies Welfare Audits and Auditor Training. PAACO also trains Auditors for Meat Plant Welfare Auditing.

The Value of Welfare Audit or Assessment Programs
Education and Understanding
Understanding the real needs of cattle is a process and each program does a great job of education during the assessments or evaluations
Determine the strengths and weakness regarding welfare on your farm
Cows get lame, have LDA’s, and have reproductive problems for reasons that are determined by housing and management
Marketing milk products
Compliance with welfare standards will continue the trust we have with consumers of dairy products.

Should you participate in one of these programs?
If you are a producer: Yes , because :
You will get an evaluation of your dairy
You will find the strong and weak areas of animal welfare in your operation
You can prioritize the improvement of welfare over time
Incorporate current practices
Modify housing as needed over time.

Should you participate in one of these programs?
If you provide services to dairies: Yes
You will be able to identify strong and weak areas of welfare and help prioritize improvements;
Understanding cattle welfare and integrating welfare needs of animals into management is the least expensive way to improve economic viability.

QUESTIONS?

Current Options in Farm Animal Welfare Audits - Jim Reynolds

by DAIReXNET on Feb 09, 2012

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Current Options in Farm Animal Welfare Audits - Jim Reynolds — Presentation Transcript