This document discusses animal welfare for 4th year DVM students. It introduces animal welfare as how an animal copes with its living conditions, and defines a state of good welfare as being healthy, comfortable, safe, and able to express natural behaviors without suffering. Good animal welfare requires disease prevention, appropriate shelter, nutrition, and humane treatment including handling and slaughter. The "Five Freedoms" are introduced as a framework to assess welfare, including freedom from hunger and thirst, discomfort, pain and disease, fear and distress, and freedom to express normal behaviors. The document emphasizes that animals experience feelings like sensations and emotions, and discusses whether animals can be considered moral agents.

1. ANIMAL WELFARE
4th year DVM STUDENTS

2. OBJECTIVES
• Introduce the meaning of animal welfare and
how it is done
• Discuss the importance of animal welfare
• Show the proper care and management of
animals based on their needs
• Show the safe way of dealing with animals

4. ANIMAL WELFARE
• Animal welfare means how an animal is coping with
the conditions in which it lives
• An animal in good state of welfare is
– healthy, well nourished
– Comfortable, safe
– not suffering from unpleasant state such as pain,
fear, and distress
– able to express natural behavior

5. ANIMAL WELFARE
• Good AW requires disease prevention and veterinary
treatment, appropriate shelter, management,
nutrition, humane handling and humane slaughter
and killing

6. FIVE FREEDOMS
Use to assess welfare
• Freedom from hunger and thirst
• Freedom from discomfort
• Freedom from pain, injury and disease
• Freedom from fear and distress
• Freedom to express normal behavior
Farm Animal Welfare Council, 1992

7. FREEDOM FROM HUNGER AND
THIRST

8. FREEDOM FROM DISCOMFORT

9. FREEDOM FROM PAIN, INJURY
AND DISEASE

10. FREEDOM FROM PAIN, INJURY
AND DISEASE

11. FREEDOM FROM PAIN AND
DISTRESS

12. FREEDOM TO EXPRESS THEIR
NATURAL BEHAVIOUR

13. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT
TO CARE ABOUT
ANIMALS

14. ANIMALS HAVE FEELINGS
• ‘Sentience’ is the capacity to have
feelings
• These feelings are mental states such
as sensations or emotions
…if a dog is
sentient…
…and a plant is not…
then what about…
?

15. ARE ANIMALS MORAL AGENTS?
• Moral agent
– Responsible for own actions
– Deciding whether an action is right or wrong
– Altruism and protection of the vulnerable

16. ARE ANIMALS MORAL
AGENTS?

17. Happy Dog

18. Frightened Dog

19. Aggressive Dog

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27. Thank you for listening!
Thank you