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Topic: Animal Welfare
The new items published under this topic are as follows.
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Animal Welfare: Govt to spend $1m to boost animal welfare in live exports
Posted by: JimEdwards on Monday, July 07, 2008 - 04:43 PM
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Source: Fairfax Digital
The Rudd Government has now committed more than $1 million to improve animal welfare standards in overseas ports which process Australian live animal exports.
Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, says an additional $621,500 has been approved for new projects, bringing the total funding to more than $1 million in the last six months.
The additional funding includes:
· $464,000 to upgrade port holding sheds, port discharge ramps and sheep handling facilities in the Middle East, Indonesia and Russia. Improved infrastructure will reduce livestock stress in transit and reduce the possibility of injury to animals as they are unloaded from ships and moved to feedlots and abattoirs;
· $75,000 to develop training videos, books and signs to be displayed in markets and other areas. Material will be directed at feedlot managers, livestock handlers and transport staff, feedlot stockmen and importers. Material will be provided in English, Arabic, Urdu and Tagalog; and
· $82,500 to install 15 additional restraint boxes in Indonesia, to reduce stress for animals. Indonesia is Australia’s biggest market for exported cattle. This latest approval brings the number of restraining boxes in Indonesia to 90.
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Animal Welfare: Uganda hosts first National Animal Welfare Workshop
Posted by: JimEdwards on Friday, July 04, 2008 - 02:43 PM
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 Uganda’s first National Animal Welfare Workshop, co-organised and funded by WSPA, provided food for thought on a range of animal welfare issues affecting wild, farm, companion and laboratory animals.
Representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture and Education, the livestock industry, Kampala’s Makerere University and Veterinary Association and lecturers from vocational agricultural training institutes were invited to the workshop, held in Kampala.
The discussions covered issues including the inhumane killing of stray dogs and the cruel transport and slaughter methods used on farm animals, in particular cattle.
A much needed forum for welfare
WSPA’s involvement sprang from locally identified need; the meeting was initiated by Professor Kabasa, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Makerere University, and member society the Uganda Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (USPCA).
They sought a forum to discuss welfare issues, convinced that animal welfare is not adequately covered within the veterinary curriculum at present and not understood widely by Ugandans.
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Animal Welfare: A MEETING OF MINDS on the welfare of beef cattle
Posted by: JimEdwards on Thursday, July 03, 2008 - 03:47 PM
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Kansas State University's Beef Cattle Institute hosts international symposium
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 The May 28-30 symposium attracted hundreds of participants—including veterinarians, producers, and academics—to examine the welfare of beef cattle relevant to weaning, castration, dehorning, transport, feedlots, slaughter, and other situations.
The presymposium sessions featured a cattle handling demonstration and producers' roundtable. The meeting's keynote speakers described the beef cattle industry in Europe and New Zealand. Other speakers addressed welfare challenges for the U.S. beef cattle industry, welfare guidelines and legislation in this country, methods of assessing pain and distress in cattle, and approaches to welfare concerns.
Dr. Ken Odde, head of the K-State animal science department, said during his opening remarks, "I think this conference is particularly timely because animal welfare is clearly not just an important issue but, I believe, a growing issue in animal agriculture."
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Animal Welfare: AVMA debuts animal welfare Web section
Posted by: JimEdwards on Saturday, June 28, 2008 - 10:20 PM
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 July 1, 2008
To help veterinarians and the general public understand the complexity and passion behind animal welfare issues, the AVMA has launched a Web section devoted to animal welfare information.
"This new section of the AVMA Web site will play an important role in helping people understand the AVMA's science- and ethics-based approach to animal welfare," said Dr. Gail C. Golab, director of the Animal Welfare Division.
"Ultimately, as it grows and evolves, we envision an in-depth resource that people will return to again and again to gain issue-based knowledge and an appreciation for how complex animal welfare decision making can be," she said. "Material already available in our new Web section presents a convincing argument for considering a multitude of factors and input from a variety of experts and stakeholders when deciding on best approaches to animal care."
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Animal Welfare: AGA announces an Expert Meeting on Animal Welfare
Posted by: JimEdwards on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 03:54 PM
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 Animal welfare is an area of active scientific research and development; it is also an emotive issue that has ethical, production, economic, social and trade consequences for FAO members. The Animal Production and Health Division is organizing an Expert Meeting in Rome (29 September – 3 October 2008) to review animal welfare standards, practices and policies and to advise on supporting relevant capacity building in developing countries. If you wish to be considered as an expert or contribute to the open forum please download the Call for Experts and Call for the Open Forum.
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Animal Welfare: Congress highlights million dollar losses caused by poor animal welfare
Posted by: JimEdwards on Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 03:40 PM
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The first National Congress on Farm Animal Welfare, held in Costa Rica this week, addressed the mistreatment of farm animals and its results: suffering for the animals and hardship for the people who rely on animal products for their livelihoods.
Within Costa Rica itself, a study by local organisation CORFOGA showed that the meat production sector loses approximately US$1 million each year, a considerable amount for a small country that exports farm animal products.
This economic argument complements WSPA’s campaign for better conditions and humane slaughter for farm animals, which is based on the science of animal welfare.
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News: Animal recovery continues in Myanmar
Posted by: JimEdwards on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 01:26 PM
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The WSPA DART team remains in Myanmar, delivering aid and working with the FAO and local people to improve the health of animals that survived Cyclone Nargis. The team provided us with an update today.
The WSPA vets have seen cases of pneumonia and diarrhea in draught animals, which could be a result of infectious diseases. There are also instances of Foot and Mouth (FMD) and sporadic cases of Anthrax.
To combat these problems, the team is working on assessment and interventions with the government livestock department, pairing our vets with theirs to provide extra expertise and kit for treating the animals. To date, WSPA has delivered US $10,000-worth of veterinary medicine to Myanmar.
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Animal Welfare: What is animal welfare?
Posted by: JimEdwards on Sunday, June 08, 2008 - 04:51 PM
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Animal welfare is the ethical responsibility of ensuring animal well-being. Animal well-being is the condition in which animals experience good health, are able to effectively cope with their environment, and are able to express a diversity of species-typical behaviors. Protecting an animal's welfare means providing for its physical and mental needs.
Ensuring animal welfare is a human responsibility that includes consideration for all aspects of animal well-being, including proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling, and, when necessary, humane euthanasia.
There are numerous perspectives on animal welfare that are influenced by a person's values and experiences. There are also various means of measuring animal welfare, including (but not limited to) health, productivity, behavior, and physiological responses.
The American Veterinary Medical Association has defined its commitment to animal welfare through the adoption of the following Animal Welfare Principles that serves as guidance when the Association develops policies and takes action to ensure the welfare of animals.
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Animal Welfare: Universal declaration on animal welfare supported
Posted by: JimEdwards on Saturday, June 07, 2008 - 04:15 PM
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 The New Zealand Veterinary Association is urging the Government to sign a proposal for an international animal welfare declaration, to combat cruelty and neglect.
The Association has signed the proposal for a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, which recognises that animals are sentient beings deserving of consideration and respect.
“Animal welfare is the prime concern of veterinarians, so we had no hesitation in supporting the declaration,” says NZVA president John Maclachlan.
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Animal Welfare: AVMA takes stance against double-deck trailers for equine transport
Posted by: JimEdwards on Sunday, June 01, 2008 - 05:37 PM
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June 1, 2008
Emergency personnel respond to an incident involving a double-deck trailer transporting 59 horses and ponies near Wadsworth, Ill., in fall 2007. The trailer had overturned, leading to the death or euthanasia of 13 horses on the scene and the euthanasia of five more horses afterward. The incident prompted introduction of a bill to ban double-deck trailers for equine transport in Illinois.The AVMA opposes the use of double-deck trailers for the transportation of equines because of safety concerns, according to a new policy that the Executive Board approved in mid-April.
The policy follows recent vehicular incidents involving equine transport that caught the attention of the public and the press, including the rollover of a double-deck trailer in Illinois last fall that resulted in the deaths of 18 of 59 equines.
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Animal Welfare: WSPA in Myanmar: vets gain access to animals in need
Posted by: JimEdwards on Sunday, May 25, 2008 - 07:01 PM
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A WSPA disaster assessment and response (DART) team today received permission to enter Myanmar and begin delivering aid to the animals that communities rely on so heavily.
The five-strong vet team will arrive on Monday and Tuesday following an initial WSPA delivery of 31 tonnes of animal feed. The feed will be met in Myanmar by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), who we will work with.
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Animal Welfare: Animals that cyclone survivors depend on need help now
Posted by: JimEdwards on Thursday, May 08, 2008 - 02:52 PM
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An emergency veterinary team from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is on stand-by in Thailand awaiting entry authority to cyclone struck Myanmar to assess and then relieve the suffering of thousands of animals that human survivors depend on for food and their livelihoods.
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Animal Welfare: BVA Animal Welfare Foundation 2008 Discussion Forum
Posted by: JimEdwards on Thursday, May 01, 2008 - 04:10 PM
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Can people afford animal welfare in food production?
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 The latest in the increasingly popular BVA Animal Welfare Foundation discussion forums takes place this year at the Royal College of Physicians on Tuesday 20 May. As part of the Foundation’s aim of improving animal welfare through debate, it holds an annual Discussion Forum which brings fellow vets, animal welfare and government organisations together in order to identify and discuss important welfare-related issues.
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Animal Welfare: AVMA brochure on animal welfare targets veterinary students
Posted by: JimEdwards on Thursday, May 01, 2008 - 04:09 PM
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May 1, 2008
"Animal welfare: Seeing the forest and the trees" is a new brochure that describes the AVMA's philosophy regarding animal welfare.
Veterinary students are the primary audience for the brochure, which also is available at www.avma.org/issues for public access. The brochure states that science and ethics should be the basis of decisions about animal welfare, as well as a whole-system approach and careful consideration of the consequences of decisions—such as how changes to improve the behavioral aspects of animal welfare may result in detriments to the health aspects.
The brochure's introductory section defines animal welfare and lists the AVMA Animal Welfare Principles. Other sections address production animals and laboratory animals.
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Animal Welfare: WSPA helping Vets Worldwide Learn about Animal Welfare
Posted by: JimEdwards on Thursday, May 01, 2008 - 04:09 PM
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In a bid to ensure veterinarians around the world are familiar with the latest developments in animal welfare, the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has launched an updated version of its international syllabus, ‘Concepts in Animal Welfare’.
The WSPA’s Programme Manager, Bridget Vercoe, says the content has been updated by WSPA to reflect new developments in animal welfare. The revised version comprises 34 interactive modules on CD-ROM and encourages inclusion of specific topics within established veterinary syllabuses. It tackles a diverse range of subjects affecting farm and working animals, wildlife, companion animals and those used in experimentation.
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News: World Small Animal Veterinary Association supports Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare
Posted by: JimEdwards on Friday, April 25, 2008 - 03:06 PM
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 The President of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA), commended the recent call by the BVA President Nick Blayney for veterinarians worldwide to sign up to Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare and the support of the BVA for the Declaration. Dr Romberg said that the WSAVA, which represents over 77 veterinary association and 77,000 veterinarians, had supported the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare from the outset and supported its adoption by the United Nations.
On World Veterinary Day (WVD), which is held annually on the last Saturday of April and this week (Saturday 26 April) around the world, veterinarians will be celebrating the profession’s diversity and its contributions to human and animal health and welfare and many of the WSAVA’s member associations are included in these activities.
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Animal Welfare: AVMA testifies against keeping primates as pets
Posted by: JimEdwards on Monday, April 14, 2008 - 02:35 PM
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April 15, 2008
Citing concerns about the spread of disease and injury, inhumane treatment of animals, and ecologic damage, Dr. Gail C. Golab, director of the AVMA Animal Welfare Division, recently spoke before a House subcommittee on the dangers of private ownership of nonhuman primates by unlicensed individuals.
The legislation would make chimpanzees, monkeys, and other nonhuman primates prohibited wildlife species, thus strictly limiting commerce in pet primates. Persons or agencies licensed or registered by the government, such as zoos and research facilities, are exempt under the proposal.
Dr. Golab told subcommittee members that the evidence is clear that primates kept as pets are unsafe. Not only are these animals a physical threat, they may also be a source of the herpes B virus and other zoonotic pathogens. "Make no mistake about it," Dr. Golab, said, "nonhuman primates kept as pets—while cute and often very entertaining—can also pose serious injury risks for their human caretakers and other domestic animals."
For these reasons, the AVMA opposes private ownership of these animals as well as their use as assistance or service animals, Dr. Golab said. The AVMA does strongly support animal health professionals who work with primates in conservation and biomedical research efforts, she added.
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Pets and Poisons - Keeping your animals safe
Posted by: JimEdwards on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 01:24 PM
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The BVA Animal Welfare Foundation (BVA AWF) in conjunction with the Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS) has announced the launch of an update of its popular Pets and Poisons - Keeping Your Animals Safe leaflet, first produced in 2004.
Based on information compiled by the VPIS, the leaflet provides a valuable and easy reference guide for owners on preventing poisoning in the home, in the garden or in open spaces along with advice on what to do if you think your animal has been poisoned.
Veterinary practices can obtain batches of 50 leaflets for the waiting room, free of charge (although a donation to AWF is encouraged) directly from the BVA agents Ten Alps while members of the public can request a copy of the leaflet from BVA AWF direct.
The leaflet can be downloaded at: http://www.bva-awf.org.uk/resources/leaflets/pets_poisons_leaflet_2008_FINAL1.pdf.
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Animal Welfare: WSPA launches revised version of Concepts in Animal Welfare CD ROM
Posted by: JimEdwards on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 01:24 PM
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WSPA is Helping Veterinary Students Worldwide Learn About Animal Welfare
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A revised and expanded international syllabus to assist with the teaching of animal welfare in veterinary faculties has been launched by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) this week. The 2003 version of the ‘Concepts in Animal Welfare syllabus’ was the result of a long-standing collaboration with the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Medicine, one of the world’s first academic institutions to pioneer animal welfare teaching and research.
The content has been revised and updated by WSPA to reflect new developments in animal welfare. The revised version comprises 34 interactive modules on CD-ROM and encourages inclusion of specific topics within established veterinary syllabuses. It tackles a diverse range of subjects affecting farm and working animals, wildlife, companion animals and those used in experimentation.
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Animal Welfare: ‘Best practice’ farm project shows results in China
Posted by: JimEdwards on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 02:18 PM
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Chinese farms participating in the Model Farm Project – which spreads awareness of humane and sustainable farming practices – hosted representatives from project founders WSPA and Food Animal Initiative (FAI) in April for their first official visit.
The Model Farm Project began in 2006, when WSPA teamed up with the Oxford-based FAI to promote best practise animal welfare to farms in China and Brazil, two of the world’s biggest meat producing countries.
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