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Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain
Chapter 5: Promoting the benefits of animal health and welfare: prevention is better than cure
The strategic outcome "prevention is better than cure" speaks for itself; animals that are cared for appropriately and in accordance with existing welfare standards are more likely to be healthy, and less likely to contract or spread disease. It is therefore essential for all animal owners to have the necessary skills to care for their animals, exercising good practice and using veterinary services and medicines appropriately.
In the livestock industry minimising disease and welfare impacts through good husbandry should maximise profitability and help maintain rural sustainability. Each year, the industry culls large numbers of livestock animals due to poor health and loss of productivity. This should be unnecessary and unacceptable and is an unsustainable approach to rearing livestock. The control of notifiable disease often requires the compulsory slaughter of animals to eradicate or control the spread of disease. This is disruptive to the industry and costly both to the rural economy and the taxpayer.
Fit and healthy animals which are appropriately cared for are likely to be higher yielding or remain productive over a longer period of time. They can also be more profitable, particularly if they can be sold with certification to demonstrate freedom from certain diseases or compliance with certain welfare standards. High standards of animal health and welfare may also help reduce the need for medicines such as anti-microbials, reducing production costs. It is therefore in the interests of farmers and vets to improve livestock management practices.
5.1 Animal Health Planning and promotion of best practice
Livestock owners can improve the health and welfare of their animals through animal health planning. This involves:
identification of risks of introduction and spread of disease and infections;
early recognition of disease; and
prioritising measures to control any existing problems and manage risks, including the responsible use of medicines.
Significant health and welfare benefits may be realised through simple and inexpensive modifications to housing and husbandry systems, including:
preventing the introduction of endemic diseases or zoonoses and thus improving the productivity of the overall herd or flock; and
slowing or minimising the spread of disease from one farm to another during an exotic disease outbreak.
Whilst some of the essential elements of farm health and welfare plans are laid down in the codes of recommendation for the welfare of livestock, Government is working with stakeholders to develop a common understanding of animal health planning and good practice in disease prevention. This is just one part of the Government's role as facilitator to help identify best practice and encourage its use in partnership with industry.
HI Health Scheme HI Health, managed by the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) on behalf of a farmer led board with input from practising veterinary surgeons, is a good example of a partnership approach towards Animal Health Planning. HI Health has two levels of participation. All members participate at Level One. HI Health Level One requires one veterinary visit per year to advise on herd health including biosecurity measures, such as a strategy for buying in stock, and preventative management to control diseases of importance to that particular farm. This standardised approach to health planning has additional advantages. Information is collected at the visit on the incidence of endemic diseases and is fed back to farmers so that they can benchmark their enterprises against others. It is planned to expand the activity in such a way as to produce disease surveillance information of national benefit. HI Health Level Two gives the option of adding on health schemes to control, eradicate or confirm freedom from specific diseases such as Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD), Johne's diseases or Infectious Bovine Rhinotrachteitis (IBR). Level Two is managed by SAC Veterinary Services in partnership with veterinary surgeons in practice and has been adapted to allow whole island eradication to be put in place as well as catering for individual herds. |
Welsh Black Cattle Society's Herd Health Programme The Welsh Black Cattle Society's Herd Health Programme has been developed with the aim of improving health standards within participating herds, leading to certification of freedom from certain diseases of international importance such as Johne's disease, BVD, Leptospira, and IBR. |
5.2 Veterinary promotion of animal health and welfare
Vets are trusted by animal owners as a source of practical and reliable advice. This means vets are uniquely placed to help promote animal health and welfare and advise animal owners in disease prevention. Vets should be at the forefront of the development and delivery of specialised and proactive services such as animal health planning. There are encouraging developments with some practices and veterinary organisations taking the lead. However, if the large-animal part of the veterinary profession is to have a sustainable future, a broader culture change is needed. Government is exploring with the veterinary profession and livestock owners how this can best be achieved.
Working Group on vets and veterinary services Government has set up a working group to assist in responding to the recommendations and conclusions of the House of Commons EFRA Committee report on vets and veterinary services. The group consists of representatives of the veterinary profession, animal welfare organisations, the farming industry, and Government officials. A consultation exercise on the EFRA report will also inform the Government's response. This strategy has been able to benefit from the working group discussions which have considered the wider issues facing the veterinary profession. The impact of these issues on the longer-term future of the profession, particularly on the training needs for future vets and the market for their services, will feed in to the Implementation Plans flowing from this strategy. |
5.3 Training and skills
Animal owners have a responsibility to understand and meet their animals' needs. There are already legal requirements in some cases for those who care for animals (for example livestock hauliers and market operators) to show that they are competent. The competence of animal owners will be considered in forthcoming legislation, for example, on animal welfare.
Animal Welfare Legislation The new Animal Welfare Bill in England and Wales and Animal Health and Welfare Bill in Scotland will apply to all animals kept by man for whatever purpose, including companion animals. There will be a duty on all people keeping or responsible for animals not only to avoid cruelty but also to provide for the welfare needs of their animals. For the first time, companion animal owners will have a duty of care towards those animals. The responsibility will be firmly on the animal owner to make sure that they know about and understand their animals needs and to ensure that they are provided for. A casual or inadequate approach to animals will not be accepted, either under this strategy or the new legislation. The legislation is intended to provide enabling powers for secondary legislation which in due course can regulate such diverse activities as animal sanctuaries, livery yards, performing animals and greyhound racing. People who run commercial establishments housing or selling animals, may be required to obtain minimum qualifications. |
Skills of trained stockmen are vital in maintaining health and welfare and in identifying and managing disease and welfare problems at an early stage. Many animal owners are already highly skilled and the importance of these skills should be recognised and valued. The knowledge and skills that already exist in the livestock industry is a valuable resource and opportunities to network and share experiences should be encouraged. Government will work with farmer groups and colleges to promote this approach to training.
Livestock owners need ready access to training and advice to develop their existing skills further to move towards providing higher standards of animal health and welfare. As we champion and promote animal health and welfare planning the demand for training and advice will increase. Training advisors must be prepared to meet that challenge.
Biosecurity Training Module The Scottish Executive, Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) and Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) have developed a Biosecurity and Animal Health Planning Higher National qualification. This is a stand-alone module which can be delivered by higher and further education institutes/colleges and is a nationally recognised award accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. The focus of the module is to make candidates aware of the importance of biosecurity in reducing the risk of disease occurring or spreading to other animals. The module highlights to candidates the effect that exotic and endemic diseases can have on business productivity. Pilot studies of the module are being run at each of the Scottish Agricultural College Campuses during the 2004/2005 academic period. These studies will take the form of on-farm practicals, allowing candidates to put theory into practice in the context of making practical recommendations for a biosecurity policy within a commercial farming environment. |
As mentioned above, vets play a crucial role in providing advice and expertise to animal owners. They can train owners to identify health and welfare problems, prevent routine illnesses and deal with minor ailments. This in turn allows vets to concentrate more on the proactive and business support aspects of health and welfare planning thus helping owners raise their game. The veterinary profession needs to identify gaps and to develop new skills to meet this opportunity.
Dissemination of Research A review is under way by Government with research establishments and stakeholders into the dissemination of research results. The aim is to ensure that vets and colleges have the most upto- date information enabling effective knowledge transfer of good and best practice to livestock owners. If we are to encourage continuous improvement, high quality practical advice and guidance must be available in a form owners can readily use. |
The Moredun Foundation The Moredun Foundation (MF) is a charity committed to improving animal health and welfare through research and education. The MF supports research initiatives at the Moredun Research Institute that advance disease control methods and improves husbandry. The MF communicates best practice and the latest scientific developments on disease control via a range of mechanisms, including a variety of technical animal health newssheets and industry magazines, and presentations by Moredun vets and scientists at a range of free meetings with farmers and vets (often in association with the National Sheep Association). The continuous contact with the farming community ensures that Moredun's research remains rooted in the practical aspects of disease control. Moredun's work has had a national impact on livestock disease including identification of the cause of 18 diseases, characterisation of the pathogenesis of 23 diseases, development of 12 vaccines of which 8 are marketed, implementation strategies for 12 diseases and provision of surveillance for 36 diseases. |
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