Animal welfare judging teams–a way to interface welfare science with traditional animal science curricula?
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
2003 |
Authors: |
C. R. Heleski, A. J. Zanella, E. A. Pajor |
Publication/Journal: |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Keywords: |
animal welfare, judging teams, welfare assessment |
ISBN: |
0168-1591 |
Abstract:
Animal evaluation courses have been part of animal science curricula for over 80 years in the US. A need for skills in the visual evaluation of conformation traits and the appraisal of productivity potential laid the foundation for animal judging courses. Eventually, these courses developed into competitions for students to compare their skill level. Following a similar framework, we propose that developing teams to educate young people about animal welfare, then establishing competitions to assess these skills will be a successful way to integrate animal welfare science into the mainstream of animal science curricula. Using traditional judging programs as a model, a paradigm for establishing animal welfare judging/assessment teams has been developed. Students take a background course in understanding evolutionary biology, biological needs, behavioral and physiological indicators of differing levels of welfare, and how to holistically evaluate facilities, stockmanship and management schemes. It should be noted that while the assessment of various aspects of animal welfare can be objective and quantifiable, judgment decisions of which area will be acceptable in the continuum between very poor and very good welfare still comes down to an ethics-based choice. Animal welfare assessment will teach students to integrate science-based knowledge with ethical values for an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving. The competition unfolds as follows: CD-ROM scenarios are prepared with indicators of animal welfare ranging from physiological data, video and still clips, to behavioral responses and time budgets. Students evaluate competition scenarios for each species being judged, prepare their analysis, then make an oral presentation of why they assess one scenario as demonstrating a higher level of welfare than another. The knowledge of welfare science in making the assessment, as well as the persuasion in the presentation, are key factors in scoring the students. A pilot competition was held March 1, 2002, at Michigan State University. Eighteen student participants from the University of Wisconsin, University of Guelph, Purdue University and Michigan State University competed in this pilot endeavor. Post-contest surveys demonstrated that 100% of the students felt the development of animal welfare judging teams was a good idea and that they would recommend the course to fellow students.