A benchmarking study of animal care practices related to cattle pain and stress in cow-calf operations in Western Canada

Date
2016
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Abstract
Pain and stress are two major concerns in terms of animal welfare. The “Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Beef Cattle” (COPB) is a Canadian set of guidelines that promotes optimal husbandry practices. Cow-calf producers in western Canada were sent a questionnaire to identify current management practices associated with cattle pain and stress. Fifteen respondents were interviewed on-farm to explore producers’ perceptions of pain in cattle and their rationale for the acceptance or rejection of pain and stress mitigation strategies. The majority of producers did not use pain mitigation at processing, but processed calves at an early age. The majority of respondents did not properly confirm death following on-farm euthanasia, did not use a non-abrupt weaning method, and had not read the COPB. Qualitative results of this study may provide direction for policy-making, research, and extension efforts to encourage the adoption of pain and stress mitigation practices.
Description
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Veterinary Science
Citation
Moggy, M. A. (2016). A benchmarking study of animal care practices related to cattle pain and stress in cow-calf operations in Western Canada (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/24632