Results of a recent study will help prioritise animal welfare issues in the UK using expert consensus
Animal welfare remains an area of consistent public concern. To determine where limited funding resources should be directed, or to raise awareness of best practice, it is sometimes necessary to prioritise particular welfare issues to identify those needing special consideration. The relative importance of specific welfare issues can be determined by public concern, political interests or scientific assessment.
A recent study conducted at the University of Edinburgh used a modified Delphi procedure to create an overall ranking of welfare issues for managed animals in the UK. The species included in the study were: horses, cats, rabbits, exotics, wild-life, cattle, pigs, poultry, small ruminants and dogs. The study was funded by the Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF) with the aim of prioritising research and funding areas.
The study recruited 144 animal welfare experts, divided between 10 species groups. Experts were recruited from a range of disciplines, including practising veterinarians, academics, charity sector employees, industry representatives and policy officials. Two rounds of surveys were conducted online, and the final round was an in-person workshop with a subset of experts. The experts agreed that welfare issues should be ranked considering three categories: severity, duration and prevalence.
There are too many results from this Delphi study to present here in this article; however, some results of particular interest are presented below. Full results of this study are expected to be published in the Veterinary Record later this year. ...follow the link to read the article in full on the Veterinary Practice website