“Improving Animal Welfare
- a practical approach”
Jo White - Progressive Ideas – Equine Welfare Consultant
Email: [email protected]
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Contents
• Presentation 1 - ‘the problems’:
– What do we mean by equine
welfare?
– The Five Freedoms, equine welfare
issues and the legislation.
• Presentation 2 - ‘the solutions’:
– Approaches
– Examples.
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Welfare Solutions – Questions to Ask
•
•
•
•
•
What is the welfare issue?
What is the cause?
What is the evidence?
Who is the target audience?
What is the best way to engage
the target audience?
• Who will collaborate/be a
partner in taking action?
• What are the barriers to
change?
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Welfare Solutions – Questions to Ask
• What are the possible
solutions?
• Is there evidence they work?
• Is there a mechanism to
evaluate and measure the
welfare improvements?
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Equine Welfare Concerns
• Understanding the horse - its needs,
behaviour, communication
• Poor care – inappropriate diet, lack of water,
exercise, hoof care, parasite prevention, skin
care, dental care...
• Inappropriate environment – stabling, lack
of turnout
• Signs of pain, injury, disease, stress
• Poor handling and training
• Markets and transport (low value and
slaughter)
• Indiscriminate breeding.
Copyright Progressive Ideas
© TSB/AWF
©Progressive Ideas
Equine Welfare Issues – Possible Causes?
•
•
•
•
•
Lack of knowledge?
Lack of practical experience?
Lack of resource?
Social issues?
Lack of care, excuses, ‘ostrich
syndrome’... justifications and
peer pressure.
© Horia Marusca
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Motivation and Purpose
• Establish reasons and
motivations for having a horse.
• What drives/ motivates the
owner/person responsible?
• Identify what motivates the
owner to identify how you
might deliver the solution.
• This will give you a clearer idea
of what they maybe receptive
to when working to initiate
change.
Copyright Progressive Ideas
©Progressive Ideas
Examples of Possible Motivating
Factors to Improve Welfare
• Working horse - will perform
more effectively / won’t
fatigue as quickly if given
sufficient/correct food and
water = increased work
efficiency for owner.
• Leisure horse - less likely to
suffer from laminitis and
Equine Metabolic Syndrome if
body weight is correct = avoid
vets bills and loss of use.
© Joanna Duszyk
Copyright Progressive Ideas
© Horia Marusca
Examples of Possible Motivating
Factors to Improve Welfare
• Sports horse - will perform better
if its feet are trimmed correctly =
increased chances of winning and
staying sound.
• Horse for slaughter – if the
horse is not injured during
transport, the carcase will not be
bruised and damaged providing
better quality meat = better
financial return.
©Progressive Ideas
© World Horse Welfare
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Approaches to Improve Equine Welfare?
Prevention – Treatment - Cure
• Policy = legislation, enforcement, overriding animal welfare
policy, at Government, local, or international level.
• Behaviour = a fundamental shift in the way someone
behaves (e.g. providing constant access to water).
• Awareness = aware of the issue and how to address it (e.g.
provide free access to water to avoid health issues).
• Practice = changing the way a task is undertaken (e.g. hoof
trimming every 6 – 8 weeks, rather than twice a year).
• Attitudes = a shift in mind set (e.g. recognise the benefits of
humane handling techniques).
• Approach = being proactive (e.g. Attending training events).
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Examples – Policy
• Strategies:
– EU Animal Welfare Strategy
– Perhaps a Polish Equine Welfare
Strategy?
• Legislation (national and EU):
– Polish animal welfare legislation
– Transport – Regulation (EC) 1/2005
– Future – EU Animal Welfare Framework Law.
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Examples – Policy
• Enforcement – improvements:
– Education, training and guidance
– Collaboration.
• Codes and Guidelines – e.g. Equine
Fitness for Transport
• Incentives – e.g. Awards for animal
welfare
• Capital Improvements and finance –
e.g. money to improve control
posts.
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Example 1 – Fitness for Transport
Guidelines
Copyright Progressive Ideas
What is it?
A practical and user-friendly
tool, to help anyone
involved in the
transportation of Equidae to
assess whether an animal is
fit for transport or not.
© World Horse Welfare
Copyright Progressive Ideas
The Goals
• Better understanding of
fitness for transport
• Consistent and uniform
approach
• Improved health and
welfare of all Equidae
transported in Europe.
© World Horse Welfare
Copyright Progressive Ideas
What the Guidelines Aren’t
• Not legally binding
• Not used to make a
diagnosis
• Not just for those
transporting for
economic purposes.
© World Horse Welfare
Copyright Progressive Ideas
The Scope
• All Equidae
• All parties involved in
equine transport
• All main forms of equine
transport
• All stages of the journey.
© World Horse Welfare
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Example 2 – Stable Modernisation
and Paddock Construction
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Incentive and Capital Improvement
© TSB/AWF
Copyright Progressive Ideas
What Role Can We Play?
© World Horse Welfare
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Human Behaviour Change
• The common denominator for
equine welfare problems =
humans.
• To improve the situation
people have to change their
attitude, approach and
practice = change their
behaviour.
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Human Behaviour Change – Delivering
Positive Welfare Improvements
Change in attitude, approach and practice through:
• Education and training
• Community and advocacy
• Collaboration and
partnership working
• ‘Nudge’.
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Awareness
• Awareness - a starting point for
positive change
• Raising awareness of responsible
animal ownership (e.g. not breeding
without a purpose or a plan)
• Recruiting support for change (e.g.
improvements at livestock markets)
• Starting the process of education
(e.g. promoting better hoof care,
issues of equine obesity...).
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Awareness
• Note – is only the starting point...but if people
aren’t aware, how can they change things for
the better?
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Example 3 – Raising Awareness of
the Risk of Disease
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Example – Awareness - Disease
Copyright Progressive Ideas
What Role Can We Play?
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Education and Training
• Provide the theoretical and
practical knowledge, expertise
and skills to improve to equine
welfare:
– Schools – educating future
generations
– Colleges and Universities (e.g.
equine management and
husbandry, welfare science,
veterinary, farriery)
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Education and Training
– Continuous professional
development and vocational
training (e.g. vets, farriers,
horse trainers, carers)
– Skills development (e.g. hoof
care, transporting animals)
– Owner education and
training (e.g. care and
welfare).
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Example 4 – Educational Training
Workshops and CPD
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Horse Welfare and Hoof Care Training
Workshop
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Veterinary CPD Training
Copyright Progressive Ideas
What Role Can We Play?
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Collaboration and Partnership Working
The opportunity for
NGO’s, authorities, the
veterinary profession
the horse industry to
work together to
improve equine
welfare.
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Advocacy, Engagement, Community
Participation
• Advocacy – providing a
voice and representation
• Engagement – gaining the
support and involvement
of those who can initiate
positive change
• Community orientated–
helping to facilitate the
identification of problems
and solutions to initiate
positive change.
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Example 5 – Collaboration,
Partnership, Engagement
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Collaboration and Partnership
© Redwings/NEWC
What Role Can We Play?
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Consider ‘Nudge’ as a Solution
• Nudge theory - a concept in behavioural science,
political theory and economics.
• Argues that positive reinforcement and indirect
suggestions to try to achieve non-forced compliance
can influence the motives, incentives and decision
making of groups and individuals alike, at least as
effectively – if not more effectively - than direct
instruction, legislation, or enforcement.
• “Putting fruit at eye level counts as a nudge. Banning
junk food does not”.
(Thaler and Sunstein, 2008)
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Could ‘Nudge’ work in animal welfare?
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Core Equine Welfare Concerns
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Understanding the horse
Poor care
Inappropriate environment
Signs of pain, injury, disease, stress
Poor handling and training
Markets and transport
Indiscriminate breeding.
© TSB/AWF
©Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas
Possible Areas of Focus
• Owners and handlers –
– stable environment
– horse care (particularly hooves, disease prevention,
humane handling, turnout)
– compliance with the legislation.
• Transport – compliance with the legislation and
improved standards
• Markets – compliance with the legislation and
improved standards
• Enforcement – equine welfare policy reviewed
and implemented
• Changing human behaviour – attitudes,
approach and practice.
Copyright Progressive Ideas
© TSB/AWF
©Progressive Ideas
A Few Ideas for Possible Practical Solutions
• Collaboration and partnership working – vets,
the authorities, NGOs and the horse industry
work together to develop and implement a
Polish Equine Welfare Strategy?
• Awareness raising and engagement activities –
on farm, at markets and events?
• Education and training – colleges, universities,
at markets, on farm, in the community (vets,
horse industry professionals, NGOs part of the
delivery)?
• Just a few suggestions among many possible
options...
• What do you think?
Copyright Progressive Ideas
©Joanna Duszyk
Dziękuję - Thank you for listening
A special thank you to the
animal welfare organisations and
individuals who allowed me use of
their photos:
• AWF/TSB
• World Horse Welfare
• Joanna Duszyk
• Vier Pfoten International
• Redwings Horse Sanctuary
• Horia Marusca
• Animals Angels.
© Progressive Ideas
Copyright Progressive Ideas