scholarly journals The Benefits of Improving Animal Welfare from the Perspective of Livestock Stakeholders across Asia

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Sinclair ◽  
Claire Fryer ◽  
Clive Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Livestock Industry ◽  
Human Welfare ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Perceived Benefit ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Productive Output

In this study, 17 focus group meetings were held with livestock industry leaders in geographically dispersed areas of China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh, regarding animal welfare issues, potential solutions and attitudes. Livestock leaders were asked ‘what do you see as the benefits to improving animal welfare’ and later to discuss the potential benefits and rank them according to their associated importance. While differences existed by country, the most important perceived benefit area across all countries was financial in nature, primarily focussed on the potential to increase the productive output of the animals and to improve meat and product quality. However, doubt existed around the ability to increase profit against the cost of improving animal welfare, particularly in China. Human health benefits and the tie to human welfare and community livelihood were considered most important in India and Bangladesh, and animal-focussed benefits were not significant in any countries, except India and, to a lesser extent, Bangladesh. Thus, improving animal welfare for the sake of the animals is unlikely to be a compelling argument. The results presented here can be used to create meaningful mutual ground between those that advocate improvement of animal welfare and the stakeholders that have the ability to implement it, i.e., the livestock industry.

scholarly journals Animal sales from Wuhan wet markets immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Xiao ◽  
Chris Newman ◽  
Christina D. Buesching ◽  
David W. Macdonald ◽  
Zhao-Min Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Protected Species ◽  
Zoonotic Infections ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Poor Welfare

AbstractHere we document 47,381 individuals from 38 species, including 31 protected species sold between May 2017 and November 2019 in Wuhan’s markets. We note that no pangolins (or bats) were traded, supporting reformed opinion that pangolins were not likely the spillover host at the source of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. While we caution against the misattribution of COVID-19’s origins, the wild animals on sale in Wuhan suffered poor welfare and hygiene conditions and we detail a range of other zoonotic infections they can potentially vector. Nevertheless, in a precautionary response to COVID-19, China’s Ministries temporarily banned all wildlife trade on 26th Jan 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic concludes, and permanently banned eating and trading terrestrial wild (non-livestock) animals for food on 24th Feb 2020. These interventions, intended to protect human health, redress previous trading and enforcement inconsistencies, and will have collateral benefits for global biodiversity conservation and animal welfare.

scholarly journals Legal Complexities of Animal Welfare in Australia: Do On-Animal Sensors Offer a Future Option?

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Jaime Manning ◽  
Deborah Power ◽  
Amy Cosby
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Data Transmission ◽  
Continuous Measurement ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Value Proposition ◽  
Data Governance ◽  
Behavioural State ◽  
A Value ◽  
Welfare Measures ◽  
The Cost

The five freedoms and, more recently, the five domains of animal welfare provide internationally recognised frameworks to evaluate animal welfare practices which recognise both the physical and mental wellbeing needs of animals, providing a balanced view of their ability to cope in their environment. Whilst there are many techniques to measure animal welfare, the challenge lies with how best to align these with future changes in definitions and expectations, advances in science, legislative requirements, and technology improvements. Furthermore, enforcement of current animal welfare legislation in relation to livestock in Australia and the reliance on self-audits for accreditation schemes, challenges our ability to objectively measure animal welfare. On-animal sensors have enormous potential to address animal welfare concerns and assist with legislative compliance, through continuous measurement and monitoring of an animal’s behavioural state and location being reflective of their wellbeing. As reliable animal welfare measures evolve and the cost of on-animal sensors reduce, technology adoption will increase as the benefits across the supply chain are realised. Future adoption of on-animal sensors by producers will primarily depend on a value proposition for their business being clear; algorithm development to ensure measures are valid and reliable; increases in producer knowledge, willingness, and trust in data governance; and improvements in data transmission and connectivity.

scholarly journals Methods to Prevent Future Severe Animal Welfare Problems Caused by COVID-19 in the Pork Industry

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 830
Author(s):  
Temple Grandin
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Electrical Parameters ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Pork Industry ◽  
Third Party Auditing ◽  
The Cost ◽  
High Welfare

In the U.S., the most severe animal welfare problems caused by COViD-19 were in the pork industry. Thousands of pigs had to be destroyed on the farm due to reduced slaughter capacity caused by ill workers. In the future, both short-term and long-term remedies will be needed. In the short-term, a portable electrocution unit that uses scientifically validated electrical parameters for inducing instantaneous unconsciousness, would be preferable to some of the poor killing methods. A second alternative would be converting the slaughter houses to carcass production. This would require fewer people to process the same number of pigs. The pandemic revealed the fragility of large centralized supply chains. A more distributed supply chain with smaller abattoirs would be more robust and less prone to disruption, but the cost of pork would be greater. Small abattoirs can coexist with large slaughter facilities if they process pigs for specialized premium markets such as high welfare pork. The pandemic also had a detrimental effect on animal welfare inspection and third party auditing programs run by large meat buyers. Most in-person audits in the slaughter plants were cancelled and audits were done by video. Video audits should never completely replace in-person audits.

scholarly journals Roles of citrus secondary metabolites in tree and fruit defence against pests and pathogens

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-62
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Kahramanoglu ◽  
Serhat Usanmaz
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Caffeic Acid ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Plant Defence ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Diverse Group ◽  
Coumaric Acid ◽  
Horticultural Crops ◽  
Potential Benefits

Plants have evolved several mechanisms to protect themselves from different biotic and abiotic challenges, including pest and pathogen attacks. One of the most important mechanisms is the secondary metabolites (SM) (terpenes, phenolics and nitrogen/sulphur-containing compounds). The plants have synthesised a diverse group of compounds in different concentrations (mostly in very small quantities) and have important roles in plant defence, survival, adaptation, and reproduction. Citrus crops are among the most essential cultivated fruit groups and are rich in terpenoids and phenolics. Besides the well-known benefits of these compounds on human health, they have a significant role in plant/fruit defence against biotic and abiotic challenges. This review aims to highlight the importance of these compounds (such as limonene, citral, saponin, hesperidin, quercetin, tangeritine, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, scoparone, etc.) and discuss their roles in tree and fruit defence against pests and pathogens. In today’s world, where there is an essential human impact on nature, a need is raised to reduce pesticides against pests and pathogens. Therefore, understanding the roles of these SM and their induction is believed to have a significant positive impact on the production and/or storage of horticultural crops and may help reduce the use of synthetic agrochemicals. In line with this information, present review was aimed to provide a background information for researchers, farmers, horticulturalists and technology developers about the potential benefits of SM on plant/fruit defence and a guideline about their induction.

scholarly journals Global Prospects of the Cost-Efficiency of Broiler Welfare in Middle-Segment Production Systems

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luuk S.M. Vissers ◽  
Ingrid C. de Jong ◽  
Peter L.M. van Horne ◽  
Helmut W. Saatkamp
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Middle Segment ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
The Cost

In the 2000s, the idea of a so-called middle-segment arose in North-West Europe to address the criticism on intensive broiler production systems. Middle-segment systems being indoor housing of slower-growing broiler strains at a stocking density ≤38 kg/m2. Previous literature showed that Dutch middle-segment systems entail a relatively large gain in animal welfare at a relatively low increase in costs, i.e., have a high cost-efficiency. The question is to what extent these findings are applicable to other countries. Therefore, the aim of this study is to gain insight in the global prospects of middle-segment systems by exploring the cost-efficiency of these systems in other parts of the world. A set of representative countries, containing the Netherlands, United States and Brazil were selected. Cost-efficiency was defined as the ratio of the change in the level of animal welfare and the change in production costs. The level of animal welfare was measured by the Welfare Quality (WQ) index score. Data was collected from literature and consulting experts. Results show that in the Netherlands, United States and Brazil a change from conventional towards a middle-segment system improves animal welfare in a cost-efficient manner (the Netherlands 9.1, United States 24.2 and Brazil 12.1). Overall, it can be concluded that in general middle-segment production systems provide a considerable increase in animal welfare at a relatively small increase in production costs and therefore offer good prospects for a cost-efficient improvement of broiler welfare.

scholarly journals Knowledge management a competitive edge for law firms in Botswana in the changing business environment

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine Fombad
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Law Firms ◽  
Private Sector Development ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Knowledge Based Economy ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Cost

Background: Law firms in Botswana offer a particularly interesting context to explore the effects of transition in the knowledge economy. Acquiring and leveraging knowledge effectively in law firms through knowledge management can result in competitive advantage; yet the adoption of this approach remains in its infancy. Objectives: This article investigates the factors that will motivate the adoption of knowledge management in law firms in Botswana, and creates an awareness of the potential benefits of knowledge management in these firms.Method: The article uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods and the survey research design. A survey was performed on all 115 registered law firms and 217 lawyers in Botswana. Interviews were conducted with selected lawyers for more insight. Results: Several changes in the legal environment have motivated law firms to adopt knowledge management. Furthermore, lawyers appreciate the potential benefits of knowledge management. Conclusion: With the rise of the knowledge-based economy, coupled with the pressures faced by the legal industry in recent years, law firms in Botswana can no longer afford to rely on the traditional methods of managing knowledge. Knowledge management will, therefore, enhance the cost effectiveness of these firms. Strategic knowledge management certainly helps to prepare law firms in Botswana to be alive to the fact that the systematic harnessing of legal knowledge is no longer a luxury, but an absolute necessity in the knowledge economy. It will also provide an enabling business environment for private sector development and growth and, therefore, facilitate Botswana’s drive towards the knowledge-based economy.

scholarly journals Is online fraud just fraud? Examining the efficacy of the digital divide

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra Cross
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Government Funding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Fraud ◽  
Perceived Benefit ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Media ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Fraud is not a new offence. However, the recent evolution and proliferation of technologies (predominantly the internet) has seen offenders increasingly use virtual environments to target and defraud victims worldwide. Several studies have examined the ways that fraud is perpetrated with a clear demarcation between terrestrial and cyber offences. However, with moves towards the notion of a “digital society” and recognition that technology is increasingly embedded across all aspects of our lives, it is important to consider if there is any advantage in categorising fraud against the type of environment it is perpetrated in. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the perceived utility of differentiating online and offline fraud offences. It is based upon the insights of thirty-one professionals who work within the “fraud justice network” across London, UK and Toronto, Canada. Findings It highlights both the realities faced by professionals in seeking to ether maintain or collapse such a differentiation in their everyday jobs and the potential benefits and challenges that result. Practical implications Overall, the paper argues that the majority of professionals did not feel a distinction was necessary and instead felt that an arbitrary divide was instead a hindrance to their activities. However, while not useful on a practical front, there was perceived benefit regarding government, funding and the media. The implications of this moving forward are considered. Originality/value This paper provides new insights into how fraud justice network professionals understand the distinction between fraud offences perpetrated across both online and offline environments.

scholarly journals Commentary: Causal Inference for Social Exposures

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay S. Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Observational Study ◽  
Causal Inference ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Social Epidemiology ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The Cost

Social epidemiology seeks to describe and quantify the causal effects of social institutions, interactions, and structures on human health. To accomplish this task, we define exposures as treatments and posit populations exposed or unexposed to these well-defined regimens. This inferential structure allows us to unambiguously estimate and interpret quantitative causal parameters and to investigate how these may be affected by biases such as confounding. This paradigm has been challenged recently by some critics who favor broadening the exposures that may be studied beyond treatments to also consider states. Defining the exposure protocol of an observational study is a continuum of specificity, and one may choose to loosen this definition, incurring the cost of causal parameters that become commensurately more vague. The advantages and disadvantages of broader versus narrower definitions of exposure are matters of continuing debate in social epidemiology as in other branches of epidemiology.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document