scholarly journals Farm Behaviour and Incentives for Animal Welfare: On Stimulating Interest in Cow Life Expectancy by Industry Attentiveness

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
E. A. Nuppenau

This contribution deals primarily with a new concept derived from institutional eco­nomi­cs, to improve animal health (eventually welfare, depending on the use of synonyms and actually measu­red as cow life expectancy, i.e. in figures: number of lactations). Based on consumer willingness to pay, it investigates a potential collaboration between a dairy industry whose aim is to diversify products and some farmers whose intention is to request compensation for a change of practices. For fin­ding practical attributes for health, we have a focus on practices promoting numbers of lacta­tions, currently at a low level in conventional farming. We distinguish farm types by str­ategies ask­ing why most farms are primarily aiming at maximal efficiency (feeding concentrates for high milk yields and having no grazing). Vice versa: this has raised public concern because (with big herds, high milk yields and minimal lactations) farmers seem to stress ani­mal welfare. We assume WTP exists for an improvement in animal health (though diffuse so far). I.e. on the one hand as a symptom of crisis, successes for gestation are low (almost half compared to those of farms “caring” for animals). On the other hand better practice can be financed if targeted by WTP. Further assumptions are: even the industry may admit problems with animal health, and within consumers’ and citizens’ circles, there is an increasing awareness and that WTP (finance) may enable private solutions. WTP could be used for those farmers doing better on animal welfare; but so far, markets have failed. We are confronted with different strategic behaviour of farmers (by sectors) whose commencing points (as ob­servation and deliberation) must be a willingness to change practices. A starting point should be insight into beha­viour(al) change and willingness to increase animal health (gestation), yet based on compen­sation. Compensation can be used to get more farmers interested in animal health, but it must be differentiated according to actions for improvement. In an institutional economics analysis of animal welfare, we will work out a concept of optimal compensation, preferably achieving cooperation between a dairy industry and willing farmers to lodge payments received from consumers. It means working on participation of actors in product diversi­fica­tion (milk identified by different sources) and transfer of money to those farmers who are ac­tu­ally working for animal health concerns. The paper further addresses selection of far­ms which manage to achieve set health goals and assure confirmation of achievements in increa­sing health. The goal is to increase the number of lactations. By utilizing contracted numbers of lactations as the basis for modelling a qua­n­­titative criterion which adequately shall reflect aspects of working for animal health (such as feeding practices, grazing, better husbandry (space and straw), caring (stress recovery), etc., is worked out and animal welfare shall improve. 

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2560
Author(s):  
Kai Wu ◽  
Ying Yu ◽  
Chen Chen ◽  
Zheming Fu

Several litigation strategies are used to gain support from courts in order to protect animals. While the emerging litigation strategy themed in One Health stimulates judicial protection in the animal health sector, little is known about whether and how such strategies are supported by courts. In this article, we investigate how animal welfare litigation strategies influence judge’s choices within their discretion. We argue that litigators equipped with the litigation strategy themed in One Health are placed in an advantageous position in animal health cases, but that this tendency varies markedly across zoonoses. Specifically, we suggest that litigators utilizing One Health’s litigation strategy are associated with higher probabilities to win, whereas normal litigators are not. Further, we propose that litigators equipped with the One Health litigation strategy are awarded more damages from judges. We test and find support for our predictions using a cross sectional dataset of civil lawsuit cases centering on the animal health industry in Chinese mainland. Our findings indicate that courts indeed were persuaded by the One Health litigation strategy, even when bound by the discretion rules. At the same time, we suggest that for advocates who would like to litigate for animal welfare in the animal health sector, the litigation strategy themed in One Health might have potentially positive implications.


2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kilian Bizer ◽  
Martin Führ

The starting point of the research project was the hypothesis that the "principle of proportionality", which is fundamental to law, is related to the "economic principle". The resulting methodological similarities were intended to enable a cross-disciplinary bridge to be built, which would allow the findings of economic analysis to be made fruitful for legal issues. This was practically tested in three study areas in order to be able to better classify the performance of the analytical tools. The foundations for interdisciplinary bridge building are found in the rational-choice paradigm. In both disciplines, this paradigm calls for an examination of the relationship between the purpose-means-relations: among the design options under consideration, the one must be selected that is expected to be as (freedom- or resource-) sparing as possible, in other words, the most "waste-free" solution to the control problem.The results of the economic analysis can thus be "translated" in such a way that, within the framework of "necessity", they support the search for control instruments that are equivalent to the objective but less disruptive. supports. The core of the positive economic analysis is the motivational situation of those actors whose behavior is to be influenced by a changed legal framework. In this context, the classical behavioral model of economics proved to be too limited. It therefore had to be developed further in line with the findings of research in institutional economics into homo oeconomicus institutionalis. This behavioral model takes into account not only the consequentialist, strictly situational utility orientation of the model person, but also other factors influencing behavior, including above all those that are institutionally mediated. If one takes the motivational situation of the actors as the starting point for policy-advising design recommendations, it becomes apparent that an understanding of governance dominated by imperative behavioral specifications leads to less favorable results, both in terms of the degree to which goals are achieved and in terms of the freedom-impairing effects, than a mixed-instrument approach oriented toward the model of "responsive regulation." According to this model, the law can no longer simply assume that those subject to the law will "obediently" execute the legal commands. It must ask itself what other factors determine behavior and under what boundary conditions changes can be expected in the direction of the desired behavior. For this reason, too, it must engage with the cognitive program of the behavioral sciences. This linkage opens up new perspectives for interdisciplinary research on the consequences of laws.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-208
Author(s):  
Anne Fawcett

Abstract Animal shelters, pounds and rescue organisations have evolved over time. Today they serve three purposes: to reduce animal welfare harms, to reduce harms to the community associated with free-roaming, stray or unwanted companion animals, and to reduce their associated environmental harms. This discussion explores the evolution of animal shelters, and argues that they are justified on utilitarian grounds. It explores unintended harms of shelters on animal welfare, including humane killing for the purposes of population control and shelter population management, as well as risks associated with confinement including behavioural deterioration and infectious diseases. It also explores harms to non-human animals, including moral distress and compassion fatigue. Finally, it explores potential environmental harms of shelters. The One Welfare concept, utilised in the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) Global Animal Welfare Strategy, acknowledges the interplay between animal welfare, human well-being and environmental sustainability. It is argued that the One Welfare framework is critical in minimising harms and maximising benefits associated with animal shelters.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 449-452
Author(s):  
Alan MacLeod ◽  
Nicola Spence

COVID 19 has raised the profile of biosecurity. However, biosecurity is not only about protecting human life. This issue brings together mini-reviews examining recent developments and thinking around some of the tools, behaviours and concepts around biosecurity. They illustrate the multi-disciplinary nature of the subject, demonstrating the interface between research and policy. Biosecurity practices aim to prevent the spread of harmful organisms; recognising that 2020 is the International Year of Plant Health, several focus on plant biosecurity although invasive species and animal health concerns are also captured. The reviews show progress in developing early warning systems and that plant protection organisations are increasingly using tools that compare multiple pest threats to prioritise responses. The bespoke modelling of threats can inform risk management responses and synergies between meteorology and biosecurity provide opportunities for increased collaboration. There is scope to develop more generic models, increasing their accessibility to policy makers. Recent research can improve pest surveillance programs accounting for real-world constraints. Social science examining individual farmer behaviours has informed biosecurity policy; taking a broader socio-cultural approach to better understand farming networks has the potential to change behaviours in a new way. When encouraging public recreationists to adopt positive biosecurity behaviours communications must align with their values. Bringing together the human, animal, plant and environmental health sectors to address biosecurity risks in a common and systematic manner within the One Biosecurity concept can be achieved through multi-disciplinary working involving the life, physical and social sciences with the support of legislative bodies and the public.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Raquel Fernández González ◽  
Marcos Íñigo Pérez Pérez

The return of institutions to the main research agenda has highlighted the importance of rules in economic analysis. The New Institutional Economics has allowed a better understanding of the case studies that concern different areas of knowledge, also the one concerning the management of natural resources. In this article, the institutional analysis focuses on the maritime domain, where two large civil liability regimes for pollution coexist (OPA 90-IMO), each in a different geographical area (United States - Europe). Therefore, a comparative analysis is made between the two large regimes of civil responsibility assignment applying them to the Prestige catastrophe. In this way, the allocation and distribution of responsibilities in the investigation and subsequent judicial process of the Prestige is compared with an alternative scenario in which the applicable compensation instruments are governed by the provisions of the Oil Polution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), in order to establish a rigorous analysis on the effects that the different norms can have in the same scenario. In the comparative established in the case of the Prestige, where the responsibilities were solved very slowly in a judicial process with high transaction costs, the application of rules governed by the OPA 90 would not count with such a high degree of imperfection. This is so, since by applying the preponderance of the evidence existing in OPA 90 there would be no mitigation for the presumed culprits. On the other hand, the agents involved in the sinking would not be limited only to the owner, but also that operators or shipowners would be responsible as well. In addition, the amount of compensation would increase when counting in the damage count the personal damages, the taxes without perceiving and the ecological damage caused in a broad sense, damages not computable in the IMO.


Author(s):  
Andrea Springer ◽  
Antje Glass ◽  
Julia Probst ◽  
Christina Strube

AbstractAround the world, human health and animal health are closely linked in terms of the One Health concept by ticks acting as vectors for zoonotic pathogens. Animals do not only maintain tick cycles but can either be clinically affected by the same tick-borne pathogens as humans and/or play a role as reservoirs or sentinel pathogen hosts. However, the relevance of different tick-borne diseases (TBDs) may vary in human vs. veterinary medicine, which is consequently reflected by the availability of human vs. veterinary diagnostic tests. Yet, as TBDs gain importance in both fields and rare zoonotic pathogens, such as Babesia spp., are increasingly identified as causes of human disease, a One Health approach regarding development of new diagnostic tools may lead to synergistic benefits. This review gives an overview on zoonotic protozoan, bacterial and viral tick-borne pathogens worldwide, discusses commonly used diagnostic techniques for TBDs, and compares commercial availability of diagnostic tests for humans vs. domestic animals, using Germany as an example, with the aim of highlighting existing gaps and opportunities for collaboration in a One Health framework.


2021 ◽  
pp. 053901842199894
Author(s):  
Frank Adloff ◽  
Iris Hilbrich

Possible trajectories of sustainability are based on different concepts of nature. The article starts out from three trajectories of sustainability (modernization, transformation and control) and reconstructs one characteristic practice for each path with its specific conceptions of nature. The notion that nature provides human societies with relevant ecosystem services is typical of the path of modernization. Nature is reified and monetarized here, with regard to its utility for human societies. Practices of transformation, in contrast, emphasize the intrinsic ethical value of nature. This becomes particularly apparent in discourses on the rights of nature, whose starting point can be found in Latin American indigenous discourses, among others. Control practices such as geoengineering are based on earth-systemic conceptions of nature, in which no distinction is made between natural and social systems. The aim is to control the earth system as a whole in order for human societies to remain viable. Practices of sustainability thus show different ontological understandings of nature (dualistic or monistic) on the one hand and (implicit) ethics and sacralizations (anthropocentric or biocentric) on the other. The three reconstructed natures/cultures have different ontological and ethical affinities and conflict with each other. They are linked to very different knowledge cultures and life-worlds, which answer very differently to the question of what is of value in a society and in nature and how these values ought to be protected.


Medicina ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 240
Author(s):  
Sarah Humboldt-Dachroeden ◽  
Alberto Mantovani

Background: One Health is a comprehensive and multisectoral approach to assess and examine the health of animals, humans and the environment. However, while the One Health approach gains increasing momentum, its practical application meets hindrances. This paper investigates the environmental pillar of the One Health approach, using two case studies to highlight the integration of environmental considerations. The first case study pertains to the Danish monitoring and surveillance programme for antimicrobial resistance, DANMAP. The second case illustrates the occurrence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk in dairy-producing ruminants in Italian regions. Method: A scientific literature search was conducted in PubMed and Web of Science to locate articles informing the two cases. Grey literature was gathered to describe the cases as well as their contexts. Results: 19 articles and 10 reports were reviewed and informed the two cases. The cases show how the environmental component influences the apparent impacts for human and animal health. The DANMAP highlights the two approaches One Health and farm to fork. The literature provides information on the comprehensiveness of the DANMAP, but highlights some shortcomings in terms of environmental considerations. The AFM1 case, the milk metabolite of the carcinogenic mycotoxin aflatoxin B1, shows that dairy products are heavily impacted by changes of the climate as well as by economic drivers. Conclusions: The two cases show that environmental conditions directly influence the onset and diffusion of hazardous factors. Climate change, treatment of soils, water and standards in slaughterhouses as well as farms can have a great impact on the health of animals, humans and the environment. Hence, it is important to include environmental considerations, for example, via engaging environmental experts and sharing data. Further case studies will help to better define the roles of environment in One Health scenarios.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Jaruwan Viroj ◽  
Julien Claude ◽  
Claire Lajaunie ◽  
Julien Cappelle ◽  
Anamika Kritiyakan ◽  
...  

Leptospirosis has been recognized as a major public health concern in Thailand following dramatic outbreaks. We analyzed human leptospirosis incidence between 2004 and 2014 in Mahasarakham province, Northeastern Thailand, in order to identify the agronomical and environmental factors likely to explain incidence at the level of 133 sub-districts and 1,982 villages of the province. We performed general additive modeling (GAM) in order to take the spatial-temporal epidemiological dynamics into account. The results of GAM analyses showed that the average slope, population size, pig density, cow density and flood cover were significantly associated with leptospirosis occurrence in a district. Our results stress the importance of livestock favoring leptospirosis transmission to humans and suggest that prevention and control of leptospirosis need strong intersectoral collaboration between the public health, the livestock department and local communities. More specifically, such collaboration should integrate leptospirosis surveillance in both public and animal health for a better control of diseases in livestock while promoting public health prevention as encouraged by the One Health approach.


2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabienne Archer ◽  
Alexandra Bobet-Erny ◽  
Maryline Gomes

AbstractThe number and severity of diseases affecting lung development and adult respiratory function have stimulated great interest in developing new in vitro models to study lung in different species. Recent breakthroughs in 3-dimensional (3D) organoid cultures have led to new physiological in vitro models that better mimic the lung than conventional 2D cultures. Lung organoids simulate multiple aspects of the real organ, making them promising and useful models for studying organ development, function and disease (infection, cancer, genetic disease). Due to their dynamics in culture, they can serve as a sustainable source of functional cells (biobanking) and be manipulated genetically. Given the differences between species regarding developmental kinetics, the maturation of the lung at birth, the distribution of the different cell populations along the respiratory tract and species barriers for infectious diseases, there is a need for species-specific lung models capable of mimicking mammal lungs as they are of great interest for animal health and production, following the One Health approach. This paper reviews the latest developments in the growing field of lung organoids.


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