Negative attitudes of Danish dairy farmers to their livestock correlates negatively with animal welfare

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
SN Andreasen ◽  
P Sandøe ◽  
S Waiblinger ◽  
B Forkman

Positive stockperson attitudes to his or her animals is associated with a positive behavioural response in the animals and in other indicators assumed to reflect a high level of welfare as well as increased productivity, eg in milk yield. Conversely, negative attitudes have been found to have the opposite effect. However, so far, no attempt has been made to link the attitudes of stockpersons to outcomes of comprehensive protocols assessing animal welfare at farm level. In the study reported here, attitudes of Danish dairy farmers are compared with the on-farm welfare of dairy cows as assessed by the Welfare Quality® (WQ) protocol. In 35 dairy herds the welfare was assessed, and the farmers filled in a self-report questionnaire on their attitudes to dairy cows and how they should be handled. The farmers on the farms with the lowest total welfare score could, according to the self-report questionnaire, be characterised as those with a negative attitude to the handling of cows (eg less strongly disliked to kick a cow or use a stick, when necessary). As expected, farmer behavioural attitudes regarding different situations correlated: for example, farmers who liked more to work with and have positive interactions with the cows also agreed more on patient handling and the importance of regular positive contact. Furthermore, farms where farmers gave cows a positive characteristic were found to score highly on the WQ principle 'Appropriate behaviour'.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-116
Author(s):  
Nataliya S. Mastikova

The studies of attitudes towards migration in Russia indicate a negative attitude of the receiving population towards migrants and the consequences they bring. Despite the fact that there are works done on individual waves of the European Social Survey (ESS) study, the question remains as to what the dynamics of attitudes towards migration in Russia is and what is the reason for the negative attitude. A review of studies on the causes of negative attitudes towards migrants over the years has shown that in most studies the economic factor has the strongest explanatory power. More pronounced negative attitude in countries with a large proportion of migrants in the population, with a high level of unemployment in the country. In an article based on data from the five waves (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016), the ESS examines the attitude of Russians to migration over a period of 10 years. At the 2016 data, there is an increase in negative assessments of the variables under consideration, which characterize the attitude towards the relocation of migrants into the country of the respondent and the assessment of the changes introduced by migrants. Using regression with dummy variables, an attempt is made to determine the factors affecting the attitude of Russians to migrants. Several models have been built, including economic, cultural, contextual, sociodemographic factors and the human capital factor, in addition, all models included the variable of the year of study, taking into account the effect of the period. It was revealed that none of the models constructed explains the attitude of Russians towards migrants in the dynamics of years in Russia, the coefficient of determination in all versions of the models built did not exceed 1%. The conclusion about the limitations of the database to identify factors influencing the attitude of Russians to migrants in the dynamics of years is substantiated. Restrictions, in particular, are related to the fact that many of the variables of interest do not repeat in all ESS waves, which makes it impossible to study them in dynamics. The potential of qualitative methods as a possible option for further study of the topic is discussed.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 881
Author(s):  
Frank J. C. M. van Eerdenburg ◽  
Alice M. Di Giacinto ◽  
Jan Hulsen ◽  
Bert Snel ◽  
J. Arjan Stegeman

The Welfare Quality® assessment protocol (WQ) is the most extensive way to measure animal welfare. This study was set up to determine if resource-based welfare indicators, that are easier and faster to measure, could replace the more time consuming, animal-based measurements of the WQ. The WQ was applied on 60 dairy farms in the Netherlands, with good, moderate and poor welfare. The WQ protocol classified most farms (87%) as ‘acceptable’. Several of the animal-based measures of WQ correlated well with measures in the environment. Using these correlations, an alternative welfare assessment protocol (new Welfare Monitor) was designed, which takes approximately 1.5 h for a farm with 100 dairy cows. Because the opinion of farmers about welfare assessment is important if one wants to improve conditions for the cows at a farm, another objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the new Welfare Monitor for the farmer. Over two years, the farms were visited, and advice was given to improve the conditions at the farm. After the first welfare assessment and advice, farmers improved the conditions for their cows substantially. Farms where the category score had increased made more improvements on average than those that did not upgrade.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2645
Author(s):  
Giulia Ventura ◽  
Valentina Lorenzi ◽  
Francesca Mazza ◽  
Gianfilippo Alessio Clemente ◽  
Claudia Iacomino ◽  
...  

The concept of animal welfare (AW) has many meanings. Traditionally, AW has been considered as freedom from disease and suffering. Nowadays, growing attention goes to the concept of “positive animal welfare” (PAW), which can be interpreted within the concept of quality of life (QoL), thinking about a “balance of positives over negatives” and a “life worth living”. In this vision, where the QoL represents a continuum between positives and negatives, the Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (CReNBA), within the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna (IZSLER), has developed a welfare assessment protocol for dairy cows, heifers, and calves in loose housing systems, including both animal-based and non-animal-based indicators, in which not only hazards but also benefits are identified. This protocol is part of an integrated monitoring system called “ClassyFarm”, belonging to the Italian Ministry of Health and developed by IZSLER. The aim of this paper is to extrapolate from the mentioned protocol, a list of 38 best farming practices (on managerial and equipment factors) for ensuring a high level of welfare in dairy cattle. All stakeholders (veterinarians, farmers, competent authorities, consumers, etc.) can benefit of these best practices as a guide or toolbox to ensure a life worth living for these animals.


Author(s):  
Lincango-Naranjo Eddy ◽  
Solis-Pazmino Paola ◽  
Rodriguez-Villafuerte Santiago ◽  
Lincango-Naranjo Jose ◽  
Vinueza-Moreano Paul ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundAs the disease caused by the new coronavirus has spread globally, economic instability in healthcare systems has been significant, and the lack of knowledge, positive attitudes and appropriate practices among people has led to the magnification of this disease. This reality is especially accentuated in Ecuador where, although many healthcare workers have been called to help in the regions most affected, the shortage of them combined with cultural and macroeconomic factors have led Ecuador to face the most aggressive outbreak in Latin America. In this context, the participation on the front line of final year medical students is indispensable. For that reason, appropriate training on COVID-19 for final year medical students is an urgent need that universities and health systems must guarantee. We aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices in Ecuadorian final year medical students in order to identify the knowledge gaps, perceptions and behavior patterns which could guide the design of better medical education curricula regarding COVID-19.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional 33-item online survey conducted between April 6 to April 20 assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and prognosis toward COVID-19 in Ecuadorian final year medical students. It was sent by email and by Facebook and WhatsApp.ResultsA total of 309 students responded to the survey. 88% of students scored high (≥ 70% correct) for knowledge of the disease. The majority of students were pessimistic about possible government actions, which is reflected in the negative attitude towards the control of COVID-19 in Ecuador and volunteering during the outbreak (77%, and 58% of the students, respectively). Moreover, 91% of students said they did not have adequate protective equipment or training in their health facilities.ConclusionsThe high level of students’ knowledge, with coexisting negative attitudes, suggests Ecuador has a capable upcoming workforce that could benefit from an opportunity to strengthen, improve and advance their training in preparation for COVID-19. Creating a national curriculum may be one of the most effective ways for all students to be trained, while simultaneously focusing on the students’ most pressing concerns. Hopefully with this, negative attitudes will improve and students will be better qualified.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Banda

BACKGROUND Occupational conditions are deadly health hazards especially where dust exposure is inevitable causing chronic disabilities, impaired respiratory function and ultimately leading to death if no intensive measures are put in place. Unhealthy practices and negative attitudes rise in the number of cases of pneumoconiosis due to poor health education and awareness strategies. Pneumoconiosis is not only a health problem but also a social and economic burden on the livelihood of people living in mining areas around the globe. OBJECTIVE to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of miners and post-occupational miners towards pneumoconiosis in Wusakile Township, Kitwe, Zambia. METHODS A cross-sectional study was employed to conduct a research in Wusakile Township and a questionnaire was customized in order to syphon data relevant to the study as well to be brief. The study was conducted among 73 participants who were randomly selected among miners and post-occupational miners and all satisfied the inclusion criteria. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to collect data. The data was entered and analysed using IBM SPSS software version 23. RESULTS Among 73 participants interviewed, 33.99% of participants had poor knowledge on the complications of pneumoconiosis. However, despite this poor knowledge, all participants had an idea about pneumoconiosis particularly silicosis. 13.70% of the respondents had bad practices towards pneumoconiosis while 86.30% had some good practices towards pneumoconiosis. Of the total participants, 19.18% of the participants had a negative attitude towards pneumoconiosis. Correlation between the level of education and practices of participants using Pearson Chi-Square, a p value of 0.021 (significant) was found ruling out the null hypothesis. CONCLUSIONS Information about pneumoconiosis and awareness programs towards pneumoconiosis are not widely disseminated among miners and post-occupational miners. There is still a significant number of participants who need to be educated more about pneumoconiosis and its complications so that attitude and practices are improved and also promote full community participation by involving competent health professionals to help in implementing preventive measures.


Author(s):  
Nardeen Shafik ◽  
Savana Deeb ◽  
Kriengkrai Srithanaviboonchai ◽  
Pisittawoot Ayood ◽  
Rungnapa Malasao ◽  
...  

Human Immunodeficiency Virus self-testing (HIVST) was recently introduced in Thailand, but little is known about receptivity among its residents. Because Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) testing is a critical component of HIV prevention, it is important to understand how HIVST is perceived among potential users. The purpose of this study was to examine awareness and attitudes toward HIVST among adults in Northern Thailand. A convenience sample of 403 adult residents of the Sanpatong district, Chiang Mai Province, was interviewed using a structured questionnaire in 2019. Awareness of HIVST was low (14%), as was the overall HIVST negative attitude score (6.44; possible range of 0–14). The odds of being aware of HIVST were more than twice as high for those with more education compared to those with less (AOR = 2.29, 95% CI: 1.22–4.30), and roughly half as high for those who expressed HIV stigma compared to those who did not (AOR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.26–0.91). Holding negative attitudes towards HIVST also was associated with lower education and expressing HIV stigma, but these relationships disappeared in multivariate analysis. Findings may be used by local health organizations to tailor HIVST education efforts.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232199642
Author(s):  
Ringa Raudla ◽  
James W. Douglas ◽  
Zachary Mohr

Civil servants vary in the degree to which they hold technocratic attitudes. We explore whether bureaucrats’ exposure to politics and politicians is associated with the depoliticization dimension of the technocratic mentality. We use survey data of high-level executives in 19 European countries to explore factors that are associated with executives’ perceptions that removing issues and activities from the realms of politics leads to more farsighted policies. We find that respondents’ level of exposure to politics and politicians is indeed negatively associated with technocratic mentality. Bureaucrats have studied political science or public administration, work closer to politicians (in terms of type of organization), interact with them more frequently, and have more positive perceptions of these interactions tend to have lower levels of technocratic attitudes. Points for practitioners Beliefs affect behaviors and behaviors affect outcomes. Technocratic attitudes may limit the ability of civil servants to work effectively with politicians. We show that educational degrees that promote democratic values and exposure to politicians (particularly positive interactions) are associated with lower levels of technocratic attitudes. Given that a proper balance between political and technical knowledge can enhance organizational performance (Krause et al., 2006), these findings should be taken into account when staffing and structuring public organizations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 2024
Author(s):  
Natalie Turner ◽  
Pevindu Abeysinghe ◽  
Pawel Sadowski ◽  
Murray D. Mitchell

The reproductive status of dairy cows remains a challenge for dairy farmers worldwide, with impaired fertility linked to a significant reduction in herd profitability, due in part to impaired immunity, increased metabolic pressure, and longer postpartum anestrous interval (PPAI). Exosomes are nanovesicles released from a variety of cell types and end up in circulation, and carry proteins, bioactive peptides, lipids, and nucleic acids specific to the place of origin. As such, their role in health and disease has been investigated in humans and animals. This review discusses research into exosomes in the context of reproduction in dairy herds and introduces recent advances in mass-spectrometry (MS) based proteomics that have a potential to advance quantitative profiling of exosomal protein cargo in a search for early biomarkers of cattle fertility.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-70
Author(s):  
M. A. Rahman ◽  
Y. A. Sarker ◽  
M. M. Parvej ◽  
A. Parvin ◽  
M. A. Rimon ◽  
...  

The research work was designed to assess farmers’ knowledge, attitude and practices about bovine mastitis. The data were collected by using structured questionnaire through face to face interview techniques among the 65 dairy farmers of Dhaka, Mymensingh, and Gazipur.  Disproportionate stratified random sampling was used to select the farmers based on study areas. Most of the studied farms are small (75.4%) in the studied area, only a few (10.8%) farms were large in Dhaka. In Gazipur and Mymensingh almost (86.2%) firms were small and rest of (13.8%) was medium. According to farmer’s knowledge, major cause of mastitis was microorganisms (46.15%), but 20% farmer reported that it is due to injury and 27.69% farmer don’t know the causes of the mastitis. Most of the farmers (87.7%) think that the source of infection is unhygienic floor, but others have no clear conception about it. Before milking only 23.10% farmers’ wash the whole udder where 58.5% used single towel. About 76.9% farmers have no knowledge of screening mastitis and only 9.2% of total farmers performed regular mastitis checking. Among the farmers, 55.4% are used antiseptic solution during washing the floor and others wash their floor only by water. Highest number of farmer use Tube well water (44.6%) for daily management of their farms. Most of the farmer takes suggestions from village doctor or pharmaceutical representative (64.62%) for maintaining the diseases condition. This study recommends that identification of factors associated with sub-clinical mastitis will help to take necessary steps to reduce the prevalence of sub-clinical mastitis. The most effective way to control sub-clinical mastitis is to take preventive measures such as regular cleaning of the floor, keeping the udder clean, milkman's cleanliness, and dry cow therapy especially in high yielding dairy cows.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason A. Randall ◽  
Aiste Guobyte ◽  
Laure Delbecque ◽  
Louise Newton ◽  
Tara Symonds ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is a chronic gastrointestinal disease that often presents during one’s most productive years and is characterized by colon inflammation. Key symptoms and impacts in adults are well-known, however, experiences among pediatric populations have not been well documented. The purpose of this study was to understand the health-related quality of life and symptomatic experience of children (2–11 years) living with UC. Methods Qualitative, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted. Children aged 5–11 years were interviewed, as well as their parents/caregivers in matched dyads. Parents/caregivers of children aged2–4 years were interviewed within a parent/caregiver-only cohort. All participants were recruited from the United States. Interviews were coded using thematic analysis. Results Key symptoms and impacts reflecting the lived experience of UC were identified following thematic analysis, generating a conceptual model. A total of 32 participants (20 parents/caregivers and 12 children) were interviewed. Results identified a substantial burden of UC in children. All children and parents/caregivers reported that they/their child experienced stomach/abdominal pain. Other symptoms discussed by over 75% were blood in stool, diarrhea/loose stools, stool urgency, incomplete evacuation, stool frequency, and feeling gassy/passing gas. The most frequently discussed impacts by over 75% of participants were on emotional and practical aspects, seriously affecting quality of life. Conclusions Qualitative analysis of the interviews identified a substantial burden of UC on children, with a profound impact on their lives. The symptomatic experience is reflective of adults and adolescents. A high level of agreement between parents/caregivers and children was demonstrated regarding the perception of the presence or absence of symptoms. Children aged 8–11 years showed higher levels of agreement with parents/caregivers than did younger children, indicating appropriateness of self-report of symptom data in the 8–11 years age group.


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