Animal welfare provision for land-based livestock industries in Australia

Abstract

The land-based livestock industries in Australia face particular challenges in assuring high animal welfare standards due to large land areas and stock numbers, climatic extremes and relatively low inputs in terms of manpower and infrastructure. These factors make a major contribution to welfare issues associated with nutrition, health, mustering and handling, and transportation. In addition, welfare is seriously compromised by the invasive procedures that are conducted on livestock, such as castration, dehorning, mulesing and tail-docking. At least partial solutions to welfare issues associated with nutrition, health, mustering and handling are available now and should be universally adopted. There are potential solutions available for castration and dehorning, which require some further research and development. Genetic technologies can also provide a solution for dehorning, mulesing and tail-docking. Inevitably, all livestock experience transportation, and research and development is required to determine optimal practices for Australian conditions in order to minimise the negative impacts on animal welfare.