THIS COURSE WILL TRAIN CREW FOR THE BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR THE ANIMAL WELFARE AS PER THE RECOMMENTATIONS OF OIE -

Office International des Epizooties (OIE) -

The World Organisation for Animal Health 

Animal welfare means how an animal is coping with the conditions in which it lives. An animal is in a good state of welfareif (as indicated by scientific evidence) it is healthy, comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express innate behaviour,and if it is not suffering from unpleasant states such as pain, fear, and distress.Good animal welfare requires disease prevention and appropriate veterinary treatment, shelter, management andnutrition, humane handling and humane slaughter or killing.

Animal welfare refers to the state of the animal; the treatment that an animal receives is covered by other terms such as animal care, animal husbandry, and humane treatment.

Guiding principles for animal welfare

1) That there is a critical relationship between animal health and animal welfare.

2) That the internationally recognised 'five freedoms'

-freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition;

-freedom from fearand distress;

-freedom from physical and thermal discomfort;

-freedom from pain, injury and disease; and

-freedomto express normal patterns of behaviour

provide valuable guidance in animal welfare.

3) That the internationally recognised 'three Rs' (reduction in numbers of animals, refinement of experimental methods and replacement of animals with non-animal techniques) provide valuable guidance for the use of animals in science.

4) That the scientific assessment of animal welfare involves diverse elements which need to be considered together,and that selecting and weighing these elements often involves value-based assumptions which should be made as explicit as possible.

5) That the use of animals in agriculture, education and research, and for companionship, recreation and entertainment, makes a major contribution to the wellbeing of people.

6) That the use of animals carries with it an ethical responsibility to ensure the welfare of such animals to the greatest extent practicable.

7) That improvements in farm animal welfare can often improve productivity and food safety, and hence lead to economic benefits.

8) That equivalent outcomes based on performance criteria, rather than identical systems based on design criteria,be the basis for comparison of animal welfare standards and recommendations.