Stauffacher M
Zoologisches Institut, Abteilung Sozial- und Nutztierethologie, Universität Bern.
Schweiz Arch Tierheilkd. 1992;134(3):115-25.
The Swiss Federal Act on Animal Protection (1978) requires the sale of mass-produced housing systems for farm animals to be authorized by the Federal Veterinary Office. Authorization is only granted for housing systems that safeguard the animals' welfare. A concept for the assessment of Animal Welfare has to provide a high forensic value. The capacity of farm animals to adapt to an intensive housing system can be directly examined, whereas the existence and extent of subjective feelings can only be assumed. In our concept the examination focuses on the interaction of individuals with their artificial environment. The main question is whether or not the individuals are able to cope with given nonspecific (e.g. temperature, humidity) and specific (e.g. drinking troughs, behaviour of conspecifics) stimuli in order to reach the immediate (e.g. drinking, make way for) and ultimate (survival, reproduction success) goals. Animals of the same breed are observed in a highly diverse environment in order to determine normal behaviour. Whether behavioural expressions which differ significantly from normal behaviour are adaptive to the restrictive housing conditions is judged by the behaviours' consequences for both, the individuals and the environment. Many studies prove the concept's high forensic value and the authorities prefer conclusions based on this concept to others referring to the animals' motivational and emotional state. However more research has to be done with respect to animal welfare in farm and laboratory animal breeding as well as in the use of laboratory animals for experimental studies.
瑞士联邦动物保护法（1978年）要求批量生产的农场动物饲养系统的销售须经联邦兽医办公室授权。只有保障动物福利的饲养系统才会被授予授权。动物福利评估概念必须具有较高的法医价值。农场动物适应集约化饲养系统的能力可以直接进行检测，而主观感受的存在及其程度只能进行假设。在我们的概念中，检测重点在于个体与人工环境的相互作用。主要问题是个体是否能够应对给定的非特异性（如温度、湿度）和特异性（如饮水槽、同种动物行为）刺激，以实现直接（如饮水、让路）和最终（生存、繁殖成功）目标。在高度多样化的环境中观察同一品种的动物，以确定正常行为。与正常行为有显著差异的行为表现是否适应限制性饲养条件，需根据这些行为对个体和环境的影响来判断。许多研究证明了该概念具有较高的法医价值，而且当局更倾向于基于这一概念得出的结论，而非其他涉及动物动机和情绪状态的结论。然而，在农场动物和实验动物饲养以及将实验动物用于实验研究方面，关于动物福利仍需开展更多研究。
