Messori Stefano, Pedernera-Romano Cecilia, Rodriguez Pedro, Barnard Shanis, Giansante Daniele, Magnani Diego, Dalmau Antoni, Velarde Antonio, Dalla Villa Paolo
Istituto Zoopro lattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise 'G. Caporale', Campo Boario, 64100 Teramo, Italy.
Vet Ital. 2017 Jun 30;53(2):121-129. doi: 10.12834/VetIt.316.1483.3.
All livestock transport within the European Union must comply with the EC Regulation 1÷2005. For sheep, this law prescribes a maximum journey of 29 hours after which animals must rest in control posts (CP) for 24 hours before further transportation. However, there is no scientific evidence de ning the effects of di erent stop duration on sheep recovery during long journeys. The aim of this study was to assess if a shorter stop could be provided without impairing ewes' welfare. Ninety-six adult ewes were divided into 4 homogenous groups. One group stayed at the farm (control) and the other 3 were transported for 29 hours (long-transport, LT), stopped at CP for di erent times (8 hours (S8 group); 16 hours (S16 group); 24 hours (S24 group)) and were re-transported for 6 hours (short-transport, ST). Blood and saliva were collected to assess dehydration, muscular damage, and adrenocortical stress before departure, after LT, after the stop, and after ST. The LT a ected the hydration of all transported groups (i.e. higher BUN÷creatinine levels than controls, p<0.001), but basal values were restored after the ST, regardless of the stop duration. After the ST, S8 group had higher muscular damage than the other groups (p<0.05). No di erences in stress level were observed. These results suggest that, in this trial, ewe's welfare was not impaired by a stop reduction from 24 hours to 16 hours.
在欧盟境内，所有牲畜运输都必须遵守欧盟法规1/2005。对于绵羊而言，该法律规定最长运输时长为29小时，之后动物必须在检查站（CP）休息24小时才能继续运输。然而，目前尚无科学证据表明长途运输中不同停留时长对绵羊恢复情况的影响。本研究的目的是评估是否可以缩短停留时间而不损害母羊的福利。96只成年母羊被分为4个同质组。一组留在农场（对照组），其他3组运输29小时（长途运输，LT），在检查站停留不同时间（8小时（S8组）；16小时（S16组）；24小时（S24组）），然后再运输6小时（短途运输，ST）。在出发前、长途运输后、停留后和短途运输后采集血液和唾液，以评估脱水、肌肉损伤和肾上腺皮质应激情况。长途运输影响了所有运输组的水合作用（即血尿素氮÷肌酐水平高于对照组，p<0.001），但无论停留时长如何，短途运输后基础值均恢复正常。短途运输后，S8组的肌肉损伤高于其他组（p<0.05）。未观察到应激水平的差异。这些结果表明，在本试验中，将停留时间从24小时减少到16小时不会损害母羊的福利。
