Peden Rachel S E, Camerlink Irene, Boyle Laura A, Akaichi Faical, Turner Simon P
Animal Behaviour & Welfare, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Research Group, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), West Mains Rd., Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK.
Institute of Animal Welfare Science, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
Animals (Basel). 2019 Jan 10;9(1):22. doi: 10.3390/ani9010022.
Several animal welfare issues persist in practice despite extensive research which has been linked to the unwillingness of stakeholders to make changes. For example, most farmers do not perceive pig aggression to be a problem that requires action despite the fact that stress and injuries are common, and that several solutions exist. Frequent exposure to animal suffering could affect farmer responses to distressed animals. This study investigated for the first time whether this occurs, using pig aggression as a focus. Using video clips, 90 pig farmers judged the severity of aggression, level of pig exhaustion and the strength of their own emotional response. Their judgments were compared to objective measures of severity (pigs' skin lesions and blood lactate), and against control groups with similar pig experience (10 pig veterinarians) and without experience (26 agricultural students; 24 animal science students). Famers did not show desensitization to aggression. However, all groups underestimated the outcome of aggression when they did not see the fight occurring as compared to witnessing a fight in progress. We suggest that farmers be provided with evidence of the economic and welfare impact of aggression as indicated by lesions and that they be advised to score lesions on affected animals.
尽管进行了大量研究，但实践中仍存在一些动物福利问题，这与利益相关者不愿做出改变有关。例如，尽管压力和伤害很常见且有多种解决办法，但大多数农民并不认为猪的攻击行为是一个需要采取行动的问题。频繁接触动物的痛苦可能会影响农民对痛苦动物的反应。本研究首次以猪的攻击行为为重点，调查了这种情况是否会发生。通过视频片段，90名养猪农民对攻击行为的严重程度、猪的疲惫程度以及他们自己的情绪反应强度进行了判断。将他们的判断与严重程度的客观指标（猪的皮肤损伤和血液乳酸含量）进行比较，并与有类似养猪经验的对照组（10名猪兽医）和无经验的对照组（26名农业学生；24名动物科学学生）进行比较。农民对攻击行为并未表现出脱敏现象。然而，与目睹正在进行的打斗相比，当所有组没有看到打斗发生时，他们都低估了攻击行为的结果。我们建议向农民提供由损伤表明的攻击行为对经济和福利影响的证据，并建议他们对受影响动物的损伤进行评分。
