Lundmark Hedman Frida, Andersson Maria, Kinch Vanja, Lindholm Amelie, Nordqvist Angelica, Westin Rebecka
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 234, 53223 Skara, Sweden.
The County Administrative Board in Halland, Slottsgatan 2, 30186 Halmstad, Sweden.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Mar 27;11(4):945. doi: 10.3390/ani11040945.
Dirty cattle have been commonly recorded in official animal welfare inspections in Sweden for years. The relevant authorities have initiated work to better understand the causes of dirty cattle, in order to improve compliance and standardize the grounds for categorizing a farm as non-compliant with welfare legislation when dirty animals are present. This study investigated the occurrence of dirty cattle in official animal welfare controls, on Swedish cattle farms, and examined farmers' views on the reasons for non-compliance and on key factors in keeping animals clean. The data used were collected by animal welfare inspectors at the county level during the regular official inspections of 371 dairy and beef cattle farms over two weeks in winter 2020. In addition to completing the usual inspection protocol, the inspectors asked farmers a set of questions relating to why their animals were clean or dirty. Dirty cattle were found on 49% of the farms inspected, but only 33% of the farms were categorized as being non-compliant with Swedish welfare legislation. According to inspectors and farmers, dirtiness in cattle depends mainly on management routines, which is a promising result since routines can be improved. The results also revealed a need for better guidance for inspectors and farmers on when dirtiness should be categorized as non-compliance with animal welfare legislation.
多年来，瑞典官方动物福利检查中经常记录到牛只肮脏的情况。相关当局已开展工作，以更好地了解牛只肮脏的原因，从而提高合规性，并规范在存在肮脏动物的情况下将农场归类为不符合福利立法的依据。本研究调查了瑞典奶牛场官方动物福利检查中肮脏牛只的出现情况，并考察了农民对违规原因以及保持动物清洁的关键因素的看法。所使用的数据是由县级动物福利检查员在2020年冬季的两周内对371个奶牛场和肉牛场进行定期官方检查时收集的。除了完成常规检查程序外，检查员还向农民询问了一系列有关其动物干净或肮脏原因的问题。在所检查的农场中，49%发现有肮脏的牛只，但只有33%的农场被归类为不符合瑞典福利立法。根据检查员和农民的说法，牛只的肮脏主要取决于管理程序，这是一个很有希望的结果，因为程序是可以改进的。结果还表明，需要就何时应将肮脏情况归类为不符合动物福利立法，为检查员和农民提供更好的指导。
