Johnston Charlotte H, Richardson Vicki L, Whittaker Alexandra L
School of Biomedicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA 5371, Australia.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Apr 15;13(8):1358. doi: 10.3390/ani13081358.
The development and substance of animal welfare policy is subject to a range of social, cultural, economic, and scientific influences that commonly vary within and between countries. Discrepancies in policy can create confusion and mistrust among stakeholders and consumers and limit the ability to create a uniform minimum level of requirements to safeguard animal welfare, as well as create a level 'playing field' for farmers when trading with other jurisdictions. The livestock sector is receiving growing scrutiny globally for real and perceived violations of animal welfare, for example, the practice of mulesing in Australia. This article explores animal welfare legislation within Australia and how it reflects the scientific evidence surrounding routine husbandry practices in sheep, including tail docking, castration, and mulesing. While there is some variation between state and territory legislation, the most notable concern is the lack of enforceable recommendations surrounding the evidence-based use of analgesia and anaesthesia for painful husbandry procedures. The age at which these procedures are recommended to be performed is relatively consistent across Australian jurisdictions, but there is a marked difference compared to international legislation. The global context of animal welfare legislation, public perception, and producer perception of these procedures are also discussed, highlighting the difficulty of creating robust animal welfare legislation that promotes a good standard of welfare that is respected worldwide whilst being practical in an Australian setting given our unique geography and climatic conditions.
动物福利政策的制定和实质内容受到一系列社会、文化、经济和科学因素的影响，这些因素在不同国家内部和国家之间通常存在差异。政策上的差异可能会在利益相关者和消费者之间造成困惑和不信任，并限制制定统一的最低要求水平以保障动物福利的能力，同时也无法为农民在与其他司法管辖区进行贸易时创造一个公平的竞争环境。全球范围内，畜牧业因实际存在的和被认为的违反动物福利行为而受到越来越多的审视，例如澳大利亚的剪羊毛后臀部褶皱切除术。本文探讨了澳大利亚的动物福利立法，以及它如何反映围绕绵羊常规饲养管理措施（包括断尾、阉割和剪羊毛后臀部褶皱切除术）的科学证据。虽然州和地区立法之间存在一些差异，但最值得关注的是，对于基于证据的在痛苦的饲养管理程序中使用镇痛和麻醉方法，缺乏可强制执行的建议。在澳大利亚各司法管辖区，建议进行这些程序的年龄相对一致，但与国际立法相比存在显著差异。本文还讨论了动物福利立法的全球背景、公众对这些程序的看法以及生产者的看法，强调了制定强有力的动物福利立法的困难，即在澳大利亚独特的地理和气候条件下，既要促进良好的福利标准并在全球范围内得到尊重，又要切实可行。
