Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606.
Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California-Davis, Tulare, CA 93274.
J Dairy Sci. 2023 Oct;106(10):7076-7088. doi: 10.3168/jds.2023-23223. Epub 2023 May 18.
Implementing timely and humane euthanasia in dairy farms remains a critical concern. One of the possible barriers for the implementation of timely euthanasia on-farm is dairy workers' attitudes toward the act. The objectives of this study were to investigate dairy workers' attitudes toward dairy cattle euthanasia and their association to individuals' demographic characteristics. A total of 81 workers from 30 dairy farms (ranging in size from less than 500 to more than 3,000 cows) participated in the survey and most participants were caretakers (n = 45; 55.6%) or farm managers (n = 16; 19.8%), with an average work experience of 14.8 years. Dairy workers' attitudes toward dairy cattle (empathy affect, empathy attribution, and negative attitudes about cattle), working environment (relying on others, perceived time constraints) and euthanasia decision-making (feeling comfortable with euthanasia, feeling confident, seeking knowledge, using different sources to obtain advice, having negative attitudes about euthanasia, having insufficient knowledge, having trouble deciding when to euthanize and avoiding if possible) were identified and used for cluster analyses. Cluster analyses identified 3 distinct clusters: (1) confident but uncomfortable with euthanasia (n = 40); (2) confident and comfortable with euthanasia (n = 32); and (3) unconfident, lacking knowledge and detached from cattle (n = 9). Dairy workers' demographic characteristics (age, sex, race and ethnicity, dairy experience, role on-farm, farm size, and previous euthanasia experience) were used as predictors for the risk factor analyses. The risk analysis demonstrated that there were no predictors for cluster 1, but White workers (P = 0.04) and caretakers that had previous euthanasia experience tended to be more likely to be members of cluster 2 (P = 0.07) whereas respondents that worked in farms with 501-1,000 cows were more likely to be grouped in cluster 3. This study provides vital information about variability in dairy workers' attitudes toward dairy euthanasia as well as its association with race and ethnicity, farm size, and previous euthanasia experience. This information can be used to implement appropriate training and euthanasia protocols to increase both human and dairy cattle welfare on-farm.
在奶牛场实施及时和人道的安乐死仍然是一个关键问题。在奶牛场实施及时安乐死的一个可能障碍是奶牛工人对该行为的态度。本研究的目的是调查奶牛工人对奶牛安乐死的态度及其与个人人口统计学特征的关系。共有来自 30 个奶牛场（奶牛数量从少于 500 头到超过 3000 头不等）的 81 名工人参加了这项调查，大多数参与者是护理员（n = 45；55.6%）或农场经理（n = 16；19.8%），平均工作经验为 14.8 年。奶牛工人对奶牛的态度（同理心影响、同理心归因和对牛的负面态度）、工作环境（依赖他人、感知时间限制）和安乐死决策（对安乐死感到舒适、有信心、寻求知识、使用不同的来源获得建议、对安乐死有负面态度、知识不足、难以决定何时安乐死以及尽可能避免）被确定并用于聚类分析。聚类分析确定了 3 个不同的聚类：（1）对安乐死有信心但感到不舒服（n = 40）；（2）对安乐死有信心且感到舒适（n = 32）；（3）缺乏信心、缺乏知识且与牛分离（n = 9）。奶牛工人的人口统计学特征（年龄、性别、种族和民族、奶牛养殖经验、农场角色、农场规模和以前的安乐死经验）被用作风险因素分析的预测因子。风险分析表明，聚类 1 没有预测因子，但白人工人（P = 0.04）和有过安乐死经验的护理员更有可能成为聚类 2 的成员（P = 0.07），而在 501-1000 头奶牛的农场工作的受访者更有可能被归入聚类 3。本研究提供了有关奶牛工人对奶牛安乐死态度的可变性及其与种族和民族、农场规模以及以前的安乐死经验的关系的重要信息。这些信息可以用于实施适当的培训和安乐死协议，以提高奶牛场的人类和奶牛福利。
