Whiting Terry L
Government of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3B 3M9, Canada.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Sep 21;14(18):2732. doi: 10.3390/ani14182732.
This paper focuses on the problem of numeracy when writing regulations, specifically how to describe a threshold for crowding of pigs during transport, considering transported pigs range in body mass from 5 to 500 kg. When scientific findings provide the basis for regulation in the public interest, those findings must be communicated in a consistent way to regulators and policymaking bodies. Numeracy is the ability to understand, reason with, and apply appropriate numerical concepts to real-world questions. Scientific understanding is almost always based on rational understanding of numerical information, numeracy. The threshold of administrative offenses is often a numerical description. Commercial livestock transporters have an interest in loading livestock compartments to the maximum to achieve the largest payload allowed by axle weight laws, as is the case in all bulk commodity transport. Maximizing payload minimizes costs and environmental hazards of fuel exhaust and can benefit the public with lower pork prices, but has a serious animal welfare risk. Livestock production academics, veterinarians, and animal welfare activists have been working for decades to determine the level of livestock crowding in transport containers that would be appropriate for regulatory enforcement. The scientific discourse has been plagued by a lack of numerical standardization when describing results of trials and forming recommendations. Exceeding specific numerical thresholds is the core to implementing enforcement actions. This paper examines the communication and other barriers that have prevented emergence of a consensus on this question and provides a direction toward resolution. Further confirmation of effects of crowding livestock in transit is needed. This paper suggests that articulating an enforceable standard in pig transport is possible. In inspection for compliance, discovering the LP (lethal pressure-50) for slaughter-weight pigs is an initial global benchmark goal. The LP is the loading floor pressure in a commercial transport compartment, under field conditions, that would result in the death of at least one pig in the group 50% of the time.
本文聚焦于制定法规时的数字素养问题，具体而言，考虑到运输的猪体重范围为5至500千克，探讨如何描述猪在运输过程中的拥挤阈值。当科学发现为符合公共利益的法规提供依据时，这些发现必须以一致的方式传达给监管机构和决策机构。数字素养是指理解、运用适当的数字概念并将其应用于现实世界问题的能力。科学理解几乎总是基于对数字信息的理性理解，即数字素养。行政违法行为的阈值通常是一种数字描述。与所有大宗商品运输一样，商业牲畜运输商有兴趣将牲畜车厢装载至最大容量，以达到轴重法律允许的最大载重量。最大化载重量可降低成本和燃油废气对环境的危害，并能以较低的猪肉价格使公众受益，但存在严重的动物福利风险。几十年来，牲畜生产领域的学者、兽医和动物福利活动家一直在努力确定运输容器中适合监管执法的牲畜拥挤程度。在描述试验结果并形成建议时，科学论述一直受到数字标准化缺失的困扰。超过特定的数字阈值是实施执法行动的核心。本文审视了阻碍就这一问题达成共识的沟通及其他障碍，并提供了解决方向。需要进一步证实运输过程中拥挤对牲畜的影响。本文认为制定一项可执行的猪运输标准是可行的。在合规检查中，确定屠宰体重猪的LP（致死压力-50）是一个初步的总体基准目标。LP是商业运输车厢在实地条件下的装载地板压力，该压力会导致至少50%的猪群中有一头猪死亡。
