Matore Zivanayi, Woods Pamela, Mutibvu Tonderai
Department of Livestock Sciences and Applied, Ecology, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
BMC Vet Res. 2025 Mar 20;21(1):186. doi: 10.1186/s12917-025-04646-7.
Welfare of dairy animals and consequently their health and productivity is influenced by numerous factors such as the quality and quantity of supplement, health care given to animals, and stockpeople Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) on animal welfare. A lot of studies have been conducted to evaluate the influence of most of the above factors on welfare of dairy animals, but very little studies focused on the influence of stockpeople KAPs of animal welfare. However, given the growing demand for milk and dairy products and the increasing global demand for animal products that are produced in an animal welfare friendly environment there is potential benefit of studying the KAPs of stockpeople towards the welfare of dairy animals. Herein, a cross sectional study involving 93 stockpeople from the 31 large-scale dairy farms in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe was conducted to determine their KAPs on animal welfare. Results of this study revealed that 67% of the stockpeople could not define animal welfare and this was significantly associated with the stockperson's level of education (χ2 = 12.54, df = 3, p = 0.006). Only 14% of the stockpeople interviewed always talked to dairy animals when handling them and this was correlated with gender (p < 0.001). About 20% of the stockpeople responded positively to touching the dairy animals when handling them and this was associated significantly with the stockperson's gender (p = 0.005). On a more positive note when stockpeople were asked to respond to whipping of animals when driving them, about 90% of the stockpeople said they never whip animals when handling or driving them. It is recommended that further studies be done to find out better and more effective ways of teaching animal welfare concepts and practices. These approaches of teaching animal welfare to stockpeople should take into account the stockpeople's cultural, religious and education backgrounds. Stockpeope due to their low renumeration may also prioritise animal welfare attributes that directly impact on production such as hunger and thirst as well freedom from diseases pain and injury.
奶牛的福利，进而其健康和生产力，受到众多因素的影响，如补充饲料的质量和数量、给予动物的医疗保健，以及饲养人员对动物福利的知识、态度和行为（KAP）。已经进行了大量研究来评估上述大多数因素对奶牛福利的影响，但很少有研究关注饲养人员动物福利KAP的影响。然而，鉴于对牛奶和奶制品的需求不断增长，以及全球对在动物福利友好环境中生产的动物产品的需求不断增加，研究饲养人员对奶牛福利的KAP具有潜在益处。在此，对来自津巴布韦中部省31个大型奶牛场的93名饲养人员进行了一项横断面研究，以确定他们对动物福利的KAP。这项研究的结果显示，67%的饲养人员无法定义动物福利，这与饲养人员的教育水平显著相关（χ2 = 12.54，自由度 = 3，p = 0.006）。在接受采访的饲养人员中，只有14%在处理奶牛时会与它们交谈，这与性别相关（p < 0.001）。约20%的饲养人员在处理奶牛时对触摸它们给出了肯定的回应，这与饲养人员的性别显著相关（p = 0.005）。更积极的是，当被问及在驱赶奶牛时对鞭打动物的看法时，约90%的饲养人员表示在处理或驱赶奶牛时从不鞭打它们。建议进行进一步研究，以找出更好、更有效的教授动物福利概念和做法的方法。这些向饲养人员教授动物福利的方法应考虑到饲养人员的文化、宗教和教育背景。由于报酬较低，饲养人员可能也会优先考虑直接影响生产的动物福利属性，如饥饿和口渴以及免受疾病、疼痛和伤害。
