Effects of Dairy Cattle Breeding and Production Methods on Animal Welfare

The continuing success of the dairy industry depends upon public perception of the products. If products and production methods were perceived to be bad in respect of human health, the welfare of the animals or the impact of the environment, sales could be severely affected. Animal welfare is of major concern now in many countries and concern is growing in most countries. The welfare of an animal is its state as regards its attempts to cope with its environment. Hence welfare varies from good to poor and includes the health and feelings of an animal as well as aspects of its behaviour and physiology. Welfare is poor in dairy cows when, for example, they are lame, have mastitis, are unable to reproduce, are unable to show normal behaviour, show emergency physiological responses, or are injured. Poor welfare can be caused by cruelty or poor management but it is also commoner as production efficiency increases. Mastitis, lameness and reproductive failure tend to increase as milk yield increases. Hence it may well be necessary to stop using genetic selection and some feeding methods to increase milk yield. Cows are well adapted to high fibre, low density foods and moderate milk yields so there are more problems when their normal biological functioning controls are overtaxed, i.e. when they are stressed. Bovine somatotrophin increases the risk of poor welfare, especially when given to cows which are already relatively high yielding. The design of accommodation for cows, and management procedures, also have considerable effects on cow welfare. Cubicle houses, particularly when cubicles are too short or otherwise poorly designed, tend to result in too much lameness and other problems. Straw yards are generally better for welfare if well managed. Lameness is much rarer in cows at pasture although special paths are needed in areas with sharp stones. Housed cows can vary individually in their susceptibility to lameness according to their social position. Farm operations and increasing automation on farms also require careful monitoring if poor welfare is to be minimised. Indeed efforts should be made to provide conditions in which welfare is good; individual production will then be better. Public perception of the dairy industry Most members of the public who are asked about the dairy industry think of cows grazing in fields and living for some time whilst a series of calves are born and milk is produced. Milk products are considered by the public in relation to their effects on human nutrition and health, their effects on the environment and their effects on animal welfare. If production is perceived to be bad in relation to any of these aspects, sales of the products could be severely affected. Some people may limit their intakes of milk products because of a desire to reduce cholesterol intake and certain aspects of the dairy industry, such as methane production, may be criticised in relation to pollution but it is animal welfare rather than these topics which is the subject of this paper. Until recently, the welfare of the cow was not often perceived to be poor and it has been only in calf rearing that dairy production systems have been regularly criticised. However, the industry has been changing and evidence of poor welfare in cows is accumulating and has had influence on public opinion in several countries. It is important to the dairy industry that welfare problems should be addressed before there is any widespread public condemnation of breeding and management practices. A few critical newspaper articles or television programmes which appear well founded can be very damaging to producers, processors and retailers. Public concern about animal welfare manifests itself in actual product purchasing and in pressure applied to retailers and to legislators. Major supermarket and cooked food chains can be influenced rapidly by customer pressure and can cause changes to be brought about in the methods used by suppliers. Retailers may impose codes of practice on suppliers and the execution of these codes is checked because the retailers cannot afford public criticism of what they sell (1). In several European countries, certain housing systems and farm practices have been changed by many farmers because of the standards required by the purchasing companies. For