Vol. 9, Issue 4, Part D (2024)

Author(s): Rupendra Kumar, CP Ghosh, Sanjoy Datta and Anand Kumar Yadav

Abstract: Science is quickly advancing the field of herd welfare assessment. Providing suitable, repeatable, valid, and feasible models for this assessment is a major contribution of the scientific community. Unfortunately, opinions on animal welfare differ, so reaching a consensus on what constitutes animal welfare is essential to its evaluation. Then, as various aims necessitate varying combinations of welfare indicators, it is imperative to examine the objectives of the welfare evaluation models. Welfare assessment models can be broadly classified into categories such as research, legislative requirements, certification systems, and advisory and management tools. These models aim to achieve different objectives: quantifying welfare, ensuring welfare standards, or managing welfare. It is generally agreed that the most effective way to assess welfare involves using multiple measures. Thus, a welfare assessment model for a livestock herd should incorporate two types of measures: descriptions of the housing system and management practices (indirect indicators) and data on the animals' responses to these conditions (direct indicators). A simple and easy-to-use, on-farm dairy cattle welfare assessment protocol suitable for northern Indian conditions has been recently developed, which is based on 20 input- and output-based welfare indicators.