Assessment of small ruminant welfare in Ethiopia–An abattoir-based study

This paper presents the results of a cross-sectional study assessing the welfare of sheep and goats in a large abattoir in central Ethiopia, using qualitative and quantitative approaches. A total of 384 nonhuman animals (192 sheep and 192 goats) underwent clinical examination and behavioral observat...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bekele, Tizeta, Szonyi, Barbara, Feleke, Aklilu, Grace, Delia
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Informa UK Limited 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/103654
_version_ 1855541157408276480
author Bekele, Tizeta
Szonyi, Barbara
Feleke, Aklilu
Grace, Delia
author_browse Bekele, Tizeta
Feleke, Aklilu
Grace, Delia
Szonyi, Barbara
author_facet Bekele, Tizeta
Szonyi, Barbara
Feleke, Aklilu
Grace, Delia
author_sort Bekele, Tizeta
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This paper presents the results of a cross-sectional study assessing the welfare of sheep and goats in a large abattoir in central Ethiopia, using qualitative and quantitative approaches. A total of 384 nonhuman animals (192 sheep and 192 goats) underwent clinical examination and behavioral observation in 2014. The study also included behavioral observation of 57 animal handlers, and a qualitative assessment of animal welfare conditions at the abattoir. Clinical examination revealed dirty wool/hair (54.9%), poor body condition (15.8%), and respiratory disorders (14.0%). The most commonly observed behaviors were refusing to move (17.1%), panting (15.8%) and reversing (10.4%). Significantly higher proportion of sheep exhibited resistance behaviors such as refusing to move (21.4% of sheep and 13.0% of goats; p < 0.030) and resistance to being pulled (12.5% of sheep and 6.3% of goats; p < 0.0036). Handlers frequently beat (87.7%), pushed (57.9%) and pulled (49.1%) the animals. Poor handling of animals was very common and could result in animal distress and falls. In collaboration with the abattoir workers, the authors developed simple good practice to improve welfare and reduce losses from poor welfare.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace103654
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher Informa UK Limited
publisherStr Informa UK Limited
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1036542023-03-18T11:48:22Z Assessment of small ruminant welfare in Ethiopia–An abattoir-based study Bekele, Tizeta Szonyi, Barbara Feleke, Aklilu Grace, Delia small ruminants sheep goats animal welfare This paper presents the results of a cross-sectional study assessing the welfare of sheep and goats in a large abattoir in central Ethiopia, using qualitative and quantitative approaches. A total of 384 nonhuman animals (192 sheep and 192 goats) underwent clinical examination and behavioral observation in 2014. The study also included behavioral observation of 57 animal handlers, and a qualitative assessment of animal welfare conditions at the abattoir. Clinical examination revealed dirty wool/hair (54.9%), poor body condition (15.8%), and respiratory disorders (14.0%). The most commonly observed behaviors were refusing to move (17.1%), panting (15.8%) and reversing (10.4%). Significantly higher proportion of sheep exhibited resistance behaviors such as refusing to move (21.4% of sheep and 13.0% of goats; p < 0.030) and resistance to being pulled (12.5% of sheep and 6.3% of goats; p < 0.0036). Handlers frequently beat (87.7%), pushed (57.9%) and pulled (49.1%) the animals. Poor handling of animals was very common and could result in animal distress and falls. In collaboration with the abattoir workers, the authors developed simple good practice to improve welfare and reduce losses from poor welfare. 2020-07-02 2019-09-16T13:02:41Z 2019-09-16T13:02:41Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/103654 en Open Access Informa UK Limited Bekele, T., Szonyi, B., Feleke, A. and Grace, D. 2020. Assessment of small ruminant welfare in Ethiopia – An abattoir-based study. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 23(3): 356–365.
spellingShingle small ruminants
sheep
goats
animal welfare
Bekele, Tizeta
Szonyi, Barbara
Feleke, Aklilu
Grace, Delia
Assessment of small ruminant welfare in Ethiopia–An abattoir-based study
title Assessment of small ruminant welfare in Ethiopia–An abattoir-based study
title_full Assessment of small ruminant welfare in Ethiopia–An abattoir-based study
title_fullStr Assessment of small ruminant welfare in Ethiopia–An abattoir-based study
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of small ruminant welfare in Ethiopia–An abattoir-based study
title_short Assessment of small ruminant welfare in Ethiopia–An abattoir-based study
title_sort assessment of small ruminant welfare in ethiopia an abattoir based study
topic small ruminants
sheep
goats
animal welfare
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/103654
work_keys_str_mv AT bekeletizeta assessmentofsmallruminantwelfareinethiopiaanabattoirbasedstudy
AT szonyibarbara assessmentofsmallruminantwelfareinethiopiaanabattoirbasedstudy
AT felekeaklilu assessmentofsmallruminantwelfareinethiopiaanabattoirbasedstudy
AT gracedelia assessmentofsmallruminantwelfareinethiopiaanabattoirbasedstudy