Document type : article from the IFIP website
Author: Valérie Courboulay
Preview: Human-animal relationships are built up continually through the daily activities of checking, interacting and tending to animals. The quality of these relationships affects farmers' working conditions, quality of life, health and safety. They impact animal performance and are one of the indicators for assessing their welfare. They are also a key factor for public acceptance of animal farming practices as they demonstrate a farmer's professional ethos.
A Rhaporc project led by IFIP* was set up to address these issues with farmers and to develop tools to improve these relationships in a way that benefits both humans and animals. By asking themselves about their relationships with animals and their practices, farmers can take ownership of the issue of animal welfare and are better able to communicate their own knowledge and experience [...].
Surveys were carried out on more than 50 farms, including interviews with staff, observations of pregnant sows and fattening pigs, and monitoring and collection of simple welfare indicators and technical-economic data in order to:
- Understand the views of farmers on Human-animal relationships through interviews and questionnaires.
- Study human/animal relationships from the animal's point of view by examining impacts on pig welfare and and quality of the end product.
- Linking the farmer's expressed views to animal behaviour...
A dedicated website provides access to these resources. 4 educational videos on the Human-animal relationshipsshipsship are available. Some documents are accessible only for training purposes (access provided on request via a form).
