Welfare of Sheep

Animal welfare is attracting increasing interest worldwide, but particularly from those in developed countries, who now have the knowledge and resources to be able to improve the welfare of farm animals. The increased attention given to farm animal welfare in the West derives largely from the fact that the relentless pursuit of ?nancial reward and ef?ciency has led to the development of intensive animal production systems that disturb the conscience of many consumers. In developing countries, human survival is still a daily uncertainty, so that provision for animal welfare has to be balanced against human welfare. Welfare is usually provided for only if it supports the output of the animal, be it food, work, clothing, sport or companionship. In reality there are resources for all if they are properly husbanded in both developing and developed countries. The inequitable division of the world’s riches creates physical and psychological poverty for humans and animals alike in many sectors of the world. Livestock are the world’s biggest land user (FAO, 2002) and the population is increasing rapidly to meet the need of an expanding human population. Populations of farm animals managed by humans are therefore incre- ing worldwide, and in some regions there is a tendency to allocate fewer resources, such as labour, to each animal with potentially adverse consequences on the a- mals’ welfare.

The welfare of the sheep has received less attention than the welfare of intensively husbanded animals. However, domestic sheep may be kept under conditions that are very different from the environment in which wild sheep live, with adverse effects on their behaviour and welfare. This book, written by leading researchers from Europe and Australia, takes a multidisciplinary approach to focus on the specific welfare challenges facing the sheep.

The book begins with a discussion of current welfare thinking and how this might be relevant to sheep husbandry. The adaptations of wild sheep to diverse environments, and how their behaviour and physiology has developed to deal with these conditions is described and compared to conditions in modern sheep husbandry. The varied welfare demands of disease, nutrition and metabolism, farming systems and management practices are then discussed by specialists in those areas. The book concludes by considering the economics of improved welfare, and by describing breeding goals and new challenges and opportunities for good sheep husbandry. This book will be of interest to students and academics in animal welfare, animal production, and veterinary medicine, and those with a particular interest in or concern for sheep.