SAC Research

A workshop was held in Aberdeen, Scotland on 24-25 February, 2003. A total of 35 invited delegates attended.

The overall aim was to identify, if possible, a hierarchy of animal welfare issues of particular relevance to extensive sheep production, based on current knowledge, and develop recommendations for a methodology for the on-farm assessment of sheep welfare which could subsequently be applied on the monitor / case study farms associated with this project.

The subject matter to be covered during the workshop was broadly divided within four areas: Human-animal interactions and stockmanship; Consideration of how sheep respond to different welfare compromises; Taking a view from different perspectives; Scoring and assessment systems.

These areas were covered by way of an opening presentation and the consolidated report from two parallel breakout groups. Unfortunately one of the speakers was not able to be present at the workshop but the inclusion of all of the papers in the proceedings provides a thought-provoking introduction to the subject.