The Welfare of Sheep

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XIV

   PDF

2. Introduction to Animal Welfare and the Sheep

   • C.M. Dwyer, A.B. Lawrence

   Pages 1-40

3. Environment and the Sheep

   • C.M. Dwyer

   Pages 41-79

4. Behaviour and the Welfare of the Sheep

   • R. Nowak, R.H. Porter, D. Blache, C.M. Dwyer

   Pages 81-134

5. Sheep Senses, Social Cognition and Capacity for Consciousness

   • K.M. Kendrick

   Pages 135-157

6. The Impact of Disease and Disease Prevention on Welfare in Sheep

   • P.A. Roger

   Pages 159-212

7. Farming Systems for Sheep Production and Their Effect on Welfare

   • R.J. Kilgour, T. Waterhouse, C.M. Dwyer, I.D. Ivanov

   Pages 213-265

8. Nutrition and the Welfare of Sheep

   • J.P. Hogan, C.J.C. Phillips, S. Agenäs

   Pages 267-290

9. The Management of Sheep

   • P.J. Goddard

   Pages 291-323

10. The Economics of Sheep Welfare

    • C.E. Milne, A.W. Stott, J.M. Santarossa

    Pages 325-341

11. Sheep Welfare: A Future Perspective

    • A.B. Lawrence, J. Conington

    Pages 343-360

12. Back Matter

    Pages 361-366

    PDF

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.

• Sheep
• adaptation
• animal husbandry
• animals
• behavior
• metabolism
• physiology
• veterinary medicine

From the reviews:

"This contribution provides … intensive and extensive farming, and nomadic pastoralism, as well as the animal itself, including its history, evolution and ecology. Sheep have long been part of humanity … in The Welfare of Sheep reflects both the complexity and the importance of this relationship between man and animals. A superb and informative read, Dwyer and her colleagues offer students and teachers, researchers and regulators, farmers and citizens, an important and necessary resource, providing the context for whatever aspects they deem worthy of following." (M. W. Fisher, Animal Welfare, Vol. 18 (3), August, 2009)

• Sustainable Livestock System Group, Scottish Agricultural College Animal Behaviour and Welfare, King’s Buildings, United Kingdom

  Cathy M. Dwyer

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