Overall animal welfare reviewed. Part 2: Assessment tables and schemes

Authors

  • M.B.M. Bracke
  • J.H.M. Metz
  • B.M. Spruijt

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18174/njas.v47i3.467

Keywords:

assessment tables, model

Abstract

In the scientific literature several attempts have been made to systematically assess the overall welfare-status of animals in relation to housing and management. This paper reviews assessment tables and schemes that have been constructed to this end. These tables and schemes have a tabular format that allows an assessment of housing systems using a list of welfare-relevant attributes (properties of the housing system). Rather than identifying deficits, the focus of this review is on finding positive recommendations for the purpose of developing a method for overall welfare assessment (OWA) on a scientific basis. The main recommendation is to use the tabular format as representation formalism for OWA. The concept of linked tables provides the key to performing OWA on a scientific basis in an explicit and systematic way.

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Published

1999-12-01

Issue

Section

Papers