A linkage between non-compliance with Animal Welfare legislation and environmental emissions

• There is focus on defining goals for sustainable animal production and developing tools to assess sustainability; however, different sectors in society have different goals that may result in conflicts. Drawing on the concept of One Welfare, the objective of this study was to identify findings from animal welfare inspections and environmentally hazardous emission recordings at pig production facilities that are synergetic or conflicting.We reviewed data routinely collected as part of Swedish official animal welfare control from the Swedish Board of Agriculture and data on environmentally hazardous emissions from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, for2010 to 2014. The official animal welfare control data had been collected using a checklist containing 46 checkpoints related to animal, resource and management based measures of pig welfare. The emissions data included recordings of greenhouse gases and other substances such as nitrous oxide, ammonia (NH3), ammonium, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and phosphates. Univariable linear regression was used to investigate associations between the emission recordings and animal welfare control checkpoints, adjusting for clustering on pig farm.In total, 135 animal welfare and emission inspections conducted at 92 premises could be matched. Sufficient data were available and models were generated for three different outcomes: NH3 air emissions (n=128 recordings), total N and N compound water emissions (n=29); and total P and P compound water emissions (n=29). Factors found to be associated with higher levels of at least one of the environmentally hazardous emissions were insufficient stall hygiene (1.9 times higher NH3) and poor bedding quality (7.5 times higher total P).We demonstrated links between official data sources and identified associations between measures of animal welfare status and emissions. Investigation of linkages in other intensive livestock production systems, involving other animal species and other countries, will confirm the value of these findings for sustainable animal production.

Subject headings

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Veterinärmedicin -- Annan veterinärmedicin (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Veterinary Science -- Other Veterinary Science (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)