TY - JOUR
T1 - The Danube Region—On Stream with Animal Welfare Assessment in the Last 35 Years
T2 - A Review of Research on Animal Welfare Assessment in a Multi-lingual Area in Europe
AU - Mikuš, Tomislav
AU - Radeski, Miroslav
AU - Cziszter, Ludovic Toma
AU - Dimitrov, Ivan
AU - Jurkovich, Viktor
AU - Nenadović, Katarina
AU - Ostović, Mario
AU - Zupan, Manja
AU - Kirchner, Marlene Katharina
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - This review presents first ever literature survey on historical development of farm animal welfare indicators and assessment in the Danube region. This area, encompassing European Eastern countries and the Balkans, is to a large extent heterogeneous in terms of culture and language. However, international (English) publications were disproportionally small compared to the amount of research institutions and animal welfare activities present in the region. Therefore, the authors aimed at investigating the published literature, focusing on country level and on native languages. Data were collected for the 1980–2015 period referring to scientific papers published in international and national journals, papers and abstracts in proceedings of the international and national conferences, reviews, monographs, short communications, Ph.D., Master and Graduation theses. Welfare assessment of all farm animal species was observed including fish. Over 180 papers were in line with the preselected index. Data collected showed that publishing dynamics grew rapidly towards the last decade. Most of the studies were focused on animal welfare indicators such as stress, injuries and mutilations, behaviour, body condition and management practices. Cattle, chickens, pigs and sheep were the predominant species investigated. The study revealed that experts from the region were greatly involved in the studies of animal welfare indicators and assessment, contributing to development of the currently most widely used animal welfare assessment protocols, thus having an important role in animal welfare research and protection.
AB - This review presents first ever literature survey on historical development of farm animal welfare indicators and assessment in the Danube region. This area, encompassing European Eastern countries and the Balkans, is to a large extent heterogeneous in terms of culture and language. However, international (English) publications were disproportionally small compared to the amount of research institutions and animal welfare activities present in the region. Therefore, the authors aimed at investigating the published literature, focusing on country level and on native languages. Data were collected for the 1980–2015 period referring to scientific papers published in international and national journals, papers and abstracts in proceedings of the international and national conferences, reviews, monographs, short communications, Ph.D., Master and Graduation theses. Welfare assessment of all farm animal species was observed including fish. Over 180 papers were in line with the preselected index. Data collected showed that publishing dynamics grew rapidly towards the last decade. Most of the studies were focused on animal welfare indicators such as stress, injuries and mutilations, behaviour, body condition and management practices. Cattle, chickens, pigs and sheep were the predominant species investigated. The study revealed that experts from the region were greatly involved in the studies of animal welfare indicators and assessment, contributing to development of the currently most widely used animal welfare assessment protocols, thus having an important role in animal welfare research and protection.
KW - Animal welfare
KW - Assessment
KW - Danube region
KW - Historical development
KW - Indicator
KW - Review
U2 - 10.1007/s10806-018-9737-4
DO - 10.1007/s10806-018-9737-4
M3 - Review
AN - SCOPUS:85048276830
SN - 1187-7863
VL - 31
SP - 511
EP - 526
JO - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics
JF - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics
IS - 4
ER -