“Animal welfare” – is a complex concept that characterizes the physical, mental, and natural state of animals at a given time and the ability to meet their needs. Animal welfare is a hallmark of the world of quality human nutrition and innovative livestock and is the basis for the sustainable development of society. The article aims to research and analyze the legislation on cattle welfare in the EU and Ukraine, highlight their strengths and weaknesses, and introduce proposals for better implementation of Ukrainian legislation in European norms. European legislation covers the welfare of animals during their life on the farm, the welfare during transport, and the welfare of animals during slaughter. This article analyzes in detail the following legal provisions: Directive 98/58/EC on the protection of animals kept for farming purposes, Council Directive 2008/119/EU establishing minimum standards for the protection of calves, Council Regulation 1/2005 covering standards for the transport of animals, Council Regulation № 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter and ancillary recommendations such as the Council of Europe Recommendation on bovine animals and the OIE Standards for the Welfare of Dairy Cows. Currently, Ukrainian welfare legislation is represented by the Law on the Protection of Animals from Cruelty (2006) and the Law of Ukraine on Veterinary Medicine (1994). These laws do not cover the protection of animal welfare and do not meet modern requirements. In 2014, by signing an agreement with the EU on creating a deep and comprehensive free trade area, Ukraine committed to updating legislation in the animal welfare field and implementing it as much as possible to European standards. Only in 2021, a new law on veterinary medicine was adopted, which has a section on animal welfare and approved five requirements for animal welfare, but the main problem is that they came into force on 01.01.2026. Given that by 2023 the EU plans to improve its legislation in the field of animal welfare, there is a need to accelerate the implementation of the new Law on veterinary medicine in Ukraine. Also necessary are training for farmers to teach and explain new rules, develop a specific regulation with minimum standards for the welfare of cattle and cattle, review shortcomings, and organize discussions with scientists in the field of animal welfare to improve legislation, create a clear roadmap the Law.
The concept of "positive welfare" arose in response to the heavy focus on negative aspects when assessing the overall welfare of animals. Although one of the main components of welfare is the emotional status. The aim of this paper is to study and describe the existing, promising, reliable and feasible indicators of the positive welfare of dairy cows on farms. We conducted a search and critical analysis of scientific literature, articles, books and welfare assessment protocols in international databases (Web of Science, PubMed and ResearchGate) using the key words "positive «welfare», «indicator», «comfort», «relationship between human and animal», «emotions», «natural behaviour», «pleasure» combined with «cattle» and «cow». For structure, all indicators were divided into 4 groups: feeding, environment, behaviour and position of animal body parts. A number of the most relevant and feasible indicators for assessing positive welfare in dairy cows were identified, namely: access to pasture, lying comfort, synchronization and qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA). Studies of the positions of the ears, tail and vocalization in dairy animals are promising for the further development of tests. Also an important indicator is the level of relations between a human and animal, as this indicator has a significant impact on the animal welfare. We consider it relevant to conduct a practical study of these parameters directly on the farm with subsequent inclusion in the protocol for assessing the welfare of the dairy herd. We believe that this review will create a platform for research and discussion about the positive welfare of cows in Ukraine.
Dairy animal welfare is of growing interest around the world, especially in developed countries, which have animal welfare programs and resources to establish optimal management systems for cows and understand that animal welfare is the foundation of innovative dairy farming. The article, based on the analysis, synthesis and generalization of world research and the results of own scientific expert assessment of animal welfare identifies the main problems of animal welfare on dairy farms, considers methods of assessing animal welfare in the world and substantiates the importance of implementing welfare programs and management protocols in dairy farming. Thus, in dairy farming, animal welfare is an important component based on world regulations. The analysis of regulations requires an understanding of the legislative aspects of different levels and examples of best practice: a) EU directives and practices, b) directives and practices of each European country c) national directives of non-EU countries, which must take into account all three legislative features. It has been shown that the EU has implemented a number of animal welfare acts, compromises between dairy producers and consumers on a number of instruments to harmonize law enforcement through audit, training, scientific expertise and consulting, and contributes to the stability of the EU food chain. In Ukraine, it is important to harmonize legislation with European Union norms and create a system for assessing the welfare of dairy animals, as well as information and educational activities and training on animal welfare on dairy farms for stakeholders and practical approaches to implementing animal welfare in production. We launched the European approach "Signals of cows" within the Ukrainian-Dutch project "Dairy farm", which allowed to work out the basic aspects of animal welfare in research farms NULES. In 2021, a new law on veterinary medicine was adopted, which implements 14 EU acts and includes a section on animal welfare, which is already a big step forward and opens new opportunities. However, in addition to the provisions on the welfare of calves (harmonization with Regulation 98/58 EC) do not consider regulations on the welfare of the dairy herd, which is not enough to develop the dairy industry in a global transformation. The article presents the basic indicators of welfare of cows, which are used in European countries and which we use in expert assessments. However, systemic data to assess the welfare of cows is not enough, because it is in the plane of consulting, which does not allow the analysis of the welfare of cows. In the context of globalization, the basic problem of animal welfare on dairy farms is the intensification, so the main welfare assessment programs (FARM, The Code of welfare, Welfare Quality and IDSW), which are widely used in milk production in accordance with current animal welfare standards. Intensification of animal husbandry, which provides greater economic efficiency, poses many threats to animal health and remains one of the biggest problems of animal welfare. The desire for profit reduces the ability to implement the principles of sustainable development. We consider it expedient to develop and implement programs for assessing the welfare of cows in Ukraine. So in the EU there is a voluntary WQ program that certifies producers and aims to meet the needs of society, develop a reliable monitoring system on farms and improve the welfare of cows in general. In New Zealand, the Code of welfare has been implemented, which forms awareness of farmers and care for animal welfare. Almost 98% of US farms are members of the FARM (USA) program, which is positioned as a voluntary program and a number of others. Thus, despite the fact that dairy farming is one of the strategic sectors of animal husbandry in Ukraine, the welfare of dairy farms is insufficiently studied and covered. In the perspective of research, it is important to analyze the experience of other countries in this area and the introduction of a system of welfare assessment, as well as the development and implementation of protocols on animal welfare in Ukraine based on the concept of "Five Freedoms". It is important to raise the awareness of stakeholders and officials to ensure proper compliance with EU animal welfare rules, taking into account national, regional and local networks, different support and understanding of the target audience (both farmers and producers, civil servants, scientists and educators, etc.). Also a priority is research on animal welfare, as well as the development of modern approaches to the legal provision of animal welfare, which will improve animal welfare. Thus, in order to ensure a high level of welfare of cows in relation to world standards of animal welfare, the priority is to assess the welfare of cows, improve the legal framework in Ukraine, further research in this area, implementation of effective programs to control the welfare of dairy animals.
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