Nearly a third of dairy cows are removed from herds annually in the United States. Our objective is to describe what is known about the process of sending a dairy cow to slaughter in the United States including our perspectives about her fitness for transport, her condition upon arrival at the slaughter plant and the decisions to transport her in the first place. This process begins when the decision is made by the farmer to remove a cow from the herd. Once a cow leaves the farm, she makes her way either directly to slaughter or goes through one or more livestock auctions or markets along the way. Cull cows can travel considerable distance to slaughter and may face a number of welfare challenges during this process. These stressors are exacerbated if the cows are compromised and not fit for transport. While all major industry stakeholders have recommendations or guidelines about fitness for transport, none are enforced rules or regulations. There is little financial disincentive for farmers to stop shipping compromised dairy cows, and, in some cases, slaughter plants are willing to take the risk on purchasing cows in this condition as those that survive the journey often generate a good margin of return. As a result, the decision to ship compromised cull cows is too common, as indicated by data about cow condition both at the farm and the slaughter plant. Compromised culled dairy cattle continue to arrive at slaughter plants and leadership within the industry is needed to tackle this welfare challenge.

Euthanasia is a valuable management tool utilized on dairies to end the suffering of sick or debilitated cows. Euthanasia should be implemented if an animal’s pain cannot be adequately alleviated and if there is a limited chance of recovery. To be humane, euthanasia should be quick, painless, and administered by a trained individual. Despite its importance in ensuring cow well-being, the timeliness with which euthanasia decisions are made for dairy cattle is often overlooked or neglected. The timeliness of euthanasia is as important as the efficient, rapid administration of euthanasia itself. Timely euthanasia is a critical component of many on-farm animal care and verification programs yet opportunities exist within the industry to improve how effectively the industry is executing this critical component of cow management. There are challenges associated with performing euthanasia in a timely manner, such as inconsistencies in treatment protocols, inadequate employee training, difficulties assessing a cow’s quality of life, and impacts of the human–animal bond on decision-making. The objective of this paper is to explain the importance of timely euthanasia to dairy cattle welfare, identify the challenges that can prevent the timeliness of euthanasia, and provide solutions and practical suggestions for improving the management of timely euthanasia on dairies.

Abstract. The goal of the current prospective field study was to examine the shedding patterns of naturally occurring Staphylococcus aureus intramammary infections and the association of pulsed field gel electrophoresis pulsotype with shedding. Milk samples from 5 multiparous and 2 primiparous cows identified with S. aureus intramammary infections were collected for 21 consecutive days, 3 times throughout the lactation (63 days total). Cyclicity of each quarter was evaluated using a locally weighted regression. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis was used for genotypic cluster comparisons to evaluate the association of strain type and shedding patterns. Although the amount of shedding varied greatly, 97.5% of the samples were culture positive. There were notable differences in S. aureus shedding patterns among cows as well as within cows; however, no consistent cyclic pattern was identified. Quarters infected with S. aureus isolates grouped in genotypic cluster 1 appeared to shed at consistently higher levels with a median cfu/0.01 ml of 154 (ln[cfu] = 5.0). In comparing ln(cfu)/0.01 ml between genotypic clusters over the first 21-day sample period, accounting for the effect of sample day, samples collected from quarters infected with S. aureus in genotypic cluster 1 had a 1.5 times greater ln(cfu) than those collected from quarters infected with strains in genotypic cluster 2. The ability to detect S. aureus from day to day was very consistent. The current study examining naturally occurring intramammary infections would support the conclusions of other studies suggesting that a single quarter sample would be adequate in determining S. aureus intramammary infections status.

Abstract. Bovine viral diarrhea virus 1 (BVDV-1) subtype b was isolated from premature Holstein calves from a dairy herd that experienced an outbreak of premature births, late-term abortions, brachygnathism, growth retardation, malformations of the brain and cranium, and rare extracranial skeletal malformations in calves born to first-calf heifers. Experimental inoculation of 3 colostrum-deprived calves aged 2-4 months old with this BVDV isolate resulted in thrombocytopenia, lymphopenia, and leukopenia. Outbreaks of brachygnathism are rarely associated with BVDV, and thrombocytopenia is rarely associated with BVDV-1 strains.

An online survey was conducted to compare 46 veterinary students who previously enrolled in a discussion-based animal-welfare elective with 45 veterinary students who did not take the course. Students were asked a series of questions about their attitudes toward animal welfare and were presented with animal-use scenarios that had not previously been discussed in the elective course: greyhound racing, veal calf production, and the use of genetically engineered mice in research. For each scenario, students' actual knowledge was scored on the basis of open-ended factual questions. Students were also asked how comfortable they were with educating themselves about each topic and to describe factors they would use to evaluate the welfare of animals in each scenario. Factors were classified as being associated with (a) biological functioning, (b) ability to exist in a natural state, or (c) measures of affective state or feelings. There was no significant difference in actual knowledge of the three scenarios between students who took the course and those who did not. Students who took the course were significantly more likely to be comfortable about educating themselves on each of the three animal-use scenarios and scored significantly higher in identifying welfare-affecting factors than students who did not take the course. The results suggest that this approach to instruction is an effective way to teach veterinary students about how to educate themselves about animal-welfare issues and to increase their confidence in appropriately evaluating novel animal-welfare topics.