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The aim of this study was to examine the factors influencing the attitudes of veterinary students in Croatia toward farm animal welfare. The survey was carried out at the only faculty of veterinary medicine in Croatia and included students from all years of the integrated undergraduate and graduate study programme. The response rate was 91% (n = 505 subjects). According to the socio-demographic and experiential factors observed, females, students in their initial years of study, younger students with urban backgrounds, non-religious/non-spiritual students and vegetarians, and those intending to work with companion animals expressed more concerned attitudes regarding farm animal welfare (all P < 0.05). The type of secondary school completed, family monthly income and previous experience with farm or pet animals had no impact on student attitudes. The results of the study point to a variety of factors influencing veterinary student attitudes towards farm animal welfare. A recognition of these factors can contribute considerably to increasing student awareness of farm animal welfare. These results provide a basis for further research into the factors influencing veterinary attitudes to animal welfare and the complexity of their interactions.

This survey was undertaken to assess the attitudes of Croatian veterinary students regarding farm animal welfare issues. The study included students of all undergraduate years at the only Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Croatia. First-year students were surveyed twice, ie before and after attending the course on animal welfare, using a written questionnaire containing statements with a five-point Likert scale for choice of answers. Students consider good animal welfare necessary for sustainability of farming systems and food quality and safety, ranking particular issues in the following order: biological functioning > natural living > emotional states. Students also believe that cattle and pigs have greater cognitive abilities and that their welfare is less compromised in comparison with poultry, whereas standard management procedures performed in pig production are perceived as more humane than beak-trimming in poultry. In addition, students tend to consider pain in farm animals caused by management procedures only when these procedures involved the affliction of significant pain. There were no differences between attitude scores on most of the statements from first-year students before and after the course. Furthermore, for the majority of statements, the mean responses were lower in final-year students, suggesting a lower level of empathy toward farm animals. Although similar results have also been recorded elsewhere in the world, these results raise concerns as to the ability of these future veterinarians to promote good farm animal welfare in the country and abroad. The results also suggest a need to modify veterinary student education in Croatia in the field of farm animal welfare.

It is common practice in the dairy industry to separate the calf from the cow immediately after parturition, and in most parts of the world calves are housed individually during the milk-feeding period. Early and abrupt separation has major implications for the calf's physical and psychological development. In this Research Reflection short review we present and discuss the main housing systems and management practices regarding early weaning in today's dairy industry. Main benefits and disadvantages are critically addressed, and possible future research suggested. Furthermore, major policy issues related to consumers, scientific recommendations and economic performance of farms have been identified, as well as future drivers for more viable housing solutions for neonatal calves. This review serves as an introduction and preamble to the second section of this Special Issue, which is dedicated to cow-calf contact management systems.

This survey was the first one investigating opinions of veterinary students in Croatia towards companion animals and their welfare, with special reference to dogs and cats as the most popular companion animals in the European Union. The study included students of all six years of the integrated undergraduate and graduate veterinary medicine study programme in Croatia. First-year students were surveyed twice, before and after having attended the course on animal welfare. Student opinions were assessed on the basis of their mean responses to five-point Likert scale questions and frequency of responses to Yes/No/I do not know questions and ratio scale questions. Study results revealed students to have strongly positive opinions towards companion animals and their welfare. The majority of student statements did not differ significantly between the first and sixth study years or before and after having attended the animal welfare course in the first study year, mostly yielding a straight, non-fluctuating line. Students were not sure whether welfare of companion dogs and cats was compromised. Study results pointed to reliable and reasonable opinions of veterinary medicine students in Croatia towards companion animals and their welfare, as well as to the welfare issues these species may be facing nowadays.

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

Fermented sausages have been manufactured traditionally in the Mediterranean basin. Istrian sausages are one of the many regionally specific products distinguished by the specific traditional recipes and consequentially exceptional sensory characteristics. The aim of this study was to evaluate sensory, physico-chemical and microbiological changes occurring during production and ripening of Istrian sausages made at traditional households, and to compare the results obtained with the identical product produced in industrial conditions. Additional goal was to characterise the autochthonous lactic acid bacteria populations and to obtain the candidate starter strains. Production stages and product ripening parameters could be strictly defined in controlled industrial conditions of the production process, and the results of this study can serve to standardise the production of traditional Istrian sausages. The results from sensory and physico-chemical examination do not show differences in relation to sausages of a similar type investigated in other papers. Lactic acid bacteria were favoured during fermentation at rising salt concentrations, consisting mostly of Lactobacillus strains followed with the abundance of coagulase-negative cocci. Further, we targeted the autochthonous lactic LAB population to select the candidate starter strains for controlled sausage fermentation. Fifty Gram-positive strains with catalase-negative phenotype, rod-shape or cocci morphology, effective acidification kinetics and production of lactic acid identified by sequence analysis of 16S rRNA were considered LAB. The selected LAB strains were able to grow in a range of pH values and high salt concentration important for their metabolic activity during sausage fermentation. According to our results, Lactobacillus sakei, which is a prevalent strain during fermentation of various types of fermented sausages, was frequently detected. Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus curvatus were also detected in abundance, implying their possible competitiveness among the complex microbial population. Isolated autochthonous strains L. curvatus S30, L. sakei S32 and L. plantarum S50 produced high lactic acid concentrations, tolerated NaCl concentrations present during sausage fermentation, survived at high concentrations of hydrogen ions and inhibited six pathogens associated with contamination of meat products in a strain-specific manner.

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