Attitudes of French pig farmers towards animal welfare

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the main characteristics of the animal welfare specifications in different quality schemes of the French pig sector; to present the French pig farmers' attitudes towards animal welfare in general, and illustrate different quality schemes.Design/methodology/approachPrime source of data is interviews with 60 pig farmers. Supplementary sources are research reports and statistics, specifications of the quality schemes.FindingsOn many themes, the responses and attitudes of the farmers differ according to their participation or not in a quality assurance scheme, and according to the level of stringency of their scheme regarding animal welfare. For instance, farmers in the most stringent schemes define animal welfare as providing natural living conditions for the animals, whereas for farmers in no schemes, or in more intensive schemes, animal welfare is above all an animal in good health, for which one must provide correct housing and a balanced and sufficient diet. Animal welfare is almost always a part of more global quality schemes including environmental and high flavour quality aspects.Originality/valueThe paper provides insights into the different definitions of good animal welfare by French pig farmers, as well as their attitudes towards public regulations and different types of private schemes. This is interesting from a scientific point of view and to fuel the debate between a high level of regulation for all farmers, a market segmentation based on welfare specification, or a market segmentation in which animal welfare is one aspect of the specifications.

Attitudes of Canadian Pig Producers Toward Animal Welfare

“…Most participants clearly equated satisfactory lives for animals with good biological health and functioning-elements that are almost universally seen as fundamental to animal welfare (Fraser et al 1997;Dawkins 2004). In this way, participants' views resembled those of many conventional European pig producers (Bock and van Huik 2007;Borgen and Skarstad 2007;Kling-Eveillard et al 2007;Menghi 2007;van Huik and Bock 2007) and of American author and pork producer Kellogg (2005). In short, most favored providing animals with artificially controlled confinement environments that were properly outfitted, managed and maintained.…”

A pilot survey of farm animal welfare in Serbia, a country preparing for EU accession

“…The relatively limited number of components of the Serbian farmers’ concept of animal welfare, which tended to be based on physical conditions rather than mental state, might be expected from farmers facing economic difficulties and without experience of value‐enhanced welfare‐based products (Bock & van Huik ; Kling‐Eveillard et al . ; Cziszter et al . ).…”

“…The relatively limited number of components of the Serbian farmers' concept of animal welfare, which tended to be based on physical conditions rather than mental state, might be expected from farmers facing economic difficulties and without experience of value-enhanced welfare-based products (Bock & van Huik 2007;Kling-Eveillard et al 2007;Cziszter et al 2011). As the farmers' satisfaction with their animals' living conditions did not show a clear relationship with the results of the welfare assessment, there may be challenges in initiating change in some situations where improvement is needed.…”

Fattening Pig Farmers’ Intention to Participate in Animal Welfare Programs

“…Among other factors, the social environment plays a major role in many decisions made by farmers. Family, but also colleagues of the farmers influence their decisions [21,54]. It can be assumed that farmers discuss AIW participation with family members.…”

“…Nonetheless, farmers participate even if they do not feel equitably remunerated. Furthermore, in a study, the time required to implement FAW criteria was above all considered [54]. In another study, participants in AWPs saw the time-consuming burden of documentation and the time required for daily work in the stable [15].…”