Minimising pain in farm animals: the 3S approach – ‘Suppress, Substitute, Soothe’

Abstract

<jats:p>Recently, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research appointed an expert committee to review the issue of pain in food-producing farm animals. To minimise pain, the authors developed a ‘3S’ approach accounting for ‘Suppress, Substitute and Soothe’ by analogy with the ‘3Rs’ approach of ‘Reduction, Refinement and Replacement’ applied in the context of animal experimentation. Thus, when addressing the matter of pain, the following steps and solutions could be assessed, in the light of their feasibility (technical constraints, logistics and regulations), acceptability (societal and financial aspects) and availability. The first solution is to<jats:italic>suppress</jats:italic>any source of pain that brings no obvious advantage to the animals or the producers, as well as sources of pain for which potential benefits are largely exceeded by the negative effects. For instance, tail docking of cattle has recently been eliminated. Genetic selection on the basis of resistance criteria (as e.g. for lameness in cattle and poultry) or reduction of undesirable traits (e.g. boar taint in pigs) may also reduce painful conditions or procedures. The second solution is to<jats:italic>substitute</jats:italic>a technique causing pain by another less-painful method. For example, if dehorning cattle is unavoidable, it is preferable to perform it at a very young age, cauterising the horn bud. Animal management and constraint systems should be designed to reduce the risk for injury and bruising. Lastly, in situations where pain is known to be present, because of animal management procedures such as dehorning or castration, or because of pathology, for example lameness, systemic or local pharmacological treatments should be used to<jats:italic>soothe</jats:italic>pain. These treatments should take into account the duration of pain, which, in the case of some management procedures or diseases, may persist for longer periods. The administration of pain medication may require the intervention of veterinarians, but exemptions exist where breeders are allowed to use local anaesthesia (e.g. castration and dehorning in Switzerland). Extension of such exemptions, national or European legislation on pain management, or the introduction of animal welfare codes by retailers into their meat products may help further developments. In addition, veterinarians and farmers should be given the necessary tools and information to take into account animal pain in their management decisions.</jats:p>

Can novel methods be useful for pain assessment of castrated piglets?

“…This practice is widely executed without pain relief, even though it appears to cause distress regardless of piglet age (Carrol et al, 2006;von Borell et al, 2009). Moreover, it represents an animal welfare issue with an increasing negative public perception owing to animal suffering (Guatteo et al 2012;Sutherland et al, 2012); hence, the European Declaration on alternatives to surgical castration of pigs (EU Commission, 2010) exhorts to abandon the practice by 2018. However, the same document recognises the unavoidability of castration in case of pig meat produced for traditional products, in order to meet their current quality standards.…”

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in Food Producing Animals

“…Pain activates numerous physiological reactions that often induce negative effects on well-being and behaviour, as well as on growth and reproduction of the animals. However, the main obstacle for the pain management in farm animals is to recognise, quantify and evaluate the pain status of each individual in a farm or to treat pain in a single individual without disturbing the whole group of animals (Guatteo et al, 2012).…”

“…This approach is used to review existing practical solutions and find new solutions to eliminate or alleviate pain in farm animals. It is based on the possibility to "suppress" the procedures or environments that are a source of pain, to "substitute" such procedures by others causing less pain and to "soothe" pain when it cannot be avoided (Guatteo et al, 2012). Animal welfare issues in food production are now being driven by animal activists, food companies and consumers.…”

Refining a ‘toolkit’ for objective assessment of pain and stress in ruminants

“…The assessment can be performed possibly until wound healing is completed, as one of the main roles of IL-6 is to modulate immune cell recruitment to prevent reinfection while tissue resolution takes place (Gabay, 2006). It is important to address chronic pain in farm animals, especially as it can induce negative effects on the animal's overall well-being thus affecting the animal production criteria such as growth and reproduction rates (Guatteo et al, 2012). Nonetheless, in ruminants, the measurements of IL-6 may not be as straight forward as assessment of IL-6 in humans and other species with known baseline values and reference range.…”

“…The French National Institute for Agricultural Research has established the '3S' steps, "Suppress, Substitute and Soothe", for approaching pain in farm animals (Guatteo et al, 2012). The first step, suppress, advocates avoidance of the use of painful procedures when and where possible, the second step, substitute, recommends choosing the least painful technique, and the last step, soothe, advocates use of analgesia to alleviate any pain that may have been incurred.…”