Improving horse welfare in Prince Edward Island through welfare assessment and benchmarking

Abstract

There are challenges with assessing the welfare of equines due to their diverse uses, management practices, and geographical distribution. This thesis addresses the need for continued research to assess and describe equine welfare in different geographic locations, with a focus on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Chapter 1 summarizes animal welfare concepts and current research on assessment in equines. Chapter 2 describes methods used to create animal welfare assessments, including an equine assessment based on the Canadian National Farm Animal Care Council’s Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Equines. Chapter 3 describes an experiment conducted on Prince Edward Island to 1) describe the prevalence of animal welfare outcomes (“animal-based”) and compliance with the Code of Practice on equine farms and 2) determine the effect of benchmarking on compliance with the Code of Practice, any changes in practices, and animal-based outcomes on these farms. To reach these objectives, 60 farms were re-visited for an initial equine welfare assessment and benchmarking report. Of these, 50 farms were visited the following year for a second assessment. Of the 50 farms which participated in both visits, 54% (n = 27) of farms showed an improvement in their awareness of the Code of Practice between the first and second visit. Additionally, 48% (n = 24) of farms showed an improvement in at least one category of Code of Practice requirements and 8% (n = 4) also made improvements in at least one category of Code of Practice recommendations between the first and second visits. Of the animal-based measures, there was a significant change in the prevalence of unhealthy body condition score (-17.72, P = 0.0006), integument lesions (-6.219, P = 0.020), and hoof abnormalities (-4.541, P = 0.026) from the first to the second visit. It is not clear if these changes occurred only because of the benchmarking report. However, these results provide evidence that horse owners may be motivated to make changes in their horse’s care and management using this type of approach. This thesis contributes to the current knowledge about equine welfare by outlining a practical framework for the development of animal welfare assessments and the possible role of benchmarking in improving the welfare of horses on Prince Edward Island and abroad