Ensino de bem-estar e dor animal em cursos de medicina veterinária no Brasil

Currículos de medicina veterinária devem disponibilizar ferramentas para que os futuros profissionais atendam a demanda da sociedade, que inclui preocupações diretas com os animais. O objetivo deste trabalho foi traçar um perfil do panorama geral do ensino da medicina veterinária em relação a questões de bem-estar e dor animal. O método utilizado foi análise de documentos disponíveis online e coleta de dados via aplicação de questionários para coordenadores de curso de medicina veterinária. A descrição do curso, sua grade curricular e ementário foram estudados. Observou-se que 46% das 94 instituições estudadas apresentavam a disciplina de bem-estar animal e 26% ofereciam a disciplina de etologia. Houve evidência de que há uma pronta relação com a esfera física do bem-estar animal, sendo que as outras duas esferas, comportamental e psicológica, não recebem atenção similar ao longo dos cursos. Na avaliação do ementário, o termo "bem-estar animal" é empregado com caráter difuso e o termo "dor" encontra-se presente em 54% dos cursos estudados, relacionado principalmente a disciplinas de patologia, fisiologia, farmacologia e anestesiologia. Conclui-se que o ensino brasileiro de medicina veterinária enfatiza a esfera física do bem-estar animal, sendo importante o enriquecimento em relação às esferas comportamental e psicológica e ao ensino da dor

Ensino de bem-estar e dor animal em cursos de medicina veterinária no Brasil Teaching pain and animal welfare in Veterinary Medicine courses in Brazil

Currículos de medicina veterinária devem disponibilizar ferramentas para que os futuros profissionais atendam a demanda da sociedade, que inclui preocupações diretas com os animais. O objetivo deste trabalho foi traçar um perfil do panorama geral do ensino da medicina veterinária em relação a questões de bem-estar e dor animal. O método utilizado foi análise de documentos disponíveis online e coleta de dados via aplicação de questionários para coordenadores de curso de medicina veterinária. A descrição do curso, sua grade curricular e ementário foram estudados. Observou-se que 46% das 94 instituições estudadas apresentavam a disciplina de bem-estar animal e 26% ofereciam a disciplina de etologia. Houve evidência de que há uma pronta relação com a esfera física do bem-estar animal, sendo que as outras duas esferas, comportamental e psicológica, não recebem atenção similar ao longo dos cursos. Na avaliação do ementário, o termo "bem-estar animal" é empregado com caráter difuso e o termo "dor" encontra-se presente em 54% dos cursos estudados, relacionado principalmente a disciplinas de patologia, fisiologia, farmacologia e anestesiologia. Conclui-se que o ensino brasileiro de medicina veterinária enfatiza a esfera física do bem-estar animal, sendo importante o enriquecimento em relação às esferas comportamental e psicológica e ao ensino da dor.<br>The curricula of veterinary medicine should provide tools for future professionals to meet society demands, which include direct concerns for the animals. The overall scenario of education in veterinary medicine on issues of animal welfare and pain was studied. This study was conducted through the analysis of documents available online and via questionnaires to coordinators of veterinary medicine programs. The program description, its curriculum and course content descriptions were considered. Results show that 46% of the 94 institutions studied offer an animal welfare course and 26% offer an ethology course. We observed a direct relationship with the physical component of animal welfare; the other two components, the behavioral and psychological ones, do not receive similar attention throughout the programs. In the study of course contents of the veterinary programs, the term 'animal welfare' is used in a diffuse manner and the term 'pain' appears in 54% of the programs studied, mainly related to disciplines covering its pathology, physiology, pharmacology and anesthesiology. We conclude that in the teaching of veterinary medicine in Brazil there is an emphasis on the physical realm of animal welfare, and that there is room for improvement in the naturalness and psychological realms and in the teaching of pain

Performance of an animal-based test of thirst in commercial broiler chicken farms

Animal-based measures of thirst are currently absent from animal welfare monitoring schemes due to the lack of a well-validated indicator applicable for on-farm use. In the present study, an on-farm test based on voluntary water consumption from an unfamiliar open drinker was validated in a (semi-)commercial setting. To investigate the effect of thirst on water consumption, we subjected 4 flocks of 1,500 broilers to either 0 or 12 h of water deprivation and subsequently measured the amount of water that small subgroups consumed after the deprivation period (first experiment). Broilers that were water deprived before the test drank more than control broilers (P < 0.001). In a second experiment, a similar test was performed using 20 commercial broiler flocks in Belgium and Brazil. After a pretreatment water consumption test, the birds were subjected to 0 or 6 h of water deprivation, and a posttreatment water consumption test was conducted. Only in Brazil, deprived birds drank significantly more than controls in the posttreatment water consumption test (P < 0.001). A tendency for a difference was found in Belgium (P = 0.083). Pre- and posttreatment water consumption was higher in Brazil than in Belgium (P < 0.001). Stocking density and temperature influenced, respectively, the pretreatment and the control's posttreatment water consumption in Brazil, but not in Belgium. These results indicate that the water consumption test is sufficiently sensitive to discriminate between control and 12 h deprived flocks, and in Brazil even between control and 6 h deprived birds. The location of the test within the house did not affect the amount of water consumed in either experiment, suggesting that this variable does not have to be standardized. However, the amount of water consumed by broilers able to drink freely for a long period depended on indoor climatic variables (in Brazil only) and possibly genotype. This suggests that these variables need to be considered when interpreting the test outcome in terms of the thirst level experienced by the broilers

Assessment of welfare of Brazilian and Belgian broiler flocks using the Welfare Quality protocol

The Welfare Quality consortium has proposed a science-based protocol for assessing broiler chicken welfare on farms. Innovative features make the protocols particularly suited for comparative studies, such as the focus on animal-based welfare measures and an integration procedure for calculating an overall welfare status. These protocols reflect the scientific status up to 2009 but are meant to be updated on the basis of inter alia implementation studies. Because only few such studies have been done, we applied the Welfare Quality protocol to compare the welfare of broiler flocks in Belgium (representing a typical European Union (EU) country which implies stringent animal welfare legislation) versus Brazil (the major broiler meat exporter to the EU and with minimal animal welfare legislation). Two trained observers performed broiler Welfare Quality assessments on a total of 22 farms in Belgium and south Brazil. All of the farms produced for the EU market. Although the overall welfare was categorized as 'acceptable' on all farms, many country differences were observed at the level of the welfare principles, criteria, and measures. Brazilian farms obtained higher scores for 3 of the 4 welfare principles: 'good feeding' (P = 0.007), 'good housing' (P < 0.001), and 'good health' (P = 0.005). Four of the 10 welfare criteria scores were, or tended to be, higher on Brazilian than Belgian farms: 'absence of prolonged thirst' (P < 0.001), 'ease of movement' (P < 0.001), 'absence of injuries' (P = 0.002), and 'positive emotional state' (P = 0.055). The only criteria with a higher score for the Belgian farms than their Brazilian counterparts were 'absence of prolonged hunger' (P = 0.048) and 'good human-animal relationship' (P = 0.002). Application of the Welfare Quality protocol has raised several concerns about the validity, reliability, and discriminatory potential of the protocol. The results also call for more research into the effect of animal welfare legislation as broiler welfare on the south Brazilian farms appeared to be superior to that on the Belgian farms. Animal-based welfare assessments on a larger sample of farms are needed to evaluate to what extent these findings may be generalized