Two and Three Animal Welfare Concepts

I. Two Animal Welfare Concepts

• 1st element, physical health, includes the absence of disease and injury, adequate feeding, and physical and thermal comfort.
• 2nd element, emotional state, includes both the absence of negative emotions and the presence of positive ones

II. Three animal welfare concepts

• The concept of “animal welfare” includes the physical health, the emotional state and the behavior of the animals.
• The “multidimensional” nature of the concept of animal welfare is reflected in the definition proposed by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE): “An animal is in a satisfactory state of wellbeing when it is healthy, comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express its innate behavior, and if it is not suffering from unpleasant states such as pain, fear and distress”.
• Good animal welfare requires diseases prevention and veterinary treatment. Appropriate shelter, management, nutrition, humane handling and humane slaughter/killing.