Association between the perception of the Puerto Rico milk producers towards animal welfare and the current state of animal welfare based on the body condition score, hygiene, locomotion, hock and knee lesions, and body abrasions of the animals in their dairy farms

Abstract

The global population have been paying more attention to the welfare of production animals, what have caused negative impacts on the demand for animal source foods. A study was conducted to evaluate the current welfare state of animals on dairy farms and determine if there was a correlation with the perception that milk producers have regarding animal welfare. Data was collected in dairy farms from the western (n=7), northern (n=21), and eastern (n=9) regions of Puerto Rico where animals were evaluated based on their body condition, hygiene, locomotion, and lesions. At the same time, questionnaires were given to milk producers to determine their perception of animal welfare. The data showed that there is a low correlation (0.23) between the current state of animal welfare and the perception of it by dairy herd managers.Las tendencias mundiales han estado atrayendo mayor atención hacia el bienestar de los animales de producción por los consumidores de productos de origen animal. Se realizó un estudio para evaluar el estado de bienestar que tienen los animales en las fincas de producción lechera y determinar si existía alguna correlación con la percepción que tienen los productores de leche en cuanto al bienestar animal. Para esto, se tomaron datos de vaquerías en las regiones oeste (n=7), norte (n=21) y este (n=9) de Puerto Rico donde se evaluaron a los animales basados en la condición corporal, higiene, locomoción y lesiones. A su vez se entregaron unos cuestionarios a los productores de leche para determinar su percepción en cuanto al bienestar animal. La data reportó que existe una correlación baja (0.23) entre el estado actual y la percepción de los administradores de hatos lecheros.