Quality of Life assessment tools – Quality of Life and animal welfare
spotlight topic:
1. Quality of Life and animal welfare
Published 31 August 2021 | Updated 22 January 2024
As veterinary professionals we have a professional duty to make animal health and welfare our first consideration when attending animals. Meeting an animal’s basic welfare needs, including protection from pain, suffering, injury, and disease, is also enshrined in law through the Animal Welfare Acts. However, current thinking on animal welfare goes beyond just meeting basic needs to consider the impact of the physical and social environment on the animal’s mental (affective) state through the “five domains” and the concept of “a life worth living”.
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- Battini, M. et al (2021) Feasibility and Reliability of the AWIN Welfare Assessment Protocol for dairy goats in semi-extensive farming conditions. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8, p.1210. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.731927
- Webster, J. (2016) Animal welfare: Freedoms, dominions and “a life worth living”. Animals, 6 (6), p.35. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani6060035
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- Sherwen, S.L. et al (2018) An animal welfare risk assessment process for zoos. Animals, 8 (8), p. 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani8080130
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- Littlewood, K.E. and Mellor, D.J. (2016) Changes in the welfare of an injured working farm dog assessed using the Five Domains Model. Animals, 6 (9), p. 58. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani6090058
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