Economic benefits should be taken into account in the implementation of animal welfare.

One is a pig that has been raised in the mountains for more than a year, and the other is a pig that is trapped in a narrow space and fattening rapidly. As a consumer, which one would you choose? When the price difference is not very large, it is estimated that not many people will choose the latter. The reason is simple, because people are more inclined to believe that pigs that can enjoy themselves on the mountain, eat wild vegetables and drink mountain spring water are more likely to be healthy. For people, only eating healthy food is good for the body. This involves the issue of animal welfare.

In fact, in China's animal husbandry, animal welfare is no longer a new word, but it is a sensitive topic. What on earth is animal welfare? What positive role does it play in promoting the development of animal husbandry in China? Today, with the rapid transformation and rapid development of animal husbandry, how to take into account animal welfare without affecting the development of animal husbandry economy? At the 2014 China Forum on Animal Welfare and the quality and Safety of Livestock and Poultry products held a few days ago, experts, scholars, enterprises and relevant personnel from all over the world gathered together to express their views and repeatedly discuss and demonstrate the above issues.

Animal welfare needs to be paid attention to.

Xi Chunling, president of the Animal Welfare International Cooperation Committee of the China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation (hereinafter referred to as ICCAW), one of the organizers of the forum, told reporters that the current situation of animal welfare in China is worrying. Whether it is experimental animals, farm animals, companion animals, and even wild animals that have long been listed for protection, there are more or less problems with their welfare. Compared with developed countries, especially EU member states, the gap is very obvious. CEOPhilipLymbery, the World Farm Animal Welfare Association, has personally visited grass-roots farms in some provinces of China. In his view, the current situation of animal breeding in grass-roots farms in China is very bad, the breeding density is so high, and the breeding environment is so serious that "it has to be changed, and it is very necessary to vigorously promote animal welfare."

So, what exactly is animal welfare?

SteveMclvor, director of international activities of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, gave his understanding, saying: "Animal welfare is an important part of ecological civilization, and its core is to be kind to animals. It has five criteria: first, to protect animals from hunger, thirst and malnutrition; second, to protect animals from environmental discomfort; third, to protect animals from disease and injury; fourth, to free animals from fear and sadness; and fifth, to give animals the right conditions to freely express their nature. "

It can be seen that animal welfare is not only closely related to animals, but also related to human development. However, in China, the importance of animal welfare has not been fully valued, and this situation urgently needs to be improved. " Zhao Zhonghua, chief representative of the World Animal Protection Association in China, stressed.

Let standards regulate animal welfare

If people engaged in animal welfare are asked where they most want the state to strengthen support for animal welfare, the answer of the vast majority of people will be to legislate or establish standards. Xi Chunling told reporters: "ICCAW was established last year. Since its establishment, the Association has done a lot of work, such as setting up its own expert committee, absorbing a large number of members interested in animal welfare, and carrying out a series of cooperation with international animal welfare organizations. In this process, we found that although the British Farm Animal Welfare Committee put forward the five basic principles of animal welfare long ago (as mentioned by SteveMclvor above), in the process of implementation, based on China's basic national conditions, it is also necessary to have an objective and fair animal welfare standard to ensure the effective landing of animal welfare. "

As a result, in May this year, "Farm Animal Welfare requirements for Pigs" was officially released, which scientifically expounded the welfare and breeding of pigs from the aspects of feed and drinking water, breeding environment, breeding management, health plan, transportation, slaughtering, segmentation and processing, recording and traceability, etc.

"this standard was jointly drafted by the Association and Fangyuan Mark Certification Group. It is the first standard in a series of standards for farm animal welfare in China, and it is also the first standard in China specifically to protect farm animal welfare. It has filled a big gap in domestic standardized breeding." Xi Chunling said that in order to fully combine China's national conditions and reality, the association summoned experts, scholars, and enterprise representatives from all over the country to fully discuss the contents of the standard, and went deep into the aquaculture front line for many times to visit and investigate.

"now, in order to further promote animal welfare to take root in China, another standard," Farm Animal Welfare requirements for Beef cattle "was approved on October 12, and the first draft of" Farm Animal Welfare requirements for Mutton Sheep "has also been completed." Wang Tianyi, head of Fangyuan Mark Certification Group, said, "this is a systematic work, and we will promote it together with the association." However, on the basis of improving the relevant standards, we would like to see these standards well implemented so that they can become an example to lead the development of animal welfare in China. "

Find the right balance between animal welfare and animal husbandry economy

To say ten thousand words, the final landing of animal welfare depends on the enterprise. However, enterprises will inevitably have all kinds of concerns in the process of implementing animal welfare, because in addition to the time cost, enterprises also need to pay higher production costs. Many companies are reluctant to bear these seemingly additional costs in production. In response, SteveMclvor said: "this phenomenon occurs not only in Chinese companies, but also in other countries." There is no either-or relationship between animal welfare and economic returns. For example, if the density of chicken farms decreases or is kept separately, the number of chickens will be reduced, but this will reduce the possibility of disease and improve the quality of chickens. With more publicity at the marketing level, the market is likely to become bigger and sell at a better price. In terms of cost, a shorter transportation process will increase investment in slaughterhouses, but it will also reduce the cost of transporting live animals, as long-distance transport requires more trucks, etc. "

"this requires us to find the right balance between animal welfare and animal husbandry economy in the process of implementing animal welfare." Ren Tongsu, director of the state-owned Donghai pig farm in Jiangsu Province, said. It is reported that the farm advocates healthy breeding and welfare raising of pigs in the whole breeding process of Huai pigs. from "pig house environment, pen structure and other infrastructure construction" to "no tooth cutting, no tail cutting, a large number of green feed, the use of pads and other breeding techniques." And then to "rings, hanging boards" and other entertainment toys are strictly in accordance with the basic needs of Huai pig's unique living habits such as "life, environment, hygiene, behavior, psychology".

"our breeding philosophy is' Pig Happy, I am Happy! Pigs are happy, I am happy!' . As long as the pigs are raised well, the meat is good, and if the meat is good, there is no worry about selling it. If the price is one cent, our profits will increase rather than decrease. " Ren Tongsu said happily.

Also attending the forum were Sanmenxia Young Eagle Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd., Bayannur Fuchuan Feed Science and Technology Co., Ltd., Hunchun Jixing Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd., and other well-known enterprises in the industry, all of which are practitioners of welfare breeding. In the sharing of experience, we all agree that in the process of strictly implementing animal welfare and breeding, although the production cost is relatively high, most of the products produced will occupy the domestic high-end market, and because of the implementation of animal welfare and breeding, it has also broken down foreign trade barriers and is able to export products abroad smoothly.

"We should learn to take a long-term view and not just focus on temporary profits. Although it seems that we have invested a little more money now, we can pay attention to doing business in the long run, and in the long run, it must be cost-effective. " Wang Guizhi, chairman of Hunchun Jixing Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd., said bluntly.