G2176
Animal Care Resource Guide for 4-H and FFA Members
Communicating With the Public About the Care of Production Animals
Youth livestock exhibitors have a responsibility to help educate the public about the care of production animals. This NebGuide defines key terms and Quality Assurance guidelines. This is No. 1 in a series of five resource guides.
Lindsay M. Chichester, Extension Educator
Dennis E. Bauer, Extension Educator
- Learning About Animal Care
- Animal Well-Being, Animal Care, Animal Welfare, or Animal Rights — What’s The Difference?
- Quality Assurance
- Acknowledgment
- Resources
Learning About Animal Care
Youth livestock exhibitors should be aware that the public develops opinions about production agriculture based on what they see, hear, and perceive at livestock fairs and exhibitions. The practices used to prepare and show animals may be all the public ever sees of livestock production — so set a good example.
Livestock producers are morally and legally responsible for animals in their care. Their animals should be provided appropriate feed, water, comfort, and safety, and not be subjected to unnecessary fear, stress, or discomfort. Livestock producers are also ethically responsible for the well-being of the animals in their care. They must not tolerate animal neglect or abuse. Animal caretakers should take pride in the belief that ensuring an animal’s well-being is the right thing to do, and choose to properly care for animals.
Animal Well-Being, Animal Care, Animal Welfare, or Animal Rights — What’s The Difference?
Often animal care, animal well-being, animal welfare, and animal rights are used interchangeably; however, these phrases mean different things, and it is important to understand the differences.
Animal well-being and animal welfare mean the same thing. Both acknowledge that humans may responsibly use animals for both human and animal benefit (e.g., livestock nutrition, forage and grain utilization). There is a responsibility to provide animals the best treatment possible. People who believe in animal well-being and/or animal welfare agree that animals should be treated with respect, without exception.
Animal care is what it says — providing care for an animal. Responsible livestock producers provide the best care and treatment for their animals by ensuring the animals receive high quality feed and water, appropriate shelter, quick treatment if ill, and low-stress handling when necessary.
Animal rights is a philosophy that believes that many or most uses of animals for human benefit are unacceptable because animals have certain characteristics that make it wrong to use them for human purposes.
Quality Assurance
A livestock producer realizes that he or she is responsible for making sure an animal receives the best care at all times. A healthy and productive animal is a content animal. Through sound production practices animals will flourish. Quality Assurance (QA) was developed to assure consumers that the food products produced from animals are wholesome and safe, and the animals which produced the product were cared for properly. Quality Assurance focuses on good production practices: •
- Provide proper animal handling and care
- Identify and track all animals
- Establish an efficient and effective animal health management plan
- Follow appropriate feed processor procedures and feed tag recommendations
- Establish appropriate vaccination and treatment protocols
- Educate all employees and family members on proper treatment techniques
- Maintain vaccination, medication, and treatment records
- Properly store, label, and account for all animal health products and medicated feeds
- Use drug residue tests when appropriate
- Review and update your Quality Assurance program annually
Animal producers trained in Quality Assurance and ethics should understand their important role:
- Produce a wholesome, safe, and nutritious food product for the consumer
- Produce a high quality, visually appealing, and delicious product for consumers
- Understand that as animal caretakers, their responsibility is to provide optimum care, safety, and comfort for animals at all times
Acknowledgment
The authors thank Dr. Candace Croney, Associate Professor, Animal Behavior and Well-Being, Purdue University, for her assistance with the content and editing of this publication.
Resources
For more information on good livestock management practices for youth, commonly asked questions, and many other animal care and well-being documents, please visit 4h.unl.edu/resourceanimalcare.
For more Nebraska youth Quality Assurance information, visit 4h.unl.edu/qualityassurance or contact:
Donald Beermann
Institutional Animal Care Program
110 Mussehl Hall
Lincoln, NE 68583-0720
Email: dbeermann2@unl.edu
Lindsay Chichester
Extension Educator
1700 Stone St.
Falls City, NE 68355
Email: lchichester2@unl.edu
Dennis Bauer
Extension Educator
148 West 4th
Ainsworth, NE 69210
Email: dbauer1@unl.edu
This publication has been peer reviewed.
Visit the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Publications website for more publications.
Index: Animals, General
Management
Issued July 2012