The Spanish Society for the Protection and Welfare of Animals, SEPROBA, has made public the results of an opinion survey carried out among agents in the ruminant meat production sector, in which Spanish consumers show a high level of interest in everything related to animal welfare in the livestock meat production sector.
This study, carried out by SEPROBA on a total of more than 256 technicians of the sector (67% male), was already advanced last November during the celebration of the I Symposium on Animal Welfare, organised by the beef interprofessional, PROVACUNO, and the interprofessional of sheep meat in Hungary, JTT, and in Spain, INTEROVIC, within the European Animal Welfare programme, co-financed by funds from the European Commission.
The information collected aims to define the position of livestock sector agents regarding the quality of life with which animals are reared on the farms, as well as to find out what resources are used to keep the consumer informed. The survey, made up of 12 questions, gathers different opinions on the importance of guaranteeing animal welfare to farm animals, taking into account factors such as the facilities used, the messages that are being transmitted to society or the importance of practising this type of animal care for animal health.
The importance of animal welfare gets the highest rating in the survey
The results show that the importance of animal welfare and the relationship that this practice has with improving the health of ruminants is highly valued. The conclusion drawn from the survey is that animal welfare is of great social interest and the demand for animal welfare is prioritised for farming rather than philosophical reasons, as stated by people involved in the sector.
The study also reveals that people outside the sector show a high level of interest in the guarantees offered by accreditation, estimating the benefits of a seal accredited in Spain by ENAC, the National Accreditation Entity in Spain.
In this sense, both SEPROBA and PROVACUNO and INTEROVIC agree on the need to improve the knowledge of the livestock reality that people outside the sector have, so that they can better assess the impact of the proposals in animal welfare on issues of management, productivity, health, trade and the guarantees of the offer in the purchasing decision.
After the celebration of the I Symposium in November 2022, the organisation is already preparing the II European Animal Welfare Symposium, which will be announced in the near future.
For more information, please click here https://seproba.es/encuesta-de-opinion-sobre-bienestar-en-rumiantes/
