NAWAC Guideline 08: Justifying animal welfare trade-offs

1. Introduction

In order to assess more comprehensively what the physical, health and behavioural needs of animals are and how they can be met, it is helpful to consider five domains of animal welfare, i.e. the nutritional, environmental, health, behavioural and mental requirements of animals. In order to achieve the best net welfare outcomes for animals in particular circumstances, a restriction is sometimes imposed within one of these domains in order to achieve an animal welfare benefit in another domain. NAWAC refers to this as “an animal welfare trade off”.

2. Three conditions to be satisfied

NAWAC believes that such a trade-off can be supported ethically only when three conditions are all satisfied:

1. compared to other management systems or practices, the chosen restrictive system or practice must produce demonstrable and significant animal welfare benefits in another area or domain;

2. the chosen restrictive system or practice must be applied only for the minimum period necessary to realise those benefits; and

3. active attempts must be made to develop and use viable alternatives, which are acceptable in animal welfare terms, to the chosen restrictive system or practice.

 3. Close confinement systems as an example

As an example, NAWAC considers that the degree of restriction which close confinement systems impose on the ability of animals to express their normal patterns of behaviour can be supported ethically only when the following three conditions are all satisfied:

1. compared to other management systems, demonstrable and significant animal welfare benefits must accrue from such close confinement;

2. such close confinement must be applied for the minimum period necessary to realise those benefits; and

3. active attempts must be made to develop and use viable alternatives, which are acceptable in animal welfare terms, to such close confinement.

This guideline was approved by NAWAC on 8 December 2004. This guideline is not a legal interpretation of the Animal Welfare Act 1999. It is anticipated that this guideline will be updated from time to time in light of experience gained by NAWAC during its deliberations.

Page last updated: 1 October 2008