Fourth Meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Animal Health and Welfare

Date: 23rd June 2014

Venue: Agriculture House 5C

Attendees

Chair: Colm Gaynor

Members: Simon More, Alison Hanlon, Michael Gunn, Laura Boyle, John Magee, David Graham, Donal Murphy, Jeff Connell

DAFM: Martin Blake (CVO) Ronan Halpin, Aiden Scanlon, Donal Sammin

Presentation: Andrew Byrne, Donal Sammin, Laura Boyle

Secretary: Niamh Cunningham

Apologies: Donagh Berry, Stephen Gordon, Cliona O’Farrelly

1. Briefing on welfare implications of the proposed time limits for the castration of cattle and sheep, the dehorning/disbudding of cattle, and the tail docking of sheep. Alison Hanlon/Aiden Scanlon/Ronan Halpin

The sub group have met on three occasions in relation to this matter and good progress is being made with 70% of research completed to date. Further work is required following which it is hoped that a summary report with some recommendations can be brought back to the Committee.

2. Briefing on welfare advantages/disadvantages of restraining cattle, in the course of ritual slaughter, (1) in an upright position, (2) rotated to ninety degrees, and (3) rotated to 180 degrees. Alison Hanlon/Aiden Scanlon/Ronan Halpin

The sub-group presented the outcome of their research so far – setting out the advantages and disadvantages of both systems

 Rotated 180: Advantages: good presentation, vessels visible so less cuts required Disadvantages: Pressure on internal organs, restricts amount of oxygen in the blood, time needed to restrain and cut. Takes 5-6 seconds for throat to be cut.

 Upright: Advantages: cattle standing therefore less time required for restraint, less discomfort for the animal therefore less distressful. Throat cut immediately after restraining.

Disadvantages: Neck not well presented therefore more skill required for correct cut.

There are five Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine approved slaughter plants that carry out Ritual Slaughter of cattle for the Islamic and Jewish markets. Two plants use a restraint device in which the cattle are rotated to 180 degrees whilst the remaining three restrain cattle in an upright position.

In compliance with the Welfare Regulations, each plant must have an Animal Welfare officer who has a certificate of competence in Ritual Slaughter who oversees the slaughter.

The matter will be brought back for further discussion at the next meeting of the Committee

3. Presentation on Laboratory capacity and capability in the animal health & welfare Sector. Donal Sammin

Donal made a presentation on the overall capability and capacity of the animal health laboratory outlining the organisational structure, functions, infrastructure and detailed the various work done by each division. He also spoke about the various challenges/opportunities in providing laboratory support for animal health in Ireland for new and emerging diseases and exotic diseases.

4. Badger Capture by Andrew Byrne Andrew Byrne reported on his analysis of the data routinely captured in respect of the badgers captured as part of the bovine TB eradication programme over many years. This is a follow up to the primary peer reviewed published research undertaken by Murphy et al who undertook detailed evaluation of the welfare impacts of the capture methodology deployed in Ireland using stopped restraints. He outlined the background to the dataset he used

o Process subject to licence by Parks & Wildlife Service

o Badger setts recruited on basis of serious TB outbreak in cattle – capture undertaken using stopped restraints, captured badgers euthanized and carcases submitted to laboratory for evaluation. Recruited setts revisited once a year.

o Capture/cull process taking place in parallel with research into and development of a badger vaccine programme.

o Injury status rated from 1-7 (0-4 Mild, 5-7 Severe)

o 19,167 assessed, 18,596 caught in restraints, others road kill

o Of those assessed 85% were grade 1 (no detectable injury)

o Badgers with an injury score of greater than 3 are investigated.

5. Dairy Cow Welfare- Laura Boyle

Laura made a brief preliminary presentation on this issue. The main issues of welfare concern were Mastitis & Lameness. She reviewed the merits and disadvantages of both pasture based and zero grazed systems. Of particular note was the potential for animals to enter negative energy balance at certain times in pasture based systems. The matter will be brought back to the Committee for further consideration.

6. AOB

 Presentation to be circulated to Committee members.  It was suggested that the date for next meeting will be towards the end of September early October.