International animal welfare initiatives: Engaging stakeholders with improvement across borders Michelle Lea Sinclair BA (Psychology and Human Resources) MSc (International Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2020 School of Veterinary Science 1 Abstract In the fields of commercial marketing, human resources management, politics, education and international development, the importance and benefits of engaging target audiences is readily appreciated. Key to developing an effective strategy to engage targeted groups of people into an idea or product, is understanding the group; their motivations, their challenges, their solutions, and the benefits and environment in which they would consider engaging with the product or idea in question. This notion is rarely understood or applied in not-for-profit fields. This is particularly the case in animal welfare, which may be confounded by the fundamental focus of the movement—being that of the animals themselves and their wellbeing, rather than humans. Animal welfare and protection is a social cause of high significance. It is important to citizens across cultures; important to political agendas, business enterprises, and to the animals themselves. As the movement has grown, so has the academic field of animal welfare science and, with it, our knowledge of what animals prefer and biologically, physiologically and psychologically need, in order to improve their welfare. Animals, however, are very rarely in a position to choose whether or not these needs are met, in order to improve their own welfare. There has been very limited empirical consideration of people’s (as opposed to animals’) perspectives about improving animal welfare, and even less is understood about the perspectives of the key stakeholders tasked with making critical decisions about the welfare of animals at critical times, such as slaughter, and in intensive farming systems. Farm animals could be considered the most numerous, economically significant and societally pertinent interface between humans and other species. For this reason, engagement of key livestock stakeholders in improving animal welfare could have major positive effects on the experiences of farm animals, with a consequent reduction of their suffering on a large and meaningful scale. Considering global livestock production, the Asian region produces more animals than any other region, and China produces more animals than any other country in the world; 39% of the total world output. As the world is continuing to globalise and not-for-profit initiatives are increasingly seeking to operate across borders, particularly in Asia, it is of paramount importance to identify strategies for working collaboratively; to test ‘western’ presumptions and theories for cross- cultural applicability, and for respecting and understanding culture as it applies to this issue. Culture is the most significant demographic shaping attitudes to animal welfare (Phillips et al. 2012; Sinclair et al. 2017a). Therefore, cultural consideration could be seen as crucial for effective understanding of attitudes and perceptions of the global livestock stakeholders. To summarise, although the welfare of farm animals (arguably the subset of animals most important to humankind’s welfare) is globally significant, knowledge gaps exist; little is known about the motivations and perceptions of livestock stakeholders or their solutions to animal welfare issues. These are the stakeholders most able to implement necessary critical improvement. Even less is known about livestock stakeholders in Asian countries (the largest animal farming region of the world). This thesis presents a body of work that begins to address these gaps. In a novel approach to farm animal welfare, focus groups were held with livestock leaders across China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh, centred around their perceptions of animal welfare issues, the barriers to improvement, the factors that motivate their interest in animal welfare, and their suggested solutions to overcoming animal welfare challenges. This included a discussion on willingness to embrace pre-slaughter stunning for animal welfare reasons. Interviews were also conducted with leaders of the largest international animal welfare organisations operating in the countries and key tenets of successful programs were identified. A survey was also conducted with front line farmers involved in swine and poultry 2 production in China, to better understand commonly-held perceptions towards farming systems and the animals themselves. In conclusion, the findings of the work presented in this thesis clearly demonstrate the strong relationship between perceptions and opinions around animal welfare, and the country and culture of the relevant stakeholders. Importantly, it also highlights the importance of engaging livestock stakeholders into farm animal welfare initiatives, the benefits to doing so, the role of ascertaining mutual benefits as a way of facilitating that engagement, and presents some of these mutual benefits. While attempting to further understand a complex picture of motivators, barriers and solutions, this thesis also offers strategic advice and potential initiatives for farm animal welfare improvement, tailored to each country. These findings hold important implications for the field of international animal welfare management, and any party interested in the improvement of the welfare of animal across borders. It is also suggested that this local, people-based mixed methodology research approach could be applied as best practice in the development of an international animal welfare strategy. The development of anthrozoologists specialized in cross-cultural studies may provide a route by which to advise and measure initiatives for improved success into the future. 3 Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work and contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have also clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, financial support and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my higher degree by research candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis and have sought permission from co- authors for any jointly-authored works included in the thesis. 4 Publications included in this thesis Sinclair, M., Phillips, C.J.C. Key Tenets of Operational Success in International Animal Welfare Initiatives. Animals 2018, 8, 92. Sinclair, M., Phillips, C.J.C. International Animal Protection Society Leadership: The Right People for the Right Issues. Animals 2018, 8, 89. Sinclair, M., Yan, W., Phillips, C.J.C. Attitudes of stakeholders in the Chinese pig and poultry industries to the welfare of animals. Animals 2019, 9 (11), 860. Sinclair, M., Idrus, Z., Nhiem, D., Katawatin, S., Todd, B., Burns, G.L., Phillips, C.J.C. Motivations for Industry Stakeholders in China, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia to Improve Livestock Welfare. Animals 2019, 9, 416. Sinclair, M., Idrus, Z., Burns, G. L., & Phillips, C. J.C. Livestock Stakeholder Willingness to Embrace Preslaughter Stunning in Key Asian Countries. Animals 2019 9(5), 224. Sinclair, M., Fryer, C., Phillips, C.J.C. The Benefits of Improving Animal Welfare from the Perspective of Livestock Stakeholders across Asia. Animals 2019, 9, 123. Sinclair, M., Phillips, C.J.C. Asian Livestock Industry Leaders’ Perceptions of the Importance of, and Solutions for, Animal Welfare Issues. Animals 2019, 9, 319. Submitted manuscripts included in this thesis All manuscripts contained in this thesis have been published in full. Other publications during candidature Published manuscripts Sinclair, M., Morton, J., Phillips, C.J.C. Turning Intentions into Animal Welfare Improvement in the Asian Livestock Sector. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 2018, 4, pp.1-15. Sinclair, M., Derkley, T., Fryer, C., Phillips, C.J.C. Australian public opinions regarding the live export trade before and after an animal welfare media expose. Animals 2018, 8(7), p.106. Li, X., Zito, S., Sinclair, M., Phillips, C.J.C. Perception of animal welfare issues during Chinese transport and slaughter of livestock by a sample of stakeholders in the industry. PloS one 2018, 13(6),