ALPACAS, LLAMAS & Guanaco Welfare Guide 2014 A welfare guide issued to form secondary legislation Attached to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 Anthony. A. Turner.MMS. BAS Welfare Committee British Alpaca Society · PO Box 251 · Exeter, Devon EX2 8W June 2014 Page 1 of 60 Preface The Animal Welfare Act 2006 is based on a duty of care philosophy which obliges the owners and persons in charge of an animal to meet the physical, health and behavioral needs of animals in a manner that is in accordance with both good practice and scientific knowledge. The Act provides for the development of codes of animal welfare, which are designed to help everyone care for animals. Codes flesh out the provisions of the Act by setting minimum standards of care, which owners and persons in charge of animals are expected to meet. In addition, codes which should be preferably outcome-based, include recommended best practice and explanatory material intended to encourage optimum animal welfare that exceeds the requirements of the minimum standards. Outcome-based standards in codes of welfare focus on defining welfare outcomes for animals based on known needs. They do this in a manner that requires those outcomes to be delivered, rather than prescribing specific requirements for facilities and management techniques and systems. The challenge in developing a code of welfare is to integrate the various and often conflicting social, ethical, economic and production management value judgments with the available science in a way that does not stifle innovation or require frequent alteration of the codes. Codes of welfare should spell out the minimum acceptable standards for managing animals in a manner that accommodates new knowledge and the changes that will inevitably occur in housing and management systems. Therefore, minimum standards that focus on the animal and its minimum required welfare outcomes offer greater utility and are likely to be more long-lived than prescriptive facilities-based standards that become outdated by new developments and attitudes. Experience with prescriptive standards has shown that if the intended outcome is not stated, there can be debate about the validity of the standard because of different interpretations of the intended outcome. Facilities specifications could be offered in support of outcome-based minimum standards but not be a part of them. It is considered that outcome-based standards, which would include readily observable and measurable welfare indicators, as measures of the achievement of that outcome, would allow farmers (or owners) to use their own expertise, experience, available technology and judgment to meet the minimum standards and demonstrate compliance with them. Page 2 of 60 Index to Pages Key to Minimum Standards..............................................................................4 Introduction.........................................................................................................................5 A.1 What is the purpose of this welfare guide ? 5 A.2 Who does this code apply to? 6 A.3 What animals does this guide apply to? 6 A.4 What happens if I do not follow the minimum standards in this code? 6 A.5 How does this guide relate to other codes of welfare? 6 Five Basic Freedoms 7 Minimum Standards 8-42 Quality Assurance 43 Appendix I : Condition Scoring of Camelids 44-45 Appendix II: Humane Destruction 46 Appendix III: Interpretation and Definitions 47-52 Acknowledgements 52 References 53-54 Notes Pages 55-60 Page 3 of 60 Key to Minimum Standards Five Basic Freedoms ................................................................................................................................7 Minimum Standard No. 1 - Stockmanship ................................................................................................................................8 Minimum Standard No. 2 Mustering and Droving ........................................................................................... ……………………….9 Minimum Standard No. 3 Restraint ................................................................................................................................ 10 Minimum Standard No. 4 Food .................................................................................................................................12 Minimum Standard No. 5 Water …………………………………………………………………………………...15 Minimum Standard No. 6 Shelter and Shade .................................................................................................................................16 Minimum Standard No.7 Housing Facilities .................................................................................................. …………………..19 Minimum Standard No. 8 Animal Handling ................................................................................................... ………………… 22 Minimum Standard No. 9 Behaviour ............................................................................................................. ………… 24 Minimum Standard No. 10 Mixing Camelids ................................................................................................. ………………… 26 Minimum Standard No. 11 Male (Macho) Camelids ..................................................................................... …………………………...27 Minimum Standard No. 12 Female (Hembra) Camelids ............................................................................... ……………………………….28 Minimum Standard No. 13 Colostrum & Cria ……………………………………………………………………………………. 29 Minimum Standard No. 14 Weaning ............................................................................................................. ……………31 Minimum Standard No. 15 Shearing ..................................................................................................................................34 Minimum Standard No. 16 Animal Identification ........................................................................................... ……………………..…36 Minimum Standard No. 17 Pre-transport Selection ..................................................................................................................................37 Minimum Standard No. 18 Health ..................................................................................................................................38 Minimum Standard No. 19 Emergency Slaughter ……..........................................................................................................................41 Page 4 of 60 Introduction A.1 What is the purpose of this welfare guide? South American camelids (llamas, alpacas and guanaco) are kept for both commercial and personal purposes, and in a variety of different systems. Whether the animals are being run in an extensive situation for large-scale fibre production, or being kept as intensively handled packing animals, or as companion animals, both experience and the observation of high standards is required to ensure the welfare of the animals. The purpose of this code is to encourage all those responsible for implementation to adopt the highest standards of husbandry. The minimum standards in this code set out the minimum standard of care which owners or persons in charge of animals need to meet in order to meet their obligations under the Animal Welfare Act. Suggested indicators do not have a legal effect but they can be used to determine whether minimum standards are being met. The recommendations for best practice are intended to encourage standards of care over and above the minimum. Advice is given throughout this code which is designed to encourage owners and operators to strive for a high level of welfare. Explanatory material is provided where appropriate. This code provides the general principles for the care of animals, but it is expected that the British Alpaca Society, the British Llama Society and British Camelids Ltd will develop operational specifications consistent with the requirements of this code and incorporate these specifications in quality assurance programmes (see Section 9 Quality Management). Page 5 of 60 A.2 Who does this guide apply to? This code sets out the general principles for the care of New World (South American) camelids. It is intended for all persons responsible for the welfare of camelids, and applies to all camelids kept in the UK. Common species of camelids found in the UK include Vicugna pacos, (alpaca),Lama guanicoe (guanaco) and Lama glama (llama). Under the Act the owner of an animal and the person in charge is responsible for meeting the legal obligations for animal welfare. In some cases or for particular procedures, the owner of the animals places them in the care of others who become the persons in charge. A.3 What animals does this guide apply to? This code applies to all South American camelids kept for any purpose in the UK (alpacas, llamas, guanacos and crossbreds of these species). A.4 What happens if I do not follow the minimum standards in this guide? Failure to meet a minimum standard in this code may be used as evidence to support a prosecution for an offence under the Animal Welfare Act. A person who is charged with such an offence can defend him or herself by showing that he or she has equaled or exceeded the minimum standards in this code. The recommendations for best practice in this code have no legal effect and are included to encourage higher standards of animal welfare. The suggested indicators are included as examples of how to assess whether or not minimum standards have been met. A.5 How does