Advances in Cattle Welfare Free PDF Download

Advances in Cattle Welfare Free PDF Download. This book has been a deeply personal endeavor, one that captures an overarching theme in my career: to be a constructive voice in our societal conversation about food.

Advances in Cattle Welfare Free PDF Download

Constructive voices take many forms, depending on the person and their talents. As a scientist, I believe that research can inform our discussions about animal welfare. In its most applied form, research in this field generates and evaluates practical means to improve the day-to-day lives of cattle used for milk and meat. This knowledge requires advocates to take it into the world.

Regardless of their training or expertise, my experience has been that the people who are most effective at this are able to respond to openings, to new possibilities in the dialog. They are able to perceive when a given group, for example, a producer, a veterinarian, a retailer, a non-profit organization, a legislator, a processor, etc., is ready to hear new information and use their influence to improve animal welfare.

This book represents the range of openings and possibilities I have seen emerge in the last few years. The inspiration for the topics has come from conversations with producers, academics, veterinarians, purchasers, and consumers of dairy and beef products, as well as time spent directly with the animals. The chapters address areas where I believe knowledge will provide insight and deepen the discussion. Each chapter is a review of academic literature that I felt was missing from our journals, but where command of this information is keenly needed in our conversations about cattle welfare.

The contents About Advances in Cattle Welfare Free PDF Download

The authors of each chapter took my invitation and inspiration for their topic and refined it. It was an honor to work with them. In the back-and-forth of the editing process, I came to see each chapter as a window into the author’s insight and the depth of their care. Invariably, their reviews lead to new questions and, in this way, also inform future research.

The book begins with an overview of cattle production, portrayed with words and pictures by Marcia Endres and Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein. Often, the starting point for conversations about cattle welfare is to understand what is involved in the process. This overview is useful for someone who might have had little experience with agriculture as well as those who are intimately involved in one sector, dairy for example, but perhaps have little contact with beef. They also highlight where the welfare concerns exist. This is useful, given that animal welfare inherently reflects our ethical priorities, and sometimes one person’s concern is another’s assumption about business as usual.