Marketing vs Animal Welfare Science: Who's Really Winning in the Free Range Egg Debate?

Venue: B02, Carrillo Gantner Theatre

Presenters: Professor Tina Widowski

Recent decisions by egg suppliers in the US and Canada to use only cage-free eggs by 2025 demonstrate the power of public animal welfare campaigns in the 21st century. It also allows these companies to avoid the negative publicity associated with caged eggs in future.

But the science of animal welfare shows us that what is good for the marketing of eggs is not necessarily what is best for the quality of life of the birds themselves. It is likely the decision to go cage-free will create avoidable risks for hen welfare if farmers, regulators and consumers don’t look beyond the label and ensure hen housing meets the recommendations of animal welfare scientists.

In this University of Melbourne free public lecture Professor Tina Widowski will discuss how scientists measure the health, behavioural preferences and emotional states of hens and how we can house them to best ensure they have a life worth living. An expert in animal behaviour and physiology, she uses a variety of measures to determine how the housing and management of farm animals affects their welfare.

Tina Widowski is Professor of Animal Biosciences and Director of the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare at the University of Guelph, Canada. She is recognised internationally for her research on behaviour and welfare of farm animals.

Professor Widowski will draw upon her research to argue that decisions about animal welfare should be based on scientific measurement of what is best for animals rather than emotional responses or imagery, and that scientists, farmers and policymakers have a responsibility to understand animal welfare science and communicate it to the public to ensure the best outcomes for the animals and humans that work in these systems.

This lecture is part of the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences’ 2016 Dean’s Lecture Series, in conjunction with the Animal Welfare Science Centre.

from
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/events/6913-marketing-vs-animal-welfare-science-who-s-really-winning-in-the