PSVII-25 Undergraduate students’ knowledge and perception of welfare and ethical issues in animal agriculture.

Abstract

Animal welfare and ethics are emerging issues influencing production practices, societal focus and legislation in animal agriculture. The objective of this work was to investigate the knowledge and perceptions of undergraduate students on animal welfare and ethical issues in production systems. An anonymous survey was developed with Qualtrics using a 5-point Likert scale: (1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) neutral, (4) agree, and (5) strongly agree. The survey was administered to 80 undergraduate students majoring in agriculture, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. A total of 53 participants completed the survey (response rate =66.25%), and they were mostly between the ages of 19 and 24 (81%), and females (52%). Students’ prior experiences with animals varied with those that had owned pets/companion animals (45%), grew up on livestock farms (24%), had ample experience with livestock (16%), to those that had little or no farm/animal experience (10%). About 52% strongly agreed that animal welfare was important in farm animal production, whereas 30% disagreed that human interests (e.g., profit, food production) should be prioritized over the welfare of farm animals. Majority of the students supported the use of animal welfare certifications (51%), but disagreed (55%) to the statement that animals should not be used for food production because the animal cannot consent to sharing of milk or eggs or to be slaughtered. About 44% of the students agreed that they were aware of animal welfare controversies related to factory farming, whereas 52% of the students were not familiar with the five freedoms of animal welfare. Some issues considered critical in farm animal welfare were animal confinement (60%); slaughterhouse practices (55%); use of antibiotics and hormones (53%); physical alterations (47%); transportation conditions of farm animals (43%); using animals for research (38%), continuous breeding for productivity (23%), among others. Half of the respondents (50%) agreed that the animal industry should implement effective practices and programs to assess animal welfare at farms and factories, and most students either agreed (43%) or strongly agreed (24%) that it was possible to balance the ethical treatment of animals with the need for food security in growing global populations. Students agreed (42%) that consumers had the right to know how farm animals were treated through labeling on animal products, and 43% strongly agreed that educational programs were essential in improving public knowledge and action on animal welfare. This study revealed important outcomes on the extent of students’ knowledge and perspectives on animal welfare and ethics, given their crucial role as consumers and future professionals in the animal industry. Therefore, the inclusion of animal welfare and ethics education into the agricultural curriculum is critical in expanding the formal education of undergraduate students and the training of future professionals.