This concerns all animals, domestic and wild as well farmed, and involves many animal rights organisations as well as proponents for improved standards.
You may recall earlier this year that the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted a resolution linking animal welfare to sustainability. The Animal Welfare – Environment – Sustainable Development Nexus resolution was accepted in March after being sponsored by seven member states.
The move is seen as historic, and potentially, a catalyst for widespread governmental action to protect animals and, by proxy, the environment.
This resolution, though indigestible reading, as are many UN resolutions, clearly links Animal health, welfare & sentience, with ecosystem health as well as human health and welfare and it is therefore an important pointer for us linking our three goals with each other, in common with the Sustainable Development Goals.
The World Organisation for Animal Health (formerly OIE, now WOAH) is the Global Agency responsible for intergovernmental coordination on animal disease, response to animal health emergencies, the prevention of zoonotic diseases, the promotion of animal health and welfare, and better access to animal health care.
It is WOAH's Terrestrial Code, specifically section 7.9 on welfare of beef cattle that forms the basis for our principle and criteria on welfare. Together with FAO, WHO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), WOAH constitutes the quadripartite alliance on One Health.
The quadripartite group focuses on antimicrobial resistance, emerging and endemic zoonotic disease risk, and strengthening of health systems.
Sure Harvest has been working with all three of our goals working groups and all of the national roundtables to establish a framework for reporting against our goals.
Our goal on welfare is that sustainable beef means providing cattle with an environment in which they can thrive. Health and welfare are the major contributors in doing so. This means focusing our efforts on improving the quality of life for cattle, through increased adoption of best practices in disease prevention, treatment measures, cattle handling, and appropriate genetics.
In accordance with the World Health Organisation for Animal Health policies, GRSB members work together with beef farmers and ranchers across the beef supply chain, encouraging continuous learning and adoption of best animal health and welfare practices.
It also includes the goal of increasing training opportunities by 25% of 2020 levels to encourage the improvement of responsible practices, as well as allowing animals to express normal behaviors and implementing pain mitigation to ensure animal comfort.
Some national roundtables are already collecting data on animal welfare, including pharmaceutical use and mortality, pain mitigation etc. It will undoubtedly be a challenge to find common metrics that work across all regions, but it will be possible for each region to demonstrate the ways in which they are contributing to the global goal.
It is likely we will look at a tiered system so that newly established roundtables that have not yet set national goals, or have not started measuring progress can be included, while those further along will be in a higher tier.
We are looking forward to hearing from members of the AHW working group at the Global Conference on Sustainable Beef in Denver next month!
