CONCERN for animal welfare is a direct result of higher living standards and personal wealth, according to animal welfare specialist Dr Andrew Fisher.

"As food security and immediate personal needs are no longer a daily challenge for many, society's circle of moral concern has expanded," Dr Fisher said.

He told the BestWool-BestLamb conference in Bendigo in Victoria last week that the wool industry was feeling those community concerns with the mulesing debate.

He said these concerns in highly developed communities were reflected in a recent Europe survey that asked respondents how they rated animal welfare.

Sixty-seven per cent of Swedish respondents said it was a major concern while Eastern European countries were at the other end of scale.

The Czech Republic gave a 21 per cent response, with Britain falling in the middle at 47 per cent.

Dr Fisher, who is an associate professor at Melbourne University's facility of veterinary science, said the need for farmers to address animal welfare concerns in their production systems would grow.

He put farming practices that prompted welfare concerns into four categories:

  • Restriction of animal movement.
  • Surgical practices that cause pain.
  • Long-distance transport for higher profits.
  • Diseases or problems induced by the production environment.

He said the best strategy for farmers was to take the time to understand consumer concerns.

Where Australian practices differed from farming industries elsewhere, they were likely to face greater scrutiny or appear more of a problem to outside observers.

Dr Fisher said mulesing and the need to truck animals long distances were examples of major issues for Australia.

He said farmer reaction to an animal welfare issue often followed three stages.

The first was denial - "don't mention the war" - and the second was "yes, we are looking at the problem".

The third was "we have identified the problem and this is how we are dealing with it".

Dr Fisher hoped the establishment of the government-sponsored Australia Animal Welfare Strategy and the development of Australian standards and guidelines for each livestock species would go much of the way to addressing community concerns.

He said the new standards and guidelines would replace the existing Model Codes of Practice.