Correspondent
KIMBERLY
One of the world’s leading authorities on animal behavior and handling practices, Dr. Temple Grandin, was the keynote speaker at the 2010 Wisconsin Dairy and Beef Industry Animal Husbandry Conference March 5 at the Liberty Hall Banquet and Conference Center.
Presented by University of Wisconsin Extension agriculture agents from eastern Wisconsin, the conference was designed to increase knowledge and understanding of improved dairy and beef cattle animal handling practices among dairy and beef producers, veterinarians, farm service providers, educators and elected officials.
Focusing on practical measures to improve animal welfare, some of which might be considered insignificant, Grandin shared with the 400 conference attendees some of her lifelong research and observations about working with cattle and what she thinks lies ahead for the dairy and beef cattle industry.
“Tie up loose chains that can scare animals,” advised the Colorado State University professor of animal sciences. “A change in flooring or a drain can retard animal movement and so can shadows, especially on sunny days,” she added.
Grandin has discovered that installing skylights on walls improves cattle movement into dark buildings and that solid fences help keep animals calmer. An advocate of curved chutes, she says they work better than straight ones because they enable cattle to follow their natural instincts to turn back in the direction from which they came. “To find distractions, get in the chute and see it from the animal’s point of view,” she remarked.
Earning advanced degrees in animal science for her research on the behavior of cattle in different squeeze chutes, Grandin has been a leader in the design of handling facilities. It’s been said that half the cattle in the U.S. and Canada are handled in equipment she has designed for meat plants. She has also developed animal welfare guidelines for the meat industry and consults with McDonald’s, Wendy’s International, Burger King and other companies on animal welfare.
Having been diagnosed with autism at age 4, Grandin is a strong advocate both for animal welfare and people with autism. She has been featured on national TV programs and has been the subject of numerous magazine articles. She is the focus of a semibiographical HBO film released earlier this year, titled “Temple Grandin,” with Claire Danes in the title role.
Grandin believes it’s entirely ethical to use animals for food, “But we’ve got to do it right,” she adds. “We’ve got to give those animals a decent life and we’ve got to give them a painless death. We owe the animal respect.”
Describing herself as primarily a visual thinker, she has said that language is her second language. Grandin compares her memory to full-length movies in her head that can be replayed at will, allowing her to notice even the smallest details. She attributes much of her success as a humane livestock facility designer to her ability to recall detail, which is a characteristic of her visual memory.
She asserts that maintaining high animal handling standards requires continuous monitoring. “Handling quality can be easily maintained by regular audits of your handling practices with an objective scoring system,” Grandin explained.
Noting that an effective guideline must have clearly written standards, she recommends the use of words like “properly,” “adequate” and “sufficient” be banned. “What is ‘proper’ to one auditor might be considered terrible by another,” Grandin observed. She cited, “All pigs must have enough space to lie down without being on top of each other,” as an example of a clearly worded guideline.
Objective scoring measurements used by the American Meat Institute include percentages of animals:
• Stunned correctly on the first attempt.
• Being shocked with electric prods.
• That vocalize.
• That slip and fall.
“These are directly observable things that are the result of bad practices or bad facilities, not a paperwork audit,” Grandin affirms.
“Use scoring to show how changes made in your operation can improve handling,” she urges. “We found that air blowing into the faces of cattle at a restrainer entrance increased cattle vocalization,” Grandin recalled. “Once the air flow was eliminated, most of the vocalization stopped. Electric pod use on pigs was reduced by adding lighting at the restrainer entrance.”
Three different systems – animal-based outcome, prohibited practices and input-based engineering – are used to help measure animal welfare, according to Grandin.
Input-based measures may include space requirements for housing and transportation, and stunning equipment specifications. Sow gestation stalls, docking dairy cow tails, beating animals and small cages for chickens were cited as possible examples of prohibited practices.
The animal-based outcome system is the one Grandin prefers. “This can show body condition score, lameness, whether animals are excessively dirty, have lice or if they’re injured,” she explained.
“Lameness,” said Grandin, “can be an outcome of many bad conditions, such as poor housing, excessively rapid growth, poor leg conformation, improper foot care and disease or injury.” Grandin views the transportation of unhealthy cattle as one of the top animal welfare problems today. “A half dead, emaciated animal has no business on a truck,” she declared. “Another animal that’s not fit to be handled is a day-old calf.”
She also expressed concern over recent increases in adult dairy cow deaths, which have risen from 3.8 percent in 1996 to 5.7 percent in 2007. Data show that 20 percent of the deaths are due to lameness or injuries, followed by mastitis and complications related to calving.
“Some of this may be the result of biological system overload, due to the push for breeding larger cows to increase milk production,” Grandin observed.
Noting that she currently spends most of her time communicating to the general public and working with people who buy animal products, Grandin advised the best dairy producers to get their videos on YouTube to help counteract those being put up by the radical animal rights groups.
She also urged producers to pay close attention to minute details when handling animals. “Think in pictures,” she said, “and try to make every animal’s first experience with each new thing a good experience.”
