The welfare of extensively managed sheep: a survey identifying issues and indicators

Abstract

A survey was designed as a first step in developing a framework for the welfare assessment and monitoring of extensively managed sheep in Australia with the aim of identifying potential causes of welfare compromise, useful welfare indicators and current monitoring practices. The survey was developed and conducted online using Survey Monkey. It was distributed to contacts in industry, research institutions/universities, government agricultural organisations, the RSPCA and social media outlets. Participants were asked between 14 and 26 questions that varied from scaled (1-5) to open ended. A range of 20 welfare issues were provided for consideration including thermal comfort and painful procedures. A total of 952 people completed the survey in its entirety, representing four stakeholder groups: Public (53.6%), Producer (27.4%), Scientist (9.9%), and Service provider (9.1%). Descriptive statistics, principle components analysis, restricted maximum likelihood analysis and Pearson's correlations were conducted.