Safe & humane loading & unloading of cattle at veterinary premises Introduction:
Loading and unloading cattle at veterinary premises imposes many health and safety risks. It is important to think of the health and safety of both the handler and the animal when loading and unloading cattle. It can be a very stressful situation for both the handler and the cattle, if done incorrectly. Even docile cattle may become agitated when they are being transported. As cattle are very large animals, they can cause serious injury to the handler. They could possibly even crush the handler to death. Precautions should be put in place to minimise this risk. There are many different reasons why cattle may become scared when being transported. Many cattle may
…show more content…
Freedom from hunger & thirst
2. Freedom from discomfort
3. Freedom from pain, injury & disease
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour
5. Freedom from fear & distress
Possible causes of cattle agitation:
It is important for handlers to understand how cattle may become agitated. If they understand this, they can put precautions in place to help and ensure these situations are less stressful for everyone involved. Possible causes include:
• Change of environment: Cattle may become nervous when entering new and unfamiliar surroundings. This may cause them to become agitated.
• Cattle handling: Some cattle may become nervous when they are being handled by new people. Some cattle may not be used to being handled by people at all.
• Separation from herd: Cattle feel safe in a herd and many cattle may become very nervous and agitated when they are separated from the rest of the herd.
• Pain: Many cattle who are visiting the veterinary premises will be sick and may be in pain. This can cause them to become agitated.
…show more content…
This means the animal does not need to be turned or reversed when unloading.
• Make sure the towing vehicle and trailer are roadworthy.
• Make sure the towing vehicle has enough fuel.
• Ensure the driver has clear directions to the veterinary practice.
• Ask the driver for an estimated time of arrival so that the members of staff can make any preparations that may be necessary for the patients arrival.
• Make sure no one travels in the back of the trailer with the animal.
• Ask the driver to drive as smoothly as possible to prevent further injury to the animal.
• Decide which direction the animal should face when travelling: If the cow has an injury in his hindlimb, it is recommended that it should travel facing forwards. If the injury is in the forelimb, it is recommended that it should travel facing
Driving through Texas, one might see many types of livestock. Upon these types of livestock are cattle. From the Chick-fil-a cow to Elmer the bull, the bovine species take up a wide range of American soil. One of the most distinguishable breeds are the Texas Longhorns with their gorgeous features and long history.
Hasheider, Philip. How to Raise Cattle: Everything You Need to Know. St. Paul: Voyageur, 2007. Print.
A typical workday then, consisted of crews installing fences while cowboys’ roped wild cattle to be sold, in preparation for the introduction of tame (domesticated) cattle herds between 1950 and 1955. Operations shifted focus toward managing merely tame cattle herds within controlled paddocks as the market for wild cattle died off; hence wild cattle still exist.
Normally, cows in Northern Europe in places such as Denmark live normal lives simply grazing on grass, and existing. However, there have been recent changes that have disrupted this normal activity. Generally the bluetongue virus (spread by Culicoides imicola, a biting midge) has been confined to Southern Europe and other places around the Mediterranean. But with the increase in temperature throughout the area, the midge has been allowed to migrate northward. This new pest is a nuisance and causes lots of difficulties to farmers in the area. When a cow contracts this disease, they usually also receive oral ulcers, salivation, stiffness, fever and eventually the inevitable- death (Merck Veterinary Manual NP). Because of the increase in temperature, midges have spread around the globe infecting livestock and creating terrible trouble for many farmers.
Donkeys are large, strong animals and it is normal for inexperienced handlers to lack confidence or even be fearful. A donkey’s behavior will be influenced by the ability, experience and confidence of its handler. A nervous handler will increase the nervousness of the donkey. When a donkey is labeled as "difficult, naughty or bad", the behavior of the handler changes in accordance with the label and the animal's behavior will reflect how it has been labeled. Anyone intending to handle a donkey should gain as much knowledge and experience as possible, prior to commencing any behavior training. Donkeys easily learn things that are closest to their natural behaviors. How donkeys are trained and handled will determine their behavior. An experienced trainer who communicates well with the donkey will help a donkey to overcome problems and learn more
Equine therapy, as everything else, has its pros and cons. According to Meghan Vivo of Elements Behavioral Health, a drug rehab treatment center, equine therapy “can bring up unmet needs, fears, past trauma, and feelings of inadequacy or lack of control.” The use of these huge creatures can make people feel inadequate and the idea that another being has some control does not work for everyone. Therapy can be a long, extensive process and the results are not immediate. Patients do not always want to to wait for progress to be made, especially when that progress requires the patient to face his/her fears. Additionally, “trying to control or dominate will not work with a horse,” because horses are prey animals, so attempting to control a horse can worry the creature and, in response, the horse may act out. Horses are very clear about their boundaries and, for the most part, do not tolerate people crossing said boundaries. Riders must be careful around horses, wrong movements or upsetting a horse does not typically end well. To combat this, equine therapists and mental health professionals are well equipped to deal with horse-related injuries and emergencies and therapy horses must go through rigorous training to become certified. Patients and riders are also trained on barn etiquette and rules, such as no running or yelling around horses, no walking
Horse slaughter is inhumane and cruel because the horses are normally shipped for over 24 hours in cramped, dirty trailers with no food or water (ASPCA). They are given no rest and remain standing for this entire time. When they get to the holding pens at the slaughterhouses, the pens are muddy and filled with diseases. Many of the horses here are skin and bones, sick, and oftentimes injured from transport and being in such tight spaces with other horses. On top of all of this, they are treated brutally and carelessly. Any horse can
When researching diseases that affect animals, I chose to research one that deals with cattle. This disease would be a reproductive venereal disease called vibriosis. Vibriosis can affect all breeds of cattle, male or female, and is the most important cause of infertility in female cattle along with occasional abortions. This disease is caused by bacteria that live in the crevices of a bull’s prepuce, of a bull aged four years or older (Hansen, 1914). Age is a factor because the foreskin of a bull does not develop until then. The disease is spread from an infected bull to a cow during breeding. A bull might be clean, but then infected by a cow who was infected by a bull before him. Many bulls can go years without showing any signs of this disease, whereas female cattle may lose a calf to an abortion the next coming calving season.
Holsteins are the most common dairy breed throughout the world. They have been genetically improved to produce a higher yield to become more profitable for the dairy industry. The first Holstein originated in Europe approximately 2000 years ago (1). They emerged from the Netherlands in the provinces of Northern Holland and Friesland. Interbreeding of the black Batavian cattle and the white Friesian cattle created a black and white cow that could make use of the rich pasture lands of the Rhine region. Such interbreeding allowed the ability of the Batavian cattle’s digestive system and the Friesian cattle’s body and udder size to produce an efficient and high producing dairy cow (1).
Rodeo is a sport with long American traditions and loved by many spectators and participants. Past history has shown that rodeo needed to make way for a new era of riders and trainers with a larger emphasis on the welfare of the animals and not be discontinued or banned entirely. Today’s rodeos do not present a danger to the animals because the animals are well-cared for and protected, rodeos have strict rules and the stock are treated as prized animals.
Smith, David, Mark Blackford, Spring Younts, Rodney Moxley, and Jeff Gray. "Ecological Relationships between the Prevalence of Cattle Shedding Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Characteristics of the Cattle or Conditions of the Feedlot Pen." Journal of Food Protection 12 (2001): 1881-2110. Ingentaconnect. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
Believe it or not, animals can definitely be prone to anxiety as well. Therefore, if your dog is in such a situation, then it is highly recommended that you get him a weight vest. This item will help him calm down and feel less nervous as well. Furthermore, the extra weight will also make him more tired, which means that his sleep will be deeper and more restful as well.
The Cow and Calf division of the Animal Health segment markets its products direct to cattle ranchers. Such products include vaccines, medications, and antibiotics to support healthy and consistent herds of beef producing cattle. It segmented the market into three distinct categories. Hobbyists herd less than 100 cows; Traditionalists commonly carry between 100 to 499, and Businesses are working with 500 or more. (Mohr, 1999) Time spent in the field with the ranchers was allocated based on the volume of product purchased by each individual. Those that spent higher dollar amounts received the most attention (in the form of personal visits, seminar offerings, and trial product samples).
Cows are naturally very gentle and calm creatures. These smart and sweet natured animals have been known to go to great lengths to escape slaughterhouses. More than forty-one million of these sensitive animals suffer and die a painful death each year in the United States. When cows are still very young they are burned with hot irons, there testicles are torn or cut off, all without painkillers. Most beef cattle are born in one state, live in another, and are slaughtered in another. The cows who survive the gruesome transportation process are shot in the head with a bolt gun, hung upside down by there legs, and taken onto the killing floor where there throats
and throat and also, fever. Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus can be found in all ages of cattle,