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CHICKEN, TURKEY AND EGG PRODUCERS ARE TURNING TO POULTRY RESEARCHERS TO GAIN LATEST INSIGHTS INTO POULTRY WELFARE ISSUES AND IMPROVE ANIMAL WELFARE PROGRAMS

The Poultry Science Association is Leading the Way in Animal Welfare Studies Relating to Poultry and Providing a Credible Knowledge Base to Industry on Poultry Welfare Issues

SAVOY, IL (October 23, 2008) – Can a chicken be frustrated? How do you assess whether a bird is in distress? How can we be sure that a suspected animal welfare problem really exists – and if it does, what changes can be made, in the most cost-effective way, to ameliorate the problem?

A growing number of poultry scientists and other researchers are studying these and similar questions in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of poultry welfare issues as they relate to modern poultry and egg production practices. And, according to The Poultry Science Association (PSA), a number of companies in the poultry and egg industries – and companies in industries using their products – are reaching out to PSA scientists to help them develop or improve their poultry welfare programs.

PSA's Role in Industry Animal Welfare Councils

Bruce Webster, Ph.D., a PSA member, applied ethologist and poultry welfare specialist in the poultry science department of the University of Georgia, has focused his research on a wide range of behavioral and welfare issues in poultry, including behavioral genetics of fear-related behavior in chickens, behavioral responses of laying hens to feed withdrawal and induced molting, welfare aspects of controlled atmosphere stunning of chickens, and the impact of cage enrichment on laying hens.

According to Dr. Webster, PSA members with an interest in and knowledge of animal welfare issues are increasingly being asked to serve on animal welfare councils of various companies. These councils usually comprise outside scientists, representatives from broiler companies and, of course, members from the company hosting the council.

"Typically, corporate animal welfare councils convene once or twice each year to look for ways to help the company refine its welfare programs. Having served as a welfare council member for several companies, I've been very impressed with the commitment of the representatives from broiler companies – they are not only knowledgeable, but strongly resolved to developed viable and meaningful welfare programs. PSA members are collaborating in this effort by working in an advisory capacity to ensure that companies have available to them the most up-to-date information regarding our understanding of poultry welfare issues," said Dr. Webster.

"The contribution of PSA to the industry has been to develop the knowledge base and provide industry with the means to develop credible animal welfare programs, including inducing changes in production processes, when warranted. The advancement of animal welfare in the poultry industry continues to be a broad-based team effort," added Webster.

PSA's Role vis-à-vis Agricultural Research Involving Animals

In conjunction with its desire to promote a science-based, rather than an emotion-based, understanding of poultry welfare, PSA's Animal Care Committee on occasion offers information – not opinion – on legislative initiatives being promoted by animal rights groups that involve animal welfare issues. PSA also has representation on the Federation of Animal Science Societies' Scientific Advisory Committee on Animal Care, Use, and Standards (FASS CACUS) which is responsible for the Guide for the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Agricultural Research and Teaching. This Guide is used as the standard of reference by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees in federally-funded universities and other research institutions throughout the United States to oversee the use of animals in agricultural research and teaching and determine whether proposed animal research is ethically acceptable. (Dr. Webster currently serves on the FASS CACUS.)

PSA's Ongoing Commitment to Science-Based Welfare Improvements

"An important part of PSA's mandate is a commitment to the ethical production of food," said PSA President Dr. Michael P. Lacy, who is also Department Head and Professor of Poultry Science at the University of Georgia. "Because of this mandate, we are committed to the promotion of research on poultry welfare issues and to encouraging the implementation, by industry, of science-based and cost-effective improvements in animal production practices."

About PSA

The Poultry Science Association (PSA) is a global scientific society dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge generated by poultry research – knowledge that enhances human and animal health and well-being and provides for the ethical, sustainable, and economical production of food. Founded in 1908, PSA has a global membership of about 3,500. For more information, go to www.poultryscience.org.