Animal Health and Welfare

IDF Standing Committee on Animal Health and Welfare

Current activities

Monitoring and input to OIE Animal Welfare Working Group
Conference on Animal Health & Welfare for the IDF World Dairy Summit Yokohama (JP) in Oct-Nov 2013
Guidelines for the use and interpretation of bovine somatic cell counts in the dairy industry
Collection of data on industry milk quality and hygiene statistics

Objectives

To inform the dairy sector about new developments in the field of animal health and animal welfare and their implications on prevention of diseases considering aspects relating to farm economics, food safety, human health and dairy technology;
To consider and assess the effects of cattle diseases on animal welfare and vice-versa, public perception of milk production, costs of production and safety, quality and suitability of milk for human consumption;
To maintain relations and cooperation with intergovernmental bodies, like FAO and OIE, and non-governmental bodies, like IFAH or EAAP, on behalf of the dairy sector in the field of animal health;
To maintain contact with other IDF bodies as appropriate, supporting their work with regard to animal health and in particular in the context of achieving an integrated food chain management approach throughout IDF activities.

Documents, factsheets, articles...

Factsheet: Antimicrobial Resistance
The emergence of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria has had profound effects on the management of therapeutic approaches to both human and veterinary diseases. Treatment and control of mastitis is the most common use of antimicrobials in dairy cows.
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Gateway to Farm Animal Welfare
IDF is a partner of the FAO Gateway to Farm Animal Welfare, which provides a single access point for a wide range of information related to the welfare of farm animals.
More information...