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      Epidemiology of Compromised and Unfit Cattle Arriving at Auction Markets and Abattoirs in Alberta

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      HEUSTON-THESIS-2018.pdf (1.714Mb)
      Date
      2018-05-22
      Author
      Heuston, Courtney EM 1994-
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
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      Abstract
      Compromised and unfit cattle are a major welfare concern. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has criteria to monitor cattle arriving in these conditions at auction markets (AM), provincial (PA) and federal abattoirs (FA). Currently there is a lack of scientific data supporting the prevalence of compromised and unfit cattle arriving at central collection points. A pretest investigated the arrival conditions of cattle (n=2270) at central collection points in Alberta (AB). There is no standard method for assessing compromised and unfit conditions. A new assessment tool was developed to describe the severity of conditions and define compromised or unfit conditions. The inter-rater reliability weighted Kappa value between two observers was κ > 0.85, which provided confidence in the repeatability of the tool in the larger study. Two trained observers assessed a random sample of cattle arriving to 20 locations in AB over one year. Cattle were observed at eight AM (n = 4561), 11 PA (n = 1069), and one FA (n = 4013). The effect of cattle type (beef or dairy), age (feeder/fat or mature), and seasonality (winter, summer, and fall), and mud coverage (above or below knees) was also assessed. Mature cattle had greater odds of arriving to AM (23.3; confidence interval [CI] = 13.8 to 39.3; p < 0.01), PA (2.8; CI= 1.7 to 4.5; p < 0.01) and FA (1.7; CI= 1.1 to 1.7; p = 0.02) in a compromised or unfit condition than feeder/fat cattle. Dairy cattle had greater odds of arriving to AM (7.5; CI = 5.3 to 10.6; p < 0.01) and PA (2.7; 1.4 to 5.1; p < 0.01) in a compromised or unfit condition than beef cattle. The odds of cattle arriving to PA in a compromised or unfit condition were 2.0 times greater in summer (CI= 1.3 to 3.0; p<0.01) and 1.8 times greater in fall months (CI= 1.1 to 2.7; p < 0.01). Cow-level factors (age and cattle type) need to be considered when transporting cattle. Producer education regarding which cattle conditions result in poor welfare outcomes would aid in reducing unnecessary suffering of cattle being transported for sale or slaughter.
      Degree
      Master of Science (M.Sc.)
      Department
      Large Animal Clinical Sciences
      Program
      Large Animal Clinical Sciences
      Supervisor
      Schwartzkopf-Genswein, Karen
      Committee
      Jelinski, Murray; Janzen, Eugene; Harding, John; Morely, Paul
      Copyright Date
      October 2018
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/8582
      Subject
      Compromised
      Unfit
      Cattle
      Welfare
      Transportation
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      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
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