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Overall Animal Welfare Reviewed. Part 3: Welfare Assessment Based On Needs And Supported By Expert Opinion, M.B.M. Bracke, B. M. Spruijt, J.H.M. Metz

Assessment of Animal Welfare Collection

Welfare concerns what matters to animals from their point of view. What matters to animals is their state of need. Satisfaction and frustration of needs are associated with emotional states, the subjective experience of which directly determines the welfare status of an animal. Because emotional states are difficult to assess, overall welfare assessment (OWA) is best approached as an assessment of needs.

For actual OW A a list of needs must be formulated. Different authors have formulated different lists. From these lists a concept need-list was constructed. For validation the needs-based approach for OWA was discussed in interviews with experts …