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Prof. Andrew Fisher: I'm a professor here at the Faculty of Veterinary Science. I've
worked with animal welfare for over 20 years. The five freedoms represent one of the best
concepts we have in animal welfare. They represent the goals that we should strive for in ensuring
the welfare of animals in our care. I believe that it's important for farming industries
to engage in animal welfare and to demonstrate their performance in animal welfare.
Freedom from fear and distress means providing animals with conditions and treatment that
avoids mental suffering. Tony Batterham: What's principally involved
here and what's central to satisfying this freedom well is how we interact with the cattle
and how we handle cattle through all the facilities on the feed lot and through the whole feed
lot operation. Geoff Cornford: It's really important that
whenever we handle the cattle, and we do so in the least stressful way possible.
Brad Robinson: Low stress stock handling is reducing the amount of noise you're making
when you're moving cattle, reduce the use of prodders and electric gates and just making
sure we're providing an environment for those cattle where there is less stress.
Geoff Cornford: A lot of the feed lot handling facilities in Australia are based on Temple
Grandin design principles. So that means that they're generally long, flowing races where
cattle are always in the company of other cattle, so they're following other cattle
throughout the facility. They're designed without trip hazards, without sharp edges
which could hurt the cattle. Our quality assurance system that most Australian feedlots have
looks at this every year during an audit. Prof. Andrew Fisher: Good yard design and
construction are vital to ensure that animals are calm when they're handled and to minimize
the risk of any injury. Low stress stock handling is much better in yards that are well designed
and well maintained. Geoff Cornford: Most cattle in Australia are
used to being handled with horses, and so cattle are used to be handled with
horses, therefore it's much less stressful for a stockman on a horse, for example, to
shift cattle from a pen or a paddock than a person on foot if the cattle aren't used
to it. Not only do the people that work in the industry
get trained in low stress stock handling, we also have facilities that assist that.
So for example, we use wireless gates and automation so you don't actually have to be
with the cattle, and the cattle can freely move through the facility without the eventual
perceived intervention of people. Tony Batterham: One thing I know for sure
is that people involved with feed lots and the cattle that they look after tell you every
day that they are keen observers of animal welfare and they're keen practitioners of
good animal welfare. Geoff Cornford: Like most people that work
in the Australian beef industry, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for the cattle
that I look after, and nothing's more important to me than making sure that their welfare
needs are met.