Learning objectives
D1 Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
1. Understand and describe the various livestock production systems in EU.
2. Know the meaning of animal welfare from physiological, ethological, veterinary and legislative point of views.
3. Describe the main strategies for the assessment of animal welfare.
4. Know the potential impact of animal welfare on food safety
D2 – Applying knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
1. Recognize the risk of poor animal welfare on the safety of food of animal origin.
2. Suggest strategies to improve animal welfare.
D3 – Making judgements
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
1. Evaluate the level of animal welfare in farmed animals.
D4 – Communication skills
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
1. Express clearly and with appropriate terminology during description of concepts concerning the animal welfare.
D5 – Learning skills
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
1. Learn concepts relative to the animal welfare.
2. Understand of new strategies to improve the level of animal welfare in farmed animals.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
General principles of farm animals ethology and physiology. General aspects of ruminants and monogastric production & housing systems.
Farm animal welfare: definition, history and EU policy and legislation.
Assessment of farmed animal welfare: principles and methods.
Interaction between animal welfare, animal disease and food safety with possible impacts on public health.
Full programme
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Bibliography
The students can find the power point presentation projected in classroom on ELLY web portal
Improving farm animal welfare. Blokhuis, Miele, Veissier, Jones. Wageningen Academic Publishers.
Welfare assessment protocols: http://www.welfarequality.net/en-us/news/assessment-protocols/
EFSA opinions on animal welfare: https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/welfare/efsa_opinions_en
EU directive on animal welfare: https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/welfare/practice_en
Teaching methods
Lessons include presentations (in power point) of the teacher as well as seminars from invited speakers from other universities and organizations (e.g., EFSA). Extra material (i.e., not required for the exams) such as scientific papers, EU legislation documents on animal welfare, etc., will be also provided. All study material will be uploaded on the Elly web portal of the course.
Didactic tours in farms and/or cheese industry will be organized.
Assessment methods and criteria
The learning evaluation is conducted using the Elly platform. Learning evaluation consists of two subsequent tests: written multiple-choice questions test and open-ended questions test.
Mode and type of multiple-choice questions test: written, maximum duration of 15 minutes, consisting of no. 25 questions.
Mode and type of open-ended questions test: maximum duration of 10 minutes, consisting of no. 2 questions.
During the learning evaluation, the knowledge and understanding of the theoretical and applied themes, the ability to analyze hypothetical cases the communication skill and the ability to interpret scientific results will be verified.
Scale of assessment: the scale of assessment ranges from 0 to 30 cum laude.
Weights and evaluation criteria: for the multiple-choice questions test, the weight attributed to each correct answer is one point (1) and each wrong answer results in a penalty of -0.33 points. When the question is not answered, it gives 0 points. For the open-ended questions test, each correct answer gives up to 4 point (0-4). Unanswered or wrong answers give 0 points.
Test results communication: the final result of the entire test is communicated immediately at the end of correction of the open-ended questions test.
For the students with diagnosis of specific learning disability (DSA) certified under law n. 170/2010, proper specific support will be provided.
Other information
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2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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