Date: Wednesday 29th May 2024
Venue: Conference Hall, Sylhet Agricultural University, Alurtol Road, Sylhet, Bangladesh

Across the world, there is a growing perception that animal welfare should be protected and improved. Animal welfare is important for the existence of animals and humans. Moving away from the question of whether animals deserve to be treated well, paying attention to animal welfare has plenty of benefits for society. The welfare of animals and the welfare of humans are closely linked, as human health depends on the health and productivity of animals for their food supply, and many diseases that humans suffer from come from animals. The scientific study of animal behaviour and welfare further improves our understanding of why animals behave in the way that they do and helps us learn how best to respond to the challenges that animals face when living in captive and wild environments. Therefore, it is important to understand animal behaviour to save endangered species, assess environmental quality, design nature preserves, and evaluate the importance of human-related threats to survival in otherwise fit animals. In addition, natural behaviour of animal could be a major component in the holistic approach of improving animal welfare in the coming days focusing on climate change.

 

There is an increasing appreciation of animal welfare parameters over other quality attributes, and animal-friendly products are considered healthier, safer, tastier, more hygienic, authentic, environmentally friendly, and traditional by many consumers. Sufficient knowledge about the care and living circumstances of the various farmed species could encourage consumers' willingness to pay the price rises that improved standards of farm animal welfare could result in. Welfare-friendly products that are properly labelled with clear information provided by an internationally accepted, transparent, and traceable monitoring system will increase consumers' confidence in the food chain participants. The welfare of millions of farmed animals can be improved both now and in the future by citizens and consumers working together to pass legislation that would establish a minimum standard of welfare conditions that could satisfy the needs of animals. Citizens can do this by taking responsibility for the products they buy and by advocating for welfare-friendly brands.

However, the majority of people in Bangladesh are still unaware of the fact that animal welfare does exist in a formal format, though livestock production plays a crucial role in Bangladesh's socioeconomic structure and is necessary for the country's development, wealth, and growth. It helps with poverty reduction, employment creation, women's emancipation, better household nutrition, export revenue growth, and fuel provision in the form of organic manure and renewable energy. Livestock accounts for 1.9% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP, 2022–2023), growing at a rate of 3.23%. It is estimated that 80% of people have some sort of direct or indirect connection with the livestock sector. Of the animals classified as large, there are 24.9 million cattle, 1.6 million buffaloes, 27.0 million goats, and 3.80 million sheep. However, of the total 375.6 million (Approx.) poultry in the country, the majority are ducks and chickens (Department of Livestock Services: DLS, 2022–2023). Establishing commercial cattle farms for beef and dairy purposes, goat and sheep farms, poultry (Broiler and layer) and duck farms, etc., is growing more popular across the country.

Through the consecutive ISAE Animal Welfare Workshops in Bangladesh in 2022 at the University of Rajshahi (20 June), and in 2023 at the Bangladesh Agricultural University (7 September) and at the Sher-E-Bangla Agricultural University (9 September). People are now paying attention to the improvement of animal welfare through the evaluation of animal behaviour in farm settings. There is regular talk on TV and radio about being sympathetic to animals to produce safe food animals. Research funding is approved by the government to study animal behaviour and welfare, with this never occurring before the 2022 ISAE workshop. Graduates in veterinary medicine and animal science are becoming increasingly motivated to study animal behaviour and welfare. ISAE Animal Welfare Workshop creates opportunities for the participants to upgrade themselves with the current state of knowledge on animal welfare. It is a great opportunity for the participants to get enriched and disseminate the core idea of animal welfare through regular farm practising, teaching and research. We need to ensure animal welfare to build a healthy nation by providing safe food. In the recent past, the parliament of Bangladesh replaced the century-old Cruelty to Animals Act of 1920 with the new Animal Welfare Act of 2019. In Bangladesh, compared to other developing countries, there is a shortage of professional experts in animal welfare and a lack of reliable empirical data on it. The challenges are occupied like a chain where farmers only care about profit, veterinary and other practitioners are not aware of animal pain and the government is not implementing and monitoring the essential rules and regulations in favour of animal welfare.