1. Rules and Responsibilities
LIVESTOCK KEEPING -
HEALTH AND WELFARE -
Rules and Responsibilities
APE - ITIS PININFARINA
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2. Health and welfare of livestock
As a keeper of livestock, the farmer has the responsibility to produce safe and wholesome food for human consumption and must be aware of animal health and welfare legislation as well as food legislation which applies to his business.
He must safeguard the health and welfare of his animals on farm, at livestock markets and at slaughter.
As some animal diseases can affect humans, he also has the responsibility to safeguard the health of employees and to protect the public from these diseases.
He must comply with animal medicine regulations when he administers medicines to livestock.
He is also required to protect the environment from the adverse affects of waste originating from his livestock, including animal by-products.

3. Most welfare rules and good practice for livestock are based on the Farm Animal Welfare 'five freedoms' for farm animals, which concern
hunger and thirst,
discomfort,
pain,
injury or disease,
fear and distress
As a consequence, the disciplinary for the zootechnics productions is founded on the following assumptions:
The sanity of the products with an animal source;
The respect of the ethologic needs and the animals welfare;
The protection of the environmental balances;
The conservation of the biodiversity.

4. Cattle identification, registration and movement
Cattle identification and traceability are important for disease control and also for maintaining consumer confidence in farm produce. There are standards and rules for identifying and controlling cattle movement to prevent and trace the spread of disease. They also cover on-farm records and inspections as well as cattle welfare during transport and while at market. There are general requirements to:
produce safe wholesome food for human consumption
safeguard the health and welfare of your animals
guard against the spread of disease

5. Cattle health
Monitoring livestock and following good farming practices are the best ways to reduce the risk of disease among cattle. When restocking herd it is necessary to
consult vet to help develop a plan for evaluating prospective purchases
buy health scheme animals - whenever possible - that have been certified as free of specific diseases
recognize the risks in buying older animals
Good bio-security is a vital part of keeping disease away from animals. This will also protect the health of workers and any members of the public who may visit a farm. General bio-security measures should include:
restricting and controlling movements of people, vehicles and equipment into areas where cattle are kept.
cleaning and disinfecting equipment, vehicles, protective clothing and footwear before and after contact with farm animals.

6. died of natural causes or disease on the farm,
The presence of a disease may not always be apparent - particularly in the early stages - so the measures above need to be part of routine.
Disposing of carcasses and fallen stock must follow a series of regulations. Fallen stock can be any animal that has:
died of natural causes or disease on the farm,
been killed on the farm for reasons other than human consumption.
Farmers with fallen stock must use approved means and places for their disposal. If a farmer suspects that an animal has died of a notifiable disease, he must tell the Animal Health Office immediately.
Cow with mad cow disease, unable to stand
and trying to dig a hole

7. Cattle feeding
Safe, good-quality foodstuffs are essential to maintain both human and animal health. Feed contaminants such as lead or antimicrobial residues - or biological agents such as botulism - may cause disease in cattle and make their produce unsuitable for human consumption.
Farmers must not feed meat, fish and most other products of animal origin to ruminants, pigs or poultry, or allow them access to such material. Cattle should not be fed any processed or unprocessed catering waste.

8. S W I N E
Pig keeping procedures follow the same regulations of cattle.
The reason why Italy doesn’t have a high calling for zootechnics is the scarcity of land for the production of animal feed and the high cost of production of fodder. So many farmers are heading to animal productions which can provide higher returns than those guaranteed by the cattle, and in particular to the pig and poultry farming.
The increase in pig production is a direct consequence of the increasing demand made by the processing industry (sausage and ham), so pig farmers are mostly concentrated in Northern Italy, where there is a high concentration of manufacturing industries (ham and cheese industry), whose products (serum) may be placed in the feeding of pigs. The Italian sausage industry is in fact able to maintain an important role in the market.

9. Poultry: Marketing Rules and Regulations
The Poultry Meat Marketing Standards regulate standards throughout the European Union (EU) for the marketing of poultry meat intended for human consumption. They control the classification of poultry meat by:
Quality / weight / packaging and labelling / water content / storage.
The regulations protect the consumer by setting the same high standards and informative labelling throughout the EU. They also protect the producer against unfair competition.
The Poultry meat Marketing Standards apply to fresh, chilled, frozen or quick frozen whole carcasses, parts and offal of domestic fowl – “gallus domesticus”, e.g. meat chickens and laying hens, ducks, geese, turkeys.

10. PNBA (Piano Nazionale Benessere Animale – National Plan for Animal Welfare) is the Italian operative tool to verify the correct application of the rules, at both National and European level, that regulate animal welfare in intensive farming.
From January 1st, 2008 the decision EU778/2006 has come into force and inspections and controls have become compulsory for every farming species (as defined by EU 98/58/CE laws), not only for cattle, swine and laying hens, as it was previously ordered.

11. 4AF – ITIS PININFARINA Bibliography:
www. BusinessLink.gov.uk - subject to Crown Copyright (authorization 10 Jan.2011)
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