Animal Welfare Research Network

Animal welfare is of high importance in the public mind; 34% of approximately 29,000 EU citizens rated the protection of welfare in farmed animals as being of the very highest importance (10 on a scale of 1-10). Within the UK, this proportion was even higher (38%) (EU 2007). This evident societal concern about animal welfare can lead to debates across society on a range of welfare related issues. However, decisions by government and other stakeholders for future directions need to be based on information that is as unbiased and objective as possible. This information comes from systematic and scientific animal welfare research. A strong and sustained animal welfare research community is thus essential to underpin well-informed decisions that maintain and improve welfare.

The UK has a strong tradition of animal welfare research that stretches back to the parliamentary Brambell Report on The Welfare of Animals Kept under Intensive Livestock Systems (Brambell 1965). The UK is at the forefront of animal welfare research and highly respected globally in the field, and both the main academic society for animal welfare scientists and the world's first animal welfare journal (Animal Welfare) have UK roots. Despite this success, the UK animal welfare research community, which is probably the largest of its kind in the world, is small compared to many other scientific disciplines, and a number of challenges and opportunities for welfare research have been identified, including: (i) the community being made up of many different, relatively small, specialised research groups, with differing ultimate aims and species of focus; (ii) the rise of mathematical and computational biology, and other scientific developments which present exciting prospects for animal welfare researchers; (iii) the increasing awareness of the mutual benefits of industry and stakeholder interaction and involvement in research and the discussion of future research strategy; (iv) an increasing focus on 'sustainable intensification' with its emphasis on increased production efficiency which presents both risks and opportunities for animal welfare research; (v) the need for more young academics to successfully establish themselves as lead investigators within the community and sustain the UK's leading role in the field; (vi) the existence of several key areas of research which have been relatively under-studied, unexplored or have yet further potential for exciting developments; (vii) a potential funding gap within UK animal welfare research as a result of decreases in Defra's funding of more strategic/ applied projects.

The AWRN will address these challenges and opportunities in order to realise its vision and meet its objectives through a series of activities and actions including: (i) a start-up meeting followed by 3 further annual meetings designed to bring the community together and use keynote speakers to stimulate discussion about topics of importance to the future of animal welfare research, and to generate research plans, networking, collaborations and funding opportunities; (ii) community-led workshops that focus on: topical areas of research (including interactions with other research disciplines); interactions with industry to identify research needs; and training of AWRN members and especially early career researchers (ECRs) in research and generic skills such as grant-writing; (iii) a website that acts as an information and communication hub for the Network community and highlights the strengths and qualities of UK animal welfare research to the general public and academic community; (iv) annually updated overviews of the UK animal welfare research landscape, associated gaps and opportunities, allowing future research priorities to be identified; (v) a network approach to supporting ECRs, including researcher-exchange and cross-institute PhD training and mentoring.

A strong and sustained animal welfare research community is essential to underpin well-informed decisions that maintain and improve welfare. The UK has a strong tradition of animal welfare research and is well respected globally for the advances made in this field. A number of challenges and opportunities for welfare research have been identified. These centre around three main themes: (i) the need for more opportunities for communication and cohesion within the field, but also with other disciplines, the general public, external bodies and industry; (ii) the development of young researchers within the field; (iii) the need to identify future research directions and priorities, particularly in light of an increasing focus on 'sustainable intensification' with its emphasis on increased production efficiency, and opportunities offered by new technologies and under-studied areas with potential for exciting developments.

The AWRN will address these challenges and opportunities in order to realise its vision through a series of activities and actions including: (i) a start-up meeting followed by 3 further annual meetings designed to bring the community together, stimulate discussion about important research areas, and generate research plans, networking, collaborations and funding opportunities; (ii) community-led workshops focusing on topical areas of research, interactions with industry to identify research needs, and training of AWRN members in research and generic skills; (iii) a website that acts as an information and communication hub for the Network community and highlights the strengths and qualities of UK animal welfare research; (iv) annually updated overviews of the UK animal welfare research landscape, associated gaps and opportunities, allowing future research priorities to be identified; (v) a network approach to training and mentoring early career researchers.

Animal welfare is an important public concern in the UK where animal protection activities have a long history. In modern times, the strength of public support for animal protection has been sufficient to drive significant legislative and institutional change. For example, the first anti-vivisection legislation in 1876 was passed in response to public opposition to animal research. In the last 30 years, protests over veal farming, live transport of farm animals, and fur farming have all required governments and industry to actively respond, and failures to maintain legal animal welfare standards in UK laboratories have been widely reported. These examples highlight how important it is in the UK (public and private sectors) to prevent adverse animal welfare events from occurring, and also to use high animal welfare standards to augment national and institutional reputation, and as a marketing attribute.

Given the above it is clear that public and private sector responses to animal welfare issues, together with attempts to improve welfare, should be grounded in a strong evidence base that provides information that is as unbiased and objective as possible. Scientific animal welfare research provides this information and, since the mid-1960s and the publication of the 'Brambell Report', the UK has been at the forefront in this field. The aim of the Animal Welfare Research Network (AWRN) is to maintain and enhance the quality, application and implementation of UK animal welfare research by creating a more cohesive community and increasing links with other research disciplines and stakeholders including industry, charities, the public, and government. Whilst the academic community will derive clear benefits from the AWRN (see Academic Beneficiaries), there will also be broader impacts.

Increased communication and discussion with government, industry and charitable bodies will lead to identification and targeting of specific animal welfare research needs that should yield findings of direct relevance to these stakeholders. Such findings should have economic, ethical and productivity impacts. For example, 'win-win' scenarios whereby both welfare and productivity are enhanced will be important goals in the context of the new pressure for 'sustainable intensification' in the livestock industry. Identification of research priorities will also be beneficial to funding bodies, for example by leading to highlight calls or the development of a jointly funded Animal Welfare Research Club.

A stronger, more cohesive, multidisciplinary, and translational animal welfare science should produce new findings that better inform stakeholder (e.g. government) policy, and are more readily moved from fundamental science to application and implementation, hence addressing stakeholder welfare concerns, including those of the general public.

The AWRN website will provide a source of / portal to information that can educate and inform the public and other stakeholders about the challenges, strengths and achievements of UK animal welfare research, and ongoing activities and projects.

The AWRN and its mapping of the UK animal welfare research landscape will provide a resource which can be queried by government, the media, and other stakeholders for information or advice on welfare issues and policy questions.