APP AIMS TO LIFT SPIRITS OF U.K. LIVESTOCK.

Inspectors measure animals’ mood and record well-being

LONDON • British farmers are to monitor the emotions of livestock using smartphone technology to improve their welfare and give them “meaningful” lives.

Scotland’s rural College (Sruc) has developed an app for use on farms owned by the Waitrose supermarket chain, with the aim of giving livestock happiness as sentient creatures rather than just the necessities to survive.

Farm managers and inspectors assessing livestock will measure the mood and energy levels of animals including ducks, veal calves, pigs and laying hens, then record their perceived emotional well-being on a sliding scale.

Criteria for happiness developed by animal experts are said to allow farmers to note whether their cows are “lacklustre,” “insecure,” or “expressing delight, radiating positive energy.”

data gathered from the 1,800 farms adopting the app will be used to measure and improve welfare, an issue Waitrose’s consumer research has revealed is important to customers.

The project aims to stop judging animal welfare on the absence of cruelty, and instead promote a “positive” view of well-being.

Prof. Francoise Wemelsfeld, who led the work on the app, said: “Having a good life is about experiencing joy, having excitement, being able to create a meaningful life.

“Animals don’t just need the proper resources so they grow and survive.

“They are social beings, they are intelligent beings. It’s not just about feeding them, keeping them healthy, and letting them lie in the corner and do nothing.”

To promote a “positive quality of life” farmers and external auditors of livestock will first note the emotional states in the mobile app, moving a sliding scale to score animals based on categories developed with the help of -husbandry experts.

Cows recorded as “relaxed” might be “at ease, free from tension, agitation or anxiety. Open to the world around them, quietly confident,” while those deemed “aimless” may not be “engaged in meaningful activity”.

Other categories in the list of 24 emotional states include “inquisitive,” “irritable,” “bored” and “uneasy.”

The data will be pooled to build a picture of welfare across the supply chain, helping farmers identify potential changes that allow animals to exhibit natural behaviours and preferences, such as new pecking spots and elevated platforms for hens.

Waitrose and the Sruc hope the data will allow them to ensure more “joyful” animals which are “cheerful, expressing delight, radiating positive energy.”

The approach is not based on a “mechanistic” method, according to Prof. Wemelsfeld, but the intuitive reading of animals as emotional creatures.

WHEN WORKING WITH ANIMALS YOU CANNOT HELP BUT SEE AND READ ANIMALS.

She said: “It’s fundamentally a method that wants to honour animals as sentient beings.

“you can actually see that sentience at work in the way the animals behave, it’s not just physical behaviour.

“We are completely familiar with that from humans, and when working with animals you cannot help but see and read animals — if an animal is uneasy or tense, you can instantly see that.”

The work follows market research by Waitrose which revealed twothirds of its customers placed great importance on the welfare of animals.

James bailey, executive director at Waitrose, said: “Just as we know when our pets are unhappy, we can now know the same about our farm animals.

“This app will help broaden our understanding of animal welfare even further and potentially boost their overall quality of life.”