A model for assessing the relative humaneness of pest animal control methods

In 2003, RSPCA Australia, the Animal Welfare Science Centre and the Vertebrate Pests Committee held a joint workshop to examine solutions for achieving humane invasive animal control and identifying obstacles in the implementation of practical animal welfare considerations. With the financial support of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry under the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy (AAWS) Wild Animals Working Group, Trudy Sharp and Glen Saunders from the NSW Department of Primary Industries Vertebrate Pest Research Unit were commissioned in April 2007 to develop a model for assessing the relative humaneness of pest animal control methods.

The report reviews current information relating to the assessment of humaneness and welfare impact; examines the assessment of welfare in laboratory animals, production animals and wild animals; and summarises methods used to determine the welfare impact of some pest animal control methods. The main aim of the report was to produce a practical, general model of assessment that can be applied to any pest control method in order to allow a judgement to be made about the impact of a specific control method on specific target animals.

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