Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Interest in animal welfare is increasing in Sweden as well as the rest of Europe, and criticism is aimed towards intensive livestock production. In order to ensure compliance with the Swedish animal welfare legislation, the County Adiministrative Boards (CABs) are carrying out official control at animal premises. Since animal welfare can be delicate area of concern, the handling of animal welfare controls tends to get attention by the media. How media reports about animal welfare controls can affect the reputation of CAB’s work. The purpose of this study was to investigate how animal welfare inspectors experience medias’ reporting about animal welfare controls, and if media affects the CABs’ work. The study also aimed to investigate if there were a perceived difference between how agricultural media and other media report about animal welfare. Data was collected through a questionnaire that was distributed by email to all animal welfare inspectors in Sweden. The result indicated that agricultural media often portray animal welfare control in a negative way while other media tend to be more neutral in its presentation. However, animal welfare inspectors experienced that agricultural media have more knowledge related to animal welfare controls and report more accurately compared to other media. The result showed a risk that agricultural media as well as other media will affect animal keepers’ in a negative way toward the CABs work, which can create conflicts and negatively impact the conversations and time effectiveness during animal welfare inspections. However, the inspectors did not feel that media per se influence the CABs’ decisions. Due to mean and harsh comments in social media, the inspectors’ own health could be affected. Future studies ought to investigate strategies to increase public awareness of animal welfare control, considering that media’s reporting may be incorrect. Furthermore, future studies may focus on relations between CAB and animal owners.