ASSESSING THE CONDITION OF ANIMALS DURING UNLOADING AT THE LIVESTOCK MARKET AND ITS EFFECT ON HEALTH AND WELFARE

Abstract

Domestic animals are transported for various reasons throughout the country, where loading and unloading are two of the most stressful events. Besides, livestock, vital to Bangladesh's economy, employs a significant share of the labor force. However, there is a scarcity of data regarding the effects of transportation stress on animals, particularly in goats. Additionally, there is a lack of comparative analysis across species in observed data related to transportation effects in Bangladesh. The current study observed animal behavior, physiological responses, and transport staffs’ interactions during unloading of transported animal to identify transportation stress. A total of 8790 goats, 1207 cattle, and 712 buffalo belonging to 51, 75, 44 vehicles were monitored respectively, and data were collected through a structured questionnaire during unloading at the Sagorica Live Cattle Market in Chattogram. For each vehicle, the proportion of each parameter was calculated separately for clinical signs, animal behavior, and handlers’ behavior. Clinical signs (7, 11, 11 parameters), animal behaviors (6, 6, 6 parameters), and handlers’ behaviors (6, 5, 5 parameters) were assessed for goat, cattle, and buffalo, respectively. For each parameter based on the proportion, a vehicle was categorized into three such as, healthy, mild, and severe for clinical signs; mild offensive, moderately offensive, and frequently offensive for animal behavior or handlers’ behaviors. For hemato-biochemical analysis, 40 blood samples were randomly collected from goats immediately after unloading at the Sagorica Live Cattle Market, and 20 samples were obtained from a well-managed goat farm serving as a control. The numbers of healthy parameters of clinical signs decreased with an increase of number of cattle (P≤0.001). The frequently offensive animal behaviors and frequently offensive handlers’ behaviors were associated with an increase of number of animals in both cattle (P≤0.001) and buffalo (P≤0.001). However, the numbers of healthy parameters of clinical signs and mild offensive handlers’ behavior increases with a decrease of stocking density in goats (P≤0.001). Cattle (P<0.05) and goats (P≤0.001), loaded from the South West districts of Bangladesh, experienced potentially better handling practices or less stressful conditions. Meanwhile, cattle (P<0.05) loaded from the North East districts of Bangladesh suggests areas for improvement in handling technique and animal welfare measures. There was a significant difference (P=0.00) in all clinical sign variables within the species. Among clinical signs, old injuries (40.4±11.6), lacerations (23.4±7.3), and fresh bleeding (10.7±5.3) occurred at the highest frequency in buffalo, Page | xiii while nasal discharge was most common in goats (14.9±2.3) and cattle (8.9±5.3). Among animal behaviors, jumping occurred at the highest frequency (35.29%) in goats, while refusing to move was most common in cattle (20.30%) and buffalo (22.19%). There was a significant difference in all animal behavior variables (P=0.00) and in all handlers’ behavioral variables (P=0.00) within the species. Among handlers’ rude behavior, hanging by rope occurred at the highest frequency (38.89%) in goats, while beating was most common in cattle (23.45%) and buffalo (21.21%). Regarding hemato-biochemical parameters, significant differences (P=0.00) were observed in TEC, TLC, PCV, lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil, basophil (P=0.01), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (P=0.04), glucose, total protein (P=0.04), and creatine kinase (P=0.01). In conclusion, the physiological and hemato-biochemical changes observed in the study indicate a high level of transportation stress and substandard animal welfare, highlighting the importance of implementing and enforcing precise laws for animal transportation to mitigate stress and suffering.