Since 2002 the Brooke has been carrying out welfare assessments in areas where Brooke and their partner organisations operate. A team of qualified assessors from seven countries have used the specially designed system to assess the welfare of over 16,500 horses, donkeys and mules.
What is welfare assessment?
The welfare assessment system is a tool which can be used by trained assessors to fully examine an equine (horse, donkey, mule) and record data relevant to its welfare. The welfare assessment system was developed in collaboration with behaviour and welfare experts at Bristol University Veterinary School. The system has been rigorously tested to ensure that it provides repeatable, reliable and good quality results when used by trained assessors. Further information on the development of the system can be found in a paper published by Pritchard et al in the Journal of Preventative Veterinary Medicine in 2005.
How does welfare assessment look at welfare?
The welfare assessment system aims to look at life from the animal’s point of view and to record issues (both positive and negative) which are relevant to an animal’s welfare. The system attempts to incorporate the Five Freedoms Welfare Assessment Framework . These provisions identify that welfare has both physical and mental components.
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What issues are recorded during a welfare assessment?
The team record 36 individual parameters and these are grouped into five categories:
• Descriptive information
• Behavioural indicators
• General health observations
• Body wounds
• Limb problems, including lameness and abnormal gait
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How is the welfare assessment carried out?
Each welfare assessment is carried out by two trained assessors. Assessors alternate roles between data collector and data recorder. Participation by animal owners is purely on a voluntary basis and no reward is given for participating. The team are very careful to ensure that all owners are happy to have their animal assessed and realise what is involved.
What do welfare assessment results tell us?
Depending on the sampling plan used, Brooke can use the Welfare Assessment to look at different equine populations e.g. animals it is planning to work with, animals it is currently working with, animals it may want to work with in the future. As the results of a WA are repeatable and reliable when collected by trained assessors, comparisons can be made over time and between different equine populations. Welfare Assessment results can be used in a number of different ways in order to support programming and to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of Brooke’s work.
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What’s next?
Once data has been analysed it provides Brooke and partner organisation staff and the communities we work with, with a unique insight into the welfare problems facing animals in their areas of operation. The results can be used:
• as a baseline, against which results in the future can be compared to see what changes have occurred
• to inform intervention planning
• to set targets
• as a tool to monitor and evaluate projects from the animal’s point of view
Following an assessment the results are disseminated to a number of local stakeholders (village leaders, equine owners) together with staff Brooke and partner organisations. | 
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