Of the 270 participants attending the 3rd Global Conference on animal welfare, 22 represented the African continent. Amongst the participants there were OIE Delegates and Focal Points for Animal Welfare and representatives of the NGO’s specialised in the Conference’s topic.
The Minister of Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry greets Dr Florência Cipriano, OIE Deputy Regional Representative for Africa. Picture © Daniel Bourzat (oie) 2012
Among the various excellent presentations on the subject one could mentioned the Declaration of Intent at the opening of the Conference delivered by HRH, Princess Haya, OIE’s Goodwill Ambassador, and the official opening speech delivered by HE the Minister of Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry.
The intervention on OIE standards which were used as a platform to develop European legislation development, delivered by Dr Andrea Gavinelli from the EU’s DG-SANCO received a lot of attention.
The support of the World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA) NGO to the OIE for the improvement of animal welfare was equally captivating and so was the intervention of Dr Judy MacArthur Clark (UK) on welfare aspects of animals used for research and for education.
Several statements were delivered on national experiences, i.e. about the transport conditions of animals by sea, by road and by air, as well as the control of stray dog populations and on killing of animals for disease control purposes.
The statements from Dr Abdul Rahman and Prof. Hassan Aidaros on the role of Veterinary Services and Religious Islamic Authorities in the improvement of animal welfare conduct and conditions in cases of ritual slaughter gave rise to a lengthy discussion.
Finally, the introduction of animal welfare courses in veterinary undergraduate training and the need for strengthening basic and applied research were presented and further discussed in the working groups that led to the drafting of recommendations of the Conference. To finalize a word of thanks for the exemplary organisation of the Conference by the Malay Veterinary Services.
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Dr Marosi Molomo (OIE animal welfare working group) and Dr Florência Cipriano (OIE Bamako) during the conférence. Picture © Daniel Bourzat (oie) 2012.
