Animal Well-Being Biological Hazard Assessment for Transport Logistics in Sustainable Agriculture in the Republic of Poland

This paper presents the findings of the cattle well-being in transport audit conducted in the period from 2007 till 2012. Respective veterinary check-ups were audited: upon dispatch, upon arrival, at rest, sale (at markets or cattle collection points), and in-transport checks. The number of cattle heads subject to the audit, the number of cattle heads that proved irregularities and correlations between those numbers in the previous years were analysed. Moreover, the audit of the percentage share of the animals that had proven irregularities has allowed for accurate assessment of irregularities occurrence rate. Positive correlation between the percentage share of the cattle heads that proved irregularities and the audit years has been found. INTRODUCTION Animal well-being assurance is one of the most significant issues for the sustainable agriculture. The well-being must be understood as animals’ condition of physical and mental health achieved in harmony with natural environment (Kołacz 2005). Animal and food products transport development is strictly connected with the natural environment protection and security (Bauer et al. 2010, García-Álvarez et al. 2013, Krautzberger and Wetzel 2012). Other transport issues are additionally subject to the law and legal regulations in force in the European Union. This is the case with the competition among carriers, employment conditions, vehicle technical standards and related energy consumption rates as well as terrorism threat anticipation and possible loss cuts (Black 2002, Burski et al. 2016, Drewes et al. 2003, Stead 2001). Animal and food products transport is a specific kind of transport that has required diligence and technical and sanitary standards compliance (Raiten and Aimone 2017, Barlow et al. 2015). Therefore, there is the need for defining current hazards in transport of this kind in respective Member States in the European Union, alongside the veterinary standards compliance. This is the aim of this publication in which wheeled means of animal (cattle) transport have been scrutinised in the context of completed audits and related irregularities that have been found in the recent years in Poland and the correlation analysis that has been carried out. FINDINGS OF CATTLE WELL-BEING IN-TRANSPORT AUDIT The findings of the number of the cattle heads audited in terms of animal well-being in the period from 2007 until 2012 at respective transport stages have been displayed in the Figure 1.