Compensation and exotic livestock disease management: The views of animal keepers and veterinarians in England

Hambilton-Webb, Alice, Naylor, Rhiannon, Little, Ruth and Maye, Damian ORCID: 0000-0002-4459-6630 (2016) Compensation and exotic livestock disease management: The views of animal keepers and veterinarians in England. Veterinary Record, 179 (20). p. 513. doi:10.1136/vr.103571

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Abstract

Relatively little is known about the perceived influence of different compensation systems on animal keepers’ management of exotic livestock disease. This paper aims to address this research gap by drawing on interviews with 61 animal keepers and 21 veterinarians, as well as a series of nine animal keeper focus groups across five different livestock sectors in England. The perceived influence of current compensation systems on disease control behaviour was explored and alternative compensation systems that respectively reward positive practices and penalise poor practices were presented in the form of scenarios, alongside a third system that considered the option of a cost sharing levy system between industry and government. The results indicate that animal keepers consider themselves to be influenced by a range of non-financial factors e.g. feelings of responsibility, reputation, and animal welfare concerns, in the context of their exotic disease management practices. The majority of animal keepers were unaware of the current compensation systems in place for exotic diseases, and were therefore not consciously influenced by financial recompense. Concerns were raised about linking compensation to disease management behaviour due to auditing difficulties. A cost sharing levy system would likely raise awareness of exotic disease and compensation among animal keepers, but differentiation of payments based upon individual farm-level risk assessments was called for by participants as a strategy to promote positive disease management practices.

Item Type: Article
Article Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Exotic livestock disease management, compensation systems, scenarios, farmer and veterinarian perceptions
Subjects: S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) > S560 Farm Economics
S Agriculture > SF Animal culture > SF 600 Veterinary medicine
S Agriculture > SF Animal culture > SF 951 Diseases of special classes of animals
Divisions: Schools and Research Institutes > Countryside and Community Research Institute
Research Priority Areas: Place, Environment and Community
Depositing User: Susan Turner
Date Deposited: 02 Aug 2016 11:29
Last Modified: 04 Feb 2022 09:46
URI: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/3804

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