Animal welfare in Austria:: basic concepts of animal ethics, legal framework and animal welfare-related research

The first part of the following article summarizes basic concepts of animal ethics and provides a short survey of the framework of the Austrian animal protection legislation, paying regard to the historical development and to the status quo as well as to a forthcoming reform, which aims at replacing the different animal protection laws of the nine federal provinces by a national Act on Animal Protection. The following parts are dedicated to current animal welfare-related research in veterinary medicine and ethology, the topics being a new non-invasive method for assessing stress in animals by measuring cortisol metabolites in faeces, excessive breeding leading to suffering in animals, animal behaviour as basis for the development and modification of housing systems for livestock, a research programme to further investigate feather pecking and cannibalism in laying hens, and - last but not least - the impact of the human-animal relationship on the well-being of farm animals. The Housing Condition Score is presented as a method of welfare assessment at farm level. In the field of pet animals various welfare problems connected with the keeping of exotic animals, especially of turtles, by private owners are described. Finally, the article deals with the control of animal welfare during transport in Carinthia and summarizes a current research project investigating conditions in slaughterhouses in Lower Austria. The contributions to this article on animal welfare in Austria show that there are multiple tasks to tackle. In order to solve problems it is necessary to stimulate animal welfare research and to promote transfer of knowledge, but also to improve animal protection legislation.