Producer and Veterinarian Perspectives towards Pain Management Practices in the US Cattle Industry

摘要

A key aspect to improve animal welfare is to reduce pain experienced by the animal. However, pain management practices have not been widely adopted in the United States (US) cattle industry. Furthermore, for a veterinarian or producer to relieve pain in cattle, analgesics must be provided in an extra-label drug manner. Currently, research describing pain mitigation strategies used by cattle producers and the study of barriers to implement those strategies from a producer or veterinarian perspective is limited. Understanding challenges faced by these stakeholders is key in improving on-farm pain management strategies. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to explore producer and veterinarian perspectives on pain. Albeit analgesia use increased in the past ten years for some producers and the majority of veterinarians, administering analgesics for pain management on US cattle farms remains a challenge. From a producer perspective, drug cost, availability and logistics for administration. From a veterinarian perspective, lack of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) products hinders the support of on-farm protocols requiring extra-label drug use. Future steps to improve analgesic use on-farm include identifying and approving drugs that demonstrate efficacy for managing pain and disseminating educational resources to support stakeholders in both the implementation and drug withdrawal process.