Manual of good practices for welfare: a proposal for dairy cattle on pasture in Brazil

Debate on ethics in animal production started in 1960s. Since that time, discussion on animal welfare (AW) has taken large proportions, where laws and specific rules were created in some countries. Also, this issue has been considered a major subject, and discussed in different levels such as academic, business and social spheres. Although there is a lot of information and good practice manuals for livestock production, information is still limited so that animal welfare practices can be adopted on farms effectively. Currently, the development of protocols that can assess the level of AW in properties is a reality. For dairy cattle in intensive systems, the Welfare Quality® protocol evaluates and addresses critical points so that improvement might be implemented. However, little information exists for dairy cattle in extensive systems. Thus, based on covering actions directed by the animal welfare management, behavior, nutrition, health, facilities, transportation, and human resource management, a proposal for dairy cattle on pasture in Brazil aims to provide and to disseminate good AW practices for dairy cattle on pasture. Hence, a welfare manual for good practices was created, which describes the actions and strategies to best promote the AW in this livestock production.