More Government Inspections of UK Farm Animal Welfare

UK - The Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) inspected more farms in the UK in 2013 to assess animal welfare than the year before.
calendar icon 31 July 2014
clock icon 3 minute read

The agriculture ministry, Defra, has published the figures for the number of animal welfare inspections in 2013.

The total number of farms inspected last year was 4,493 - up from 4,345 in 2012.

In 2013, 1,998 individual farms received a welfare inspection from the AHVLA compared to 1,874 the year before.

Number of on-farm animal welfare inspections undertaken in Great Britain during 2013
Farm EnterpriseNumber of farms subject
to possible inspection
Number of farms inspected
Cattle (excluding calves) 86,881 1,385
Calves 50,094 927
Pigs 62,319 524
Sheep 125,110 1,032
Goats 18,780 154
Chickens (excluding laying hens) 19,029 42
Laying hens - Barn 234 1
Laying hens - Free range 2,616 13
Laying hens - Enriched 111 2
Laying hens - Backyard flocks* 20,355 188
Ducks 8,849 78
Geese 5,276 76
Turkeys 3,046 66
Ratites (e.g. emu, ostrich, rhea) 44 5
Notes:
*The category 'Backyard Flocks' covers all holdings with fewer than 350 birds, and includes Barn,
Free Range and Enriched cage systems.
(1) The table reflects the number of unique farm enterprises (i.e. livestock categories) visited
by the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) at least once (in some cases
more than once) during 2013 at which a welfare inspection was carried out.
(2) If a farm has more than one enterprise, a veterinary visit may result in more than one
enterprise inspection, therefore within the 'Number of farms inspected' column, a single farm may
feature more than once and the sum of this column does not represent the total number of farms
inspected. In fact, overall, a total of 1,998 individual farms received a welfare inspection from the
AHVLA in 2013.
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