A little more than half of dairies say they use pain relief when dehorning calves. That’s according to recent online and phone surveys conducted by the magazine.
The non-scientific findings indicate a significantly higher usage of pain relief than has been previously reported.
Beginning in September, we asked readers: “Do your calves receive pain relief at dehorning?” More than 526 responses were collected online and over the phone from September through November.
Respondents could also indicate why they were not using pain mitigation if they answered “no” to the first question. The most popular “no” response was, “I don’t feel it’s necessary.”
The most recent peer-reviewed data asking this same question in 2006, 2008 and 2009 found that less than 18 percent of U.S. dairy farms reported using pain relief. So, has the adoption of pain mitigation for this procedure changed significantly in the U.S. in just under a decade? Or is this non-scientific poll’s data flawed?
First, it is possible the adoption of pain management at dehorning has increased. In March of 2014, the American Association of Bovine Practitioners released guidelines for the timing, restraint, approved methods and administration of pain relief for dehorning.
This document encouraged veterinarians to “work with clients to advance [local anesthetic] use.” NMPF’s Farmers Assuring Responsible Management, or FARM program, which began in 2009, recommends disbudding or dehorning is performed before 8 weeks old and that producers follow “pain control protocols agreed upon by the dairy farmer and veterinarian.”
However, roadblocks to adoption of pain relief protocols still exist. The AABP’s guidance document highlights this fact: There are still no approved pain drugs for use in cattle in the U.S. That means that drugs typically used for local anesthetic become an extra-label use and require a valid VCPR in order to be employed for pain management in calves.
Why does it matter anyway?
Recently published research shows consumers heavily prefer pain management when described the procedure of dehorning or disbudding. Jesse Robbins, a graduate student at the University of British Columbia, was the author of “Stakeholder views on treating pain due to dehorning dairy calves,” which was published earlier this year in the journal Animal Welfare, a Universities Federation for Animal Welfare publication.
Robbins, et al., found that 90 percent of the study’s 354 participants believed that pain relief should be provided when disbudding or dehorning dairy calves. More than half of the participants had no involvement in the dairy industry. He observed: “For proponents of pain relief, the mere presence of pain and the ability to control it seemed sufficient to make an ethical judgement.”
Similar to Progressive Dairyman’s poll, Robbins also observed the most common reason cited for not providing pain relief was, “I don’t feel it’s necessary.” Yet Robbins’ review of published literature on the matter says science doesn’t support claims that downplay the intensity or duration of pain as a justification for not providing pain relief.
Robbins concluded in his paper that “outreach efforts … should address misconceptions surrounding the efficacy, availability, safety and costs associated with pain mitigation.” PD
References omitted due to space but are available upon request. Click here to email an editor.
Note: The poll results are non-scientific, nor have they been analyzed for statistical significance.
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Walt Cooley
- Editor-in-chief
- Progressive Dairyman
- Email Walt Cooley
