Helsingin yliopisto

… is a multidiscipline network of experts within animal behaviour and welfare
… performs high-quality research on animal behaviour and welfare
… informs about the latest results within the research field
… educates students and professionals from different fields of animal care and management
… maintains a website on animal behaviour and welfare

The Research centre for Animal Welfare is a multidiscipline network of experts from different faculties at the University of Helsinki. The Centre performs research on animal behaviour and welfare and informs about research results to interest groups. Current research projects focus on central welfare problems of pigs, calves, dairy cows and hens.

---

What is animal welfare, how is it measured and why?

Production as such is not a sensitive enough measure of animal welfare. Even though there is no doubt that animals with low welfare can’t grow and produce effectively in the long run, it is important to identify welfare problems BEFORE the animals’ health or production is compromised. This is possible only if we know enough about the animals’ natural behaviour and physiology.

When estimating the welfare status of an animal we measure how well the animal has adapted to its environment and at which cost this adaptation has been done. As there is no simple measure of animal welfare we need to have close collaboration between scientists from different disciplines in order to get a holistic and reliable picture.

We have regrettably not yet had time to translate all of our web-pages to English. For further information, please contact Anna Valros, the contact person for the Research Centre for Animal Welfare.