We were picked up in the morning and driven to the Torre di Cerrano in the beautiful town of Pineto on the Adriatic sea. The Torre di Cerrano is an ancient coastal tower from the 16th century which is now home to a small marine museum (Museum of the Sea), but more importantly for our visit, the Institute Zooprofilattico – IZSAM.
eWe were given a tour of the facilities, which allowed for 360 degree views, with the sea on one side and lush green hills on the other. The pristine beach was uncluttered by beach chairs, coolers, sun bathers, and fisherman that are the usual backdrop of an Italian beach. This area of the sand and sea is protected preserving the beautiful, peaceful nature of the ancient tower and surrounding landscape.
Our morning proceeded with lectures from Stefano Messori pertaining to farm animal welfare and how to use animal based measures to assess the welfare of farm animals. We then went over the Animal Welfare Quality Protocol for both sheep and dairy cows and were able to practice our understanding of scoring systems included in these protocols. These Protocols are being tested as a means to create a systematic, repeatable assessment of animal welfare at the farm level. With enough testing, these measures will hopefully be used as a framework for laws pertaining to animal welfare and will allow farmers to have an incentive for maintaining a high quality of animal welfare on their farms.
Lunch Break! Unfortunately the rain didn’t hold off and instead of eating seaside we ate under the protection of an awning. The location did not change the amazing nature of the food. We were presented platters of seafood with grilled octopus, clams, and mussels straight from the sea. For the main meal we all feasted on a seafood marinara. To top it all off, they offered us baskets of fresh fruit and huge slices of juicy, red watermelon for dessert.
With our stomachs full from lunch and our minds prepped from the morning lectures we headed out by bus to Societa Agricola Bascilico Adelia, a small dairy farm where we could practice using the welfare protocols on a small herd. The dairy was made up of 80 dairy cows, a mixture of Brown Swiss and Holsteins, separated by age and lactation cycle.
The cows were fed a diet of cotton seed, soy, and hay, which enhances the flavor the cheese produced and sold at the farm every Friday. To our excitement, the dairy featured an enrichment brush which the cows were happily scratching against as they queued for milking. Each cow is milked around 4 times a day by the dairy’s one automatic milker. The owner of the dairy walked us through the software and how it logs the statistics from each cow, allowing the dairy workers to be alerted to issues such as mastitis. He was also able to set the machine to milk only 70% of the total yield from each cow. He found that since they were milked 4 times a day, this amount was sufficient for both him and caused less stress to the cows. Once we toured the facilities and all had espresso, we practiced using the Animal Welfare Protocols at this particular farm. It was clear while touring the farm and practicing welfare protocols, that the owner put a great emphasis on welfare, which was evidenced in the conditions of the barn and cow’s behavior towards each other and towards humans.
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