Awareness Day on the Welfare of Working Equids for West Eurasia countries, 27 September 2017, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

The OIE Regional Platform on animal welfare for Europe in collaboration with International Coalition for the Welfare of Working Equids (ICWE) organised an Awareness Day on the Welfare of Working Equids for West Eurasia countries as part of three-days OIE Animal Welfare event for West Eurasia countries held in Tashkent/Uzbekistan on 27^th September 2017.

Participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia ; Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan attended the Awareness Day. Its main objectives were to raise country awareness on the welfare of working equids in this region,  identify potential welfare challenges in those countries and explore possible capacity building activities to address the identified needs and gaps.

The meeting lectures covered: the general introduction of the welfare of working equids including equid-human partnership and the end of (working) life of working equids, outcome-based measurements for animal welfare assessment, presentation of newly adopted Chapter 7.12 of Terrestrial Animal Health Code and development of ICWE Toolbox.

The countries were of the opinion that their working equids had an acceptable level of welfare, but this may actually highlight a lack of awareness in this area and a common tendency to accept the existing situation as appropriate.

Agenda of the workshop

Meeting report

Workshop presentations:

Context of the 3-day Event on Animal Welfare OIE Platform on Animal Welfare for Europe 
General introduction on the welfare of equids
Understanding country situation on working equids in West Eurasia  - Quizz
Introduction of the new OIE Chapter 7.12 on welfare of working equids
Introduction to outcomes-based measurement of working equids: practical Tools

--> Watch the video of the workshop 

Proposed next steps:

Participants were requested to:
— report back to their Delegate/CVO and relevant experts/OIE Focal Points
— explore ways to better assess the current situation of Working Equids in their country, notably using outcome-based measurements
— decide on appropriate actions to include the welfare of working equids in the Veterinary Services agenda based on results of the assessment 

OIE and ICWE will together explore possible future actions in light of outcomes of the meeting, especially to explore the feasibility of developing Awareness Campaign package on working equids for West Eurasia with focus on a value of working equids and welfare and health aspects.