• Description

  • Clive Phillips was Australia's first Professor of Animal Welfare, at the University of Queensland, and has written widely on the welfare of farm, zoo and companion animals. In 2022 he conducted a series of recorded dialogues (Conversations With Clive) with senior animal welfare scientists and academic experts, including sheep welfare expert Cathy Dwyer - Professor in Animal Behaviour and Welfare at the University of Edinburgh, and Director of the Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education (JMICAWE).

  • These dialogues are aimed at upskilling organizations concerned with farm animal welfare, helping them gain a more nuanced understanding of welfare issues from academics with deep knowledge of animal agriculture systems and direct experience of practices. Relevant academic publications and references are included at the end of the recording.

  • Key topics of the 35-minutes conversation from March 2022: 1) Smallholder sheep farming is important for livelihoods in lower and middle-income countries. 2) Are extensive systems free from welfare problems? 3) Are sheep looked after better in advanced countries? 4) Fewer new sheep farmers. 5) Fly strike. 6) Tail docking. 7) Shearing is major welfare challenge. 8) Castration of male lambs. 9) Long distance live transport's many problems. 10) Looking ahead: Sheep's multiple roles from wool, milk, to land conservation. 11) Sheep farming in the UK.

Sheep welfare: Prof. Cathy Dwyer in conversation with Clive Phillips