Welfare of Goats

Silvana Mattiello is Professor of Animal Husbandry at the University of Milan. Her main research interest is animal management and welfare, with a particular focus on small ruminants. She was Principal Investigator of the 7° FP “AWIN”, where she developed a protocol for welfare evaluation of dairy goats; she coordinated the project DEMOCAPRA for the development and dissemination of innovative sustainable farming systems for dairy goats, and she is presently leading the EIP-AGRI project VOCAPRA, which aims to set up an automatic system for recognition of dairy goat vocalizations. She published 75 papers in international journals, two books on deer management and several book chapters on animal behaviour and welfare.Monica Battini is researcher at the University of Milan. Her main research interest is focused on animal welfare in ruminants, with specific studies conducted on human-animal relationship and communication, emotions and indicators of positive welfare.She has been involved in many international projects on animal welfare and she co-authored a welfare assessment protocol for goats within the framework of the European AWIN project. Monica is scientific journalist and animal welfare consultant for NGOs. She published more than 30 scientific peer-reviewed papers, more than 100 popular articles and several book chapters on animal behaviour and welfare.

• Where do goats come from?.- Goats’ natural behaviour.- Goat Emotions, cognition, and personality.- Welfare issues in goat farming: housing and nutrition.- Welfare issues in goat farming and management.- Painful procedures, transport and end-of-life management.- The welfare of goats in adverse environments.- Enhancing animal welfare through disease prevention in goats.- Assessing the welfare of goats.- Where are goats going? The future of goats for farming and other purposes.