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The article offers tips for effective wound management in animals. It highlights the essential role of veterinarians and surgeon to recognize the stages of wound healing such as haemorrhage/coagulation/initiation, inflammation/debridement and reparative. It also emphasizes the significant in initial assessment and management of a wound such as clinical examination and appropriate diagnostic testing.

The gizzard or ventriculus in birds is susceptible to mechanical damage or traumatic injuries referred to as traumatic ventriculitis when subjected to the causative agents. The condition affects both intensively and extensively managed birds. Palm kennel cake is commonly used as a chief source of protein and fat in poultry rations, most poultry that are kept intensively on deep litter system in the study area use wood shavings collected from carpentry workshops as litter material while poultry on extensive system of management have access to refuse dumps where sharp objects are commonly found. Traumatic ventriculitis can hardly be detected and managed clinically. From our clinical records, nails of various sizes, bolts and nuts, sharp objects like pieces of wood, palm kennel shells and wires of various sizes are the major causes of traumatic ventriculitis. Major causes of traumatic ventriculitis or hardware disease in poultry in the study areas are hereby discussed and three cases presented in chickens as case studies. Locally and manually compounded poultry feeds, access to refuse dumps, litter materials to be used in poultry houses and litters in poultry houses were renovation works had occurred should be screened for metallic and hard sharp objects to prevent or reduce risk of ingesting and the occurrence of hardware disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The payment of a compensation as a response to damage to livestock is a measure used by policy-makers to attenuate severe human–wildlife conflicts, which allows that economic burden to be shared with the rest of society. This study focuses on the case of wolf depredation on livestock in the county of Viana do Castelo, located in the north of Portugal. Wolf attacks are frequent in the county, which results in a high expenditure with the current compensation scheme for livestock owners. Nevertheless, illegal killing of wolves continues to occur in the area. The paper aims to evaluate the attitudes of the general public, livestock owners and hunters towards the existing compensation scheme and the presence of wolves in Viana do Castelo. In addition, it analyzes the implications of the results for the management of damage caused by wolves in the county. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To establish the relationship between serum levels of three acute phase proteins, haptoglobin (Hp), C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA), and the occurrence and severity of lesions at slaughter, a study was carried out using 70 fattening pigs from a finishing unit. Pigs were divided into three groups: Group 1 (25 pigs with clinical signs of disease), Group 2 (25 apparently healthy pigs with lesions at slaughter) and Group 3 (20 apparently healthy pigs with no lesions at slaughter). Serum levels of CRP, SAA and Hp were significantly higher in pigs with clinical signs of disease than in apparently healthy animals. Additionally, in apparently healthy pigs, serum levels of Hp and CRP were significantly higher in animals with lesions than those without lesions. The extent and severity of lung lesions were related to serum levels of Hp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:  The aim of this study was to describe the signalment, clinical presentation, diagnostic findings, medical and surgical treatment and outcome of 22 farm animals diagnosed with a vertebral fracture or luxation., Study Design:  Medical records of 22 farm animals (7 goats, 6 alpacas, 5 cattle, 3 sheep and 1 deer) were reviewed for signalment, history, presenting clinical signs and neurological examination findings, clinicopathological results, diagnostic imaging, final diagnosis, medical and surgical management, clinical progression and outcome., Results:  Animals' age ranged from 1 day to 15 years. Neurological examination findings included decreased motor function (20/22), recumbency (14/22), altered mentation (13/22), cranial nerve deficits (4/22) and lack of nociception (3/22). Lesions were localized to the atlanto-occipital region (2/22), C1 to C5 (7/22), C6 to T2 (4/22), T3 to L3 (3/22), and L4 to S1 (6/22). Diagnoses included vertebral fracture only (4/22), luxation only (5/22) or both vertebral fracture and luxation (13/22). In five cases, no therapy was attempted, while 12 cases were treated medically and five cases were treated surgically. Surgical interventions included manual reduction ( n  = 1); arthrodesis ( n  = 2); laminectomy ( n  = 1); and laminectomy with pin fixation, cerclage wire and polymethylmethacrylate bridging ( n  = 1). Five of the 22 cases survived to hospital discharge; two of these were treated surgically., Conclusion:  The cervical region was most commonly affected. Prognosis for these injuries in farm animals is guarded., Competing Interests: No funding was obtained for the present study, and the authors declare that there were no conflicts of interest., (Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Handling and stunning at slaughter plants has greatly improved through the use of numerical scoring. The purpose of this paper is to encourage the use of numerical scoring systems at the slaughter plants to assess conditions that compromise welfare that occurred either during transport or on the farm. Some of the transport problems that can be assessed are bruises, death losses, and injured animals. Welfare issues that occurred on the farm that can be assessed at the abattoir are body condition, lameness, lesions, injuries, animal cleanliness and internal pathology. There are important welfare issues that cannot be assessed at slaughter. They are on-farm euthanasia methods, use of analgesics during surgeries, and the type of animal housing systems. Welfare evaluations at slaughter have the potential to greatly improve welfare., (Copyright © 2017 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The article focuses on the ethics of tail docking, dehorning and castration of farm animals in Great Britain. British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare Foundation (BVA AWF) trustee David Chennells said that tail docking of pigs can create pain, stress and injury. Kat Bazeley of Synergy Farm Health noted that castration and dehorning are done to prevent unwanted pregnancies and injuries to humans but could also create pain, fear, inflammation and infections. It suggests the use of polled breeds as an alternative to dehorning.

The article reports on the animal welfare guidelines for the management of injured livestock on farm, launched by Ireland minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Brendan Smith. It aims to help veterinarians and farmers make an informed decision on the method of dealing with injured animals, considering its welfare and public health. Smith states that the guidelines will give farmers a chance to have an economic benefit from animals that would have to be disposed of as fallen stock.

This paper addresses a concurrent multidisciplinary problem: animal safety against lightning hazards. In regions where lightning is prevalent, either seasonally or throughout the year, a considerable number of wild, captive and tame animals are injured due to lightning generated effects. The paper discusses all possible injury mechanisms, focusing mainly on animals with commercial value. A large number of cases from several countries have been analyzed. Economically and practically viable engineering solutions are proposed to address the issues related to the lightning threats discussed.