Bioethics and welfare on pregnancy and parturition of bovine females

Abstract

The procedure for innovations in animal exploitation has involved over the long term all over the world. Some of them have compromised the limits of ethics, notably on the use of production animals. In this context, the scenario of social control over the use of production animals began to be increasingly evidence. Bioethics and the science of well being have been contributing to the analysis of the whole process of control over animal raising, opening the way for the idea of dignity among all forms of life. In this way, it is worth considering the growth of national cattle production. Each passing day the demand of meat and milk production chain makes cattle exploitation even more intense. There is no doubt that this intensity has important economic and social gains, but it also has an effect on animal welfare and the limits of ethics. We believe in the possibility of developing new animal raising techniques that guarantee good productivity and high product quality without compromising animal welfare. In the raising system the pregnancy management and the assistance to labor to the bovine female should be differentiated, to the fact that this animal is included in a special category. Based on this context, this article aims to address the relationships established between man and cattle, aiming to discuss pregnancy management and labor assistance, in the most human form possible, considering the ethical and welfare aspects.