Welfare aspects of vertebrate pest control and culling: ranking control techniques for humaneness

The management of vertebrate pests depends on the use of traps, pesticides, repellents and other methods, each of which can cause varying levels of pain and other negative experiences to animals. Vertebrate pest control is essential for managing the impacts of unwanted or over-abundant animals on human and animal health, ecological balance and economic interests. As the need for this management is unlikely to diminish over time, a framework has been developed for assessing the humaneness of each technique by considering their negative impacts on animal welfare so that these can be included in decision-making about the selection of techniques for a specific control operation. This information can also support evidence-based regulations directed at managing such animal welfare impacts. In this paper, the authors discuss this assessment framework, briefly review two assessments conducted using the framework and discuss ways in which Competent Authorities and others can use it and other means to improve animal welfare in vertebrate pest management.