Hispanic worker attitudes toward pig euthanasia on U.S. farms
IntroductionOn-farm pig euthanasia considers aspects of animal welfare and industry economics. Guidelines are available about the euthanasia process, but the agricultural workforce is highly diverse and guidelines do not consider cultural barriers. Euthanasia requires the ability to identify comprom...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1281102/full |
| _version_ | 1797229708114395136 |
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| author | Nancy F. Acevedo León Nancy F. Acevedo León Pablo Lamino Jaramillo Carlos Durán Gabela Amy Boren-Alpízar Allison Andrukonis Marcelo Schmidt John McGlone Arlene Garcia Arlene Garcia |
| author_facet | Nancy F. Acevedo León Nancy F. Acevedo León Pablo Lamino Jaramillo Carlos Durán Gabela Amy Boren-Alpízar Allison Andrukonis Marcelo Schmidt John McGlone Arlene Garcia Arlene Garcia |
| author_sort | Nancy F. Acevedo León |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionOn-farm pig euthanasia considers aspects of animal welfare and industry economics. Guidelines are available about the euthanasia process, but the agricultural workforce is highly diverse and guidelines do not consider cultural barriers. Euthanasia requires the ability to identify compromised pigs, technical skills, and willingness to euthanize pigs. In addition, timely euthanasia is part of the Common Swine Industry Audit (CSIA) and, thus, can lead to failed audits if not performed as required by the audit standards. The United States (US) swine industry employs a high percentage of Latin American workers, some US residents/citizens, and others through non-immigrant North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) visas. These workers vary in their level of education and swine industry experience. Proper training of this workforce and identification of the barriers associated with performing timely euthanasia are critical to promote improved welfare practices. The objectives of this study were to: (1) develop a survey instrument to identify Hispanic caretaker attitudes toward pig euthanasia, (2) assess and describe swine caretakers’ attitudes toward pig euthanasia using the developed survey instrument, and (3) determine the demographic and psychological barriers associated with performing pig euthanasia.MethodsParticipants (n = 163) were surveyed from 16 farms across the State of Iowa. The on-farm survey was administered for two days in a period of 60 min per day.ResultsThe results for demographics and the swine management survey data indicated that employees with less time working on the farm showed less knowledge of the CSIA, lower perceived ability to identify compromised pigs that needed to be euthanized, lower willingness to pecrform euthanasia on their own, and preferred not to have the responsibility of telling others when to euthanize pigs (p < 0.001). Secondary traumatic stress and transgressions were significantly correlated scales, associated with burnout, betrayals, and worker satisfaction (p = 0.022). Furthermore, individuals identifying as female had higher secondary traumatic stress scores (p = 0.026) and lower compassion satisfaction scores (p = 0.015).DiscussionThis data suggest that there are demographic, psychometric, and training-related factors correlated with Hispanic caretakers’ feelings about pig euthanasia. The results of this study could be used to further improve and develop targeted training programs for Hispanic caretakers for early identification of compromised pigs and timely euthanasia, which could benefit human well-being, animal welfare, and the swine industry audit performance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:16:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-374ea5ff38274d8cab1ea6c3bf2ae662 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-1769 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:16:53Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-374ea5ff38274d8cab1ea6c3bf2ae6622024-04-02T09:14:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692024-04-011110.3389/fvets.2024.12811021281102Hispanic worker attitudes toward pig euthanasia on U.S. farmsNancy F. Acevedo León0Nancy F. Acevedo León1Pablo Lamino Jaramillo2Carlos Durán Gabela3Amy Boren-Alpízar4Allison Andrukonis5Marcelo Schmidt6John McGlone7Arlene Garcia8Arlene Garcia9School of Veterinary Medicine, Texas Tech University, Amarillo, TX, United StatesAnimal and Food Sciences Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United StatesDepartment of Agricultural Education and Communication, University of Florida, Gainesville, TX, United StatesAgricultural Education and Communications Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United StatesAgricultural Education and Communications Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United StatesSchool of Animal Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United StatesSchool of Veterinary Medicine, Texas Tech University, Amarillo, TX, United StatesAnimal and Food Sciences Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United StatesSchool of Veterinary Medicine, Texas Tech University, Amarillo, TX, United StatesAnimal and Food Sciences Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United StatesIntroductionOn-farm pig euthanasia considers aspects of animal welfare and industry economics. Guidelines are available about the euthanasia process, but the agricultural workforce is highly diverse and guidelines do not consider cultural barriers. Euthanasia requires the ability to identify compromised pigs, technical skills, and willingness to euthanize pigs. In addition, timely euthanasia is part of the Common Swine Industry Audit (CSIA) and, thus, can lead to failed audits if not performed as required by the audit standards. The United States (US) swine industry employs a high percentage of Latin American workers, some US residents/citizens, and others through non-immigrant North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) visas. These workers vary in their level of education and swine industry experience. Proper training of this workforce and identification of the barriers associated with performing timely euthanasia are critical to promote improved welfare practices. The objectives of this study were to: (1) develop a survey instrument to identify Hispanic caretaker attitudes toward pig euthanasia, (2) assess and describe swine caretakers’ attitudes toward pig euthanasia using the developed survey instrument, and (3) determine the demographic and psychological barriers associated with performing pig euthanasia.MethodsParticipants (n = 163) were surveyed from 16 farms across the State of Iowa. The on-farm survey was administered for two days in a period of 60 min per day.ResultsThe results for demographics and the swine management survey data indicated that employees with less time working on the farm showed less knowledge of the CSIA, lower perceived ability to identify compromised pigs that needed to be euthanized, lower willingness to pecrform euthanasia on their own, and preferred not to have the responsibility of telling others when to euthanize pigs (p < 0.001). Secondary traumatic stress and transgressions were significantly correlated scales, associated with burnout, betrayals, and worker satisfaction (p = 0.022). Furthermore, individuals identifying as female had higher secondary traumatic stress scores (p = 0.026) and lower compassion satisfaction scores (p = 0.015).DiscussionThis data suggest that there are demographic, psychometric, and training-related factors correlated with Hispanic caretakers’ feelings about pig euthanasia. The results of this study could be used to further improve and develop targeted training programs for Hispanic caretakers for early identification of compromised pigs and timely euthanasia, which could benefit human well-being, animal welfare, and the swine industry audit performance.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1281102/fullCommon Swine Industry Audit (CSIA)North Ameria Free Trade Act (NAFTA)hispanic workforcemoral injurysecondary traumatic stress |
| spellingShingle | Nancy F. Acevedo León Nancy F. Acevedo León Pablo Lamino Jaramillo Carlos Durán Gabela Amy Boren-Alpízar Allison Andrukonis Marcelo Schmidt John McGlone Arlene Garcia Arlene Garcia Hispanic worker attitudes toward pig euthanasia on U.S. farms Frontiers in Veterinary Science Common Swine Industry Audit (CSIA) North Ameria Free Trade Act (NAFTA) hispanic workforce moral injury secondary traumatic stress |
| title | Hispanic worker attitudes toward pig euthanasia on U.S. farms |
| title_full | Hispanic worker attitudes toward pig euthanasia on U.S. farms |
| title_fullStr | Hispanic worker attitudes toward pig euthanasia on U.S. farms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hispanic worker attitudes toward pig euthanasia on U.S. farms |
| title_short | Hispanic worker attitudes toward pig euthanasia on U.S. farms |
| title_sort | hispanic worker attitudes toward pig euthanasia on u s farms |
| topic | Common Swine Industry Audit (CSIA) North Ameria Free Trade Act (NAFTA) hispanic workforce moral injury secondary traumatic stress |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1281102/full |
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