Unit 14- Boarding
21/10/22
The Five Welfare Needs
What are the 5 animal needs (also called the 5 freedoms)?
What can affect animal welfare and the freedoms when in boarding establishments?
What different materials can be used to create boarding establishments (walls and flooring)?
Rate them from best to worst and explain why
What are the ‘Five Freedoms’?
The ‘five freedoms’ or Five Welfare Needs are five legal necessities that all animal species require
when kept in domestic environments, ensuring every individual’s wellbeing physically and mentally
is maintained. When keeping animals, the five welfare needs must be met in order to comply with
the law as of ‘The Animal Welfare Act 2006’. These five welfares state the following requirements to
be met:
The need for a suitable environment, the need to be accommodated with or apart from other
animals, the need to be protected from and against pain, injury, and disease, the need for a suitable
diet, and the need to be able to exhibit normal behaviours.
The Five Welfare Needs - Elaboration
The need for a suitable environment is required to ensure the animal is situated in the appropriate
type of enclosure, which provides a comfortable place for rest, hide, and enough room for the
animal to exercise and explore.
The need to be kept with or apart from other animals is a requirement which differentiates species-
to-species. Some species of animal require companionship due to their highly sociable nature, whilst
some naturally live solitary. An example of this species appropriate housing would be to house
rabbits, guineapigs, or horses with other same-species individuals for them to engage in conspecific
social behaviours and maintain emotional wellbeing; animals that are naturally highly sociable
require socialization of the same species otherwise they can become lonely and exhibit a depressive
state. On the other hand, animals that occupy solitary living naturally in the wild require this to be
replicated when in domestic scenes. An example of the need to be housed apart from others is the
Syrian Hamster, once fully matured and reached adulthood they will become increasingly territorial,
and if they are not housed apart, they are known to fight to the death of one another.
The need to be protected from pain, suffering, and disease requires owners to ensure that the
animal is not in pain, has not contracted diseases, or they are not suffering from prolonged illness,
disease, or injury and the animals are to be treated if they become injured or contract illnesses.
The need for a suitable diet is a requirement that includes the appropriate food for the animal's life
stage, providing a suitable amount of food to maintain a healthy weight as a result to prevent
21/10/22
The Five Welfare Needs
What are the 5 animal needs (also called the 5 freedoms)?
What can affect animal welfare and the freedoms when in boarding establishments?
What different materials can be used to create boarding establishments (walls and flooring)?
Rate them from best to worst and explain why
What are the ‘Five Freedoms’?
The ‘five freedoms’ or Five Welfare Needs are five legal necessities that all animal species require
when kept in domestic environments, ensuring every individual’s wellbeing physically and mentally
is maintained. When keeping animals, the five welfare needs must be met in order to comply with
the law as of ‘The Animal Welfare Act 2006’. These five welfares state the following requirements to
be met:
The need for a suitable environment, the need to be accommodated with or apart from other
animals, the need to be protected from and against pain, injury, and disease, the need for a suitable
diet, and the need to be able to exhibit normal behaviours.
The Five Welfare Needs - Elaboration
The need for a suitable environment is required to ensure the animal is situated in the appropriate
type of enclosure, which provides a comfortable place for rest, hide, and enough room for the
animal to exercise and explore.
The need to be kept with or apart from other animals is a requirement which differentiates species-
to-species. Some species of animal require companionship due to their highly sociable nature, whilst
some naturally live solitary. An example of this species appropriate housing would be to house
rabbits, guineapigs, or horses with other same-species individuals for them to engage in conspecific
social behaviours and maintain emotional wellbeing; animals that are naturally highly sociable
require socialization of the same species otherwise they can become lonely and exhibit a depressive
state. On the other hand, animals that occupy solitary living naturally in the wild require this to be
replicated when in domestic scenes. An example of the need to be housed apart from others is the
Syrian Hamster, once fully matured and reached adulthood they will become increasingly territorial,
and if they are not housed apart, they are known to fight to the death of one another.
The need to be protected from pain, suffering, and disease requires owners to ensure that the
animal is not in pain, has not contracted diseases, or they are not suffering from prolonged illness,
disease, or injury and the animals are to be treated if they become injured or contract illnesses.
The need for a suitable diet is a requirement that includes the appropriate food for the animal's life
stage, providing a suitable amount of food to maintain a healthy weight as a result to prevent
