Strategies for improving the welfare of working equids in the Americas: a Chilean example.

In the past, the use of animals for transport and traction has been of economic importance all over the world, and this is still the case in certain areas of the world today, especially in rural and peri-urban areas of developing and transition countries. In Chile, for example, thousands of families rely on draught animal power as a fundamental source of income. This provides an opportunity to generate scientific information to increase understanding of the relationship between human well-being and that of domestic animals. Minimising the risks associated with poor draught animal welfare should be beneficial for this relationship. Given the important role of working equids as a source of wealth, in Chile and similar countries, different strategies have been implemented to address the health and welfare of these animals. For these strategies to be successful it is essential to establish appropriate government policies as well as to consider the cultural, political and geographical situation of the regions in which these equids work.