Deer, tell me what you want -what you really, really want!

In two of our research articles we have covered the topic of welfare standards for farmed deer, specifically focusing on red and fallow deer which are prevalent in Europe. In our first paper, we reviewed key welfare issues based on existing EU regulations, with the concrete aim to draw guidelines for potential establishment of deer farming in serbia. we focused on accommodation, feeding and watering, management and handling, transport, and velvet harvest, emphasizing the importance of providing adequate space, shelter, and proper nutrition, and discussing the importance of well-designed handling facilities and adherence to regulations concerning animal transport and antler removal.

In our second publication, we examined the Five Domains Model as a tool for assessing welfare and discusses various indicators within the domains of nutrition, environment, health, and behavior, noting a lack of explicit focus on mental state in existing literature. we also -and again- highlighted significant concerns around human-animal interactions, particularly during transport, and the controversial practice of velvet antler removal.