Welfare Issues in Farm Animal Ophthalmology

In farm animal practice, there is often a clear tension between animal welfare and the economic basis of food animal production. Animal wellbeing is regularly compromised by the stringencies of intensive animal husbandry. Conditions such as infectious keratoconjunctivitis or ocular squamous cell carcinoma, while having negative effects on animal welfare, also have profoundly deleterious effects on animal production. This article discusses the welfare implications of the ocular conditions covered further in the following articles and how these affect treatment of these diseases.