2002: Taking pain by the horns

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Tags: education, NRAVS, veterinary science, winter-2009

Stephanie Sinclair, BAgrSc, BEd

Pain relief and faster healing for dehorned beef cattle is the aim of a UQ PhD student’s award-winning project.

Stephanie Sinclair with Dr Conall O'Connell and The Honourable Tony Burke MP, both of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Stephanie Sinclair has been awarded the Australian Agricultural Industries Young Innovators and Scientists Award in Animal Welfare from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Ms Sinclair received a grant for $20,000 at a Parliament House function in October. The grant money will be used to investigate the application of a topical anaesthetic and antiseptic for pain relief in northern beef cattle during dehorning.

Ms Sinclair, with CSIRO and Beef Genetic Technologies CRC, said it would probably be some time before cattle could be bred without horns and in the interim, dehorning would remain necessary.

“Topical anaesthetic, for example, has been successfully trialled in sheep, reducing pain-related behaviour and improved wound healing after procedures such as tail-docking and castration,” she said.

“I aim to determine if topical anaesthetic alone, or in combination with other pain relief methods, can reduce pain and blood loss after dehorning.

“The fact that this product can be applied at the time of surgery makes it a practical option that is more likely to be accepted and embraced by the industry.”

Ms Sinclair said it was important the impacts of dehorning were understood to ensure industry could not only satisfy concerns from animal welfare groups and the wider community, but also get on with the demanding job of raising beef cattle.

“Meeting concerns about animal welfare is not only the right thing to do, it will also enhance consumer confidence here and overseas,” she said.

Ms Sinclair’s PhD is supervised by Professor Michael McGowan and Professor Clive Phillips.

By Erin Pearl

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