Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………1

Geohistorical background of the Bamenda

municipality 2

Suitable design for cattle transportation 3

Problem of cattle transportation in Bamenda. 4

Transportation recommendations for cattle in

bamenda 5

Conclusion 6
INTRODUCTION

Animal welfare refers to how an animal is coping with the conditions in which it lives or in the
case of transport, the conditions in which it is temporarily located.

According to international standards, an animal is in a good state of welfare if it is healthy,

comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express natural behavior and not suffering pain, fear or
distress.

Handling animals during transport according to this guide can deliver the following benefits:

 stress will be minimized better resistance to disease fewer injuries or deaths

reduced weight loss safer work environment faster completion of tasks such as
loading and unloading
 Improved meat quality and shelf life which means a more profitable business and
better job security for everyone in the supply chain.

The principles in this guide can be applied by all those responsible for planning journeys, those
responsible for transport vehicles or vessels and those responsible for loading and unloading.
Key principles fundamental to ensuring good animal welfare during transport include: sourcing
appropriate cattle planning and preparation avoiding pre-transport stress the appropriate design,
use and maintenance of facilities and equipment

 loading and unloading cattle to minimize stress and optimize movement

 monitoring the health and welfare of livestock before, during and after transport
 Preventing or responding to emergency situations.

It is important to note that this guide provides an overview of best practice only but does not
present the only way to deliver a good animal welfare outcome. Other methods and techniques
may deliver an equally good outcome; however, in the absence of an alternative, this guide can
be used as a basis for practices or as a checklist against which established practices may be
compared. Different locations may also have different regulations that affect the transportation of
livestock. These should always be considered to take precedence over this guide.
Geo historical background of the Bamenda municipality

The Bamenda city council began in the 1960s, in 1962 the Ngemba council was curved out of
widikum council to cater for the Ngemba tribe of Mezam Division which are Mankon, Nsongwa,
Mbafu, Mundum, Pinyin, Awing, with Mankon as the headquater. The council was responsible
for the local administration for the lower and upper Ngemba tribes. In 1964, Mankon urban town
council was born out of the Ngemba Council to serve the Urban area of Mankon which include
areas like Ntambeng, Ntamulung, Mulang, Musang, etc. in 1968, the name was changed from the
Mankon urban town council to Mankon Area council with president being Fon A.N Angwafor
III.

In 1972, after the referendum of the United Republic of Cameroon, the name of the area council
was changed to the Mankon Regional council. The status of the council was then raised from
rural to urban. It was then called the Bamenda Urban council (BUC) with special status to be
appointed by the state. The Nkwen and Mendankwe council, which were formerly under the
Bamenda Urban council.

The presidential decree of 17th January 2008 which dissolved the urban status of the council to
the city council let to the formation of Bamenda 1, 2, 3 and Bamenda city council from the
defunct of Bamenda Urban Council (BUC). On the bases of the decree of 6/02/09, Mr. Vincent
Nji Ndumu became the pioneer Government delegate to the Bamenda City council with the
challenge of charting a new way forward and towards a city that will be the dream of all.

Suitable design for the transportation of cattle

These example designs focus on the transport facilities, specifically handling pens, races and
ramps and are examples only. They do not detail holding facilities where shelter, feed or water
would be provided.

Yard design

Yards should be designed to make use of the animals’ natural behavior ur by eliminating tight or
blind corners. Allow about 3.5 square meters per animal in holding or receiving yards and about
2 square meters per animal in the forcing or working yards.

Diagram 3a and 3b shows examples of yard designs for loading and unloading and drafting
cattle.

Head ball

20 head

Scale

Diagram 3a: Can hold 20 cattle but has limited

drafting capacity

8.5m
25 head

Scale

Diagram 3b: Can hold 25 cattle. Cattle work well

around the curve and worked livestock can be retained

The top yard rail should be at least 1800 millimeters high as low panels encourage animals to
try to escape.

Rails should be spaced close enough to prevent animals escaping, with the lower rails closer
together and lower to keep in calves. Examples of rail spacing for wooden and steel rails are
shown in Diagram 3c and 3d.
 280 mm

250 mm

250 mm

300 mm

Diagram 3c: Wooden rail spacing. Heavy gauge wire can be used to hold rails to post

Optional
extra height

50 mm
pipe rails

Diagram 3d: Steel rail spacing

Loading and unloading ramps

Ramps should have a slope no greater than

20 degrees. Ramps for unloading can be up to 3 meters ride, but loading ramps should be
only 760 millimeters wide to prevent mature cattle turning round. The sides can be made from
 wooden rails, pipe or sheeting strong enough to stop the animals from escaping. Any sheeting
on the side that the animal handlers work on should only be to half the height to allow the
handlers easy access to the animals.

Details of a ramp suitable for loading and unloading are given in Diagram 3e.

(760 millimeters wide) and unloading (3 meters wide)

The ramp should have a flat area at the top of about 1 meters length and its height should be the
same as the floor height of the vehicles for transporting cattle. Check the floor height of local
vehicles before building the ramp.

Trans-shipping ramps

In some circumstances, it may be routine to unload small numbers of cattle from a larger truck
onto smaller trucks or move cattle from one truck to another. Where the dimensions of the trucks
are known and standardized, this can be done using a purpose-built ramp known as a trans-
shipping ramp. This is designed such that the trucks can back up to the ramp and the specific
cattle moved safely from one truck to another without having to unload the cattle into yards and
then reload. One end of the ramp may be higher than the other if cattle are typically moved from
larger and higher trucks to smaller trucks. An example of a trans-shipping ramp is shown below.
An example of a trans-shipping ramp

Races

Where many animals are to be handled, the race should consist of 4-5 panels each with a
maximum length of 3 meters. Where less than 5 cattle would be handled, 1-2 panels would be
adequate. The sides should be a minimum of 1800 millimeters high of materials strong enough
to prevent the animals from escaping. The race should be 690-710 millimeters wide inside.

As the race will be under pressure from animal movement, posts should be cemented into the
ground 800–900 millimeters deep. Thick-walled pipe is probably the easiest material to use but
these should be capped or filled with cement to prevent them filling with water and rusting out.
The bottom 1-2 rails on the working side of the race should be removable so that animals can be
released if they go down or turn over. All other rails should be secured or fully welded in place
to give the race a smooth internal surface with a width of 760 millimeters.
Details of race dimensions are given in Diagram 3f.

Timber

50mm
pipe

Timber

Diagram 3f: Race

dimensions
The working area of the race should be covered to provide protection from sun and rain. Curved
races and sheeting of fences in strategic positions make use of the animals’ natural behavior and
allow animals to move more easily. This will reduce stress and injury to both animals and
people, and remove holdups where animals can be distracted or attempt to join other animal
groups.

Gates

Animals should be able to see where the handler wants them to go. Gates should be placed in
corners so that animals move along a fence line and then through the gate; the fences assist the
handler to maintain control of the animals.
The gates must be wide enough to allow a number of animals through together at one time.
The gateway entrance to a yard need only be about 3000 millimeters wide and most other
gates between 2000-2500 millimeters wide depending on the number of animals to be handled
and where they are being used in the yard design.

Smaller gates (700-800 millimeters wide) allow handlers easy access and quick exit. These
should have a strong spring to ensure.

Source. The following sources were used to compile this guide:

Animal Health Australia (2012). Australian

Animal Welfare Standards and Guides — Land Transport of Livestock. B4 - Specific

requirements for the land transport of cattle. Version 1.1, 21 September. Canberra. ISBN 978-1-
921958-03-8.

Animal Health Australia (2012). Australian

Animal Welfare Standards and Guides — Land Transport of Livestock. Version 1.1, 21

September. Canberra. ISBN 978-1-921958-03-8

Department for Environment, Food and Rural

Affairs, United Kingdom (nd). Welfare of Animals During Transport: Advice for transporters of
cattle.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

Nations (2001). Guides for Humane Handling,

Transport and Slaughter of Livestock. Chapter 6 - Transport of livestock. Access online: http://
www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6909e/x6909e00

Problem of cattle transportation in Bamenda.

Cattle transportation in bamenda city faces a lot of challenges as well as causes problems too.
First off,
 Most cattle transporters in bamenda are mainly done by unskilled and untrained
herdsmen as many believe that cattle transportation does not require a lot of skills. As
long as they can move and guide the cattle to a particular direction, they are good to go.
 Movement is mostly done on foot, thereby increasing the risk of exhaustion by the
cattle, injuries, accidents, that is if a car runs into a cattle or vise versa could prove very
fatal. Talk less of cases where a cow feels threatened and as instincts drives it to protect
itself, runs wild and harms anybody it sees as a threat to it.
 At the cellular level, tissue damage results in the release of the membrane phospholipid
bilayer and incites an inflammatory cascade at the site of injury through the conversion
of lipid membrane into prostaglandins and other metabolites. During road transport, the
truck environment and truck associated parameters can have characteristics with an
underlying predisposition to cause tissue damage, discomfort, and added stress. The
truck design, stocking density, driver, road quality, and ventilation and ambient
temperature of the hauling container are important factors to consider during an
assessment of transport conditions. The pre-transport loading process can be the most
stressful part of the trip, and the stress response then normalizes while the cattle are in
transit. Loading stress can be associated with cattle that have high temperaments or calm
temperaments. During loading or transit, movement of the cattle can increase the
chances for soft tissue injury. Rough roads and improper handling can cause carcass
bruising, which is detrimental to animal welfare and is an additional loss in the product
at the packer. If the cattle are not destined for slaughter, the bruising nature of the
shipment process can affect behavior and investigation is needed to tie into effects on
cattle acclimation. This trauma combined with the distance traveled may be associated
with the animal’s responses to the transportation event. Compared with shorter
distances, travel distances greater than 40 miles from the slaughterhouse are associated
with a statistically significant increase in bruising risk. The increases in bruising can be
monitored physiologically using increases in plasma creating kinase concentrations. One
study found that increases in creating kinase occurred in veal calves during transport,
but there was no correlation with the amount of muscle bruising at harvest.
 After arrival at the destination, normal cattle behavior is altered as cattle recuperate.
Immediately after transport at high temperatures (≥32.2 °C), heifers spend more time at
 the hay feeder; they also lie down more often 1 to 2 days after transport, compared with
control heifers. These findings are consistent with the loss of body weight in the form of
rumen gastrointestinal contents and the physical exertion required to stand the entire
transport period. A split nine-hour (h) transport, 12-h rest and nine-h transport evaluated
animal activity during the resting periods after each transport compared to non transport
controls. In each resting period after transport, bulls spent significantly less time lying
down compared with their non transport counterparts. In other studies, this is supported
and likely has a behavior component due to sex. Non-transported bulls spent
significantly more time in recumbency than bulls that were transported. Results from
other observational studies have indicated that on arrival and following transport, young
bulls spent less time acclimating or exploring the new home pen and more time
interacting with each other.
 The transport truck’s compartment environments are not equal; there are compartment-
associated differences in average daily gain and disease risk. Cattle in the forward
sections or transported in spaces with less than 15 head have reduced odds of treatment.
Likely due to more animals coming . The vibration of the vehicle while in motion can
affect the animals during transportation. The greatest vibration occurs on earth roads.
When cattle assume a position perpendicular to the direction of travel, they experience
significantly less vibration. Vibration originating predominantly from the vertical axis
of the trailer is dependent on tire pressure. Truck design characteristics and road
conditions cannot be readily changed but there are parameters that should be controlled.
The driver’s behavior during transport affects the cattle’s orientation. Driver tendencies
when handling the truck can be defined by the need to accelerate or brake to quickly in
certain situations, but changes in rapid motion are less frequent during highway transit.
There is a lower probability of sudden changes during highway driving versus city
driving. The role of the driver in the prevention of animal discomfort is important and
easy to address.

Transportation recommendations of cattle in bamenda

The transportation of cattle in the Bamenda municipality has always remain a great challenge as
herds men, in order to avoid transportation cost, prefer to travel with by cattle by foot thereby
violating the coat of conduct for the transportation of cattle hence exposing the to many risks like
exhaustion, exposed to road accidents as most of the time the herds men mostly use the major
roads for the transportation. Of these cattle. Hence, the following recommendation for the
transportation of cattle in Bamenda is analyzed below.

 Firstly, an appropriate and accurate health papers should accompany any cattle
being transported.
 If cattle are unable to be transported and must be euthanized, it is recommended
that veterinarians develop a written plan with their clients for protocols to be used
for making euthanasia decisions and assist clients with proper training of animal
handlers.
 All stocker and finish fed (feeder) cattle must have their processing, treatment
and feeding records checked to ensure all cattle have met assigned medication
withdrawal times if destined for slaughter. Additionally, all required health
transport shipping records must be in order, and if applicable, all brand
inspection records must also be in order. Copies of these records must be
provided to the transporter as needed.
 All cattle must be examined and fit for transport under the conditions the cattle
are to be transported. Arrangements for special needs of the cattle such as
protection from weather, bedding, traveling at night during hot weather,
arrangements for offloading rest periods, etc., must be made ahead of securing
transportation.
 The herdsman needs to ensure that transportation arrangements have met
required guidelines of the receiver of the cattle, or any suggested guidelines
provided by manufacturers of pharmaceuticals the cattle may have received prior
to transport.
 Calves are less able to cope with stressors than older cattle, particularly
transportation, and extra attention to their well-being is important. All personnel
handling or transporting calves should be trained on the farm’s protocols to
ensure that the health, safety, and welfare of calves of varying ages is maintained.
Personnel should also be aware of applicable local, state, and national guidelines
pertaining to transport of calves. Calves should be moved using the concept of
 flight zones when possible. Younger calves may not respond to efforts to move
them by using the concept of flight zones and therefore may need to be handled
differently when loading, unloading and moving. All handling should be
performed as calmly as possible to avoid unnecessarily exciting calves. All
moving aids, including flags and paddles, should be used judiciously.

Conclusion

Transport effects vary and so do the subsequent physiological responses. Other variation is
attributed to differences in age, sex, temperament, and recent environmental exposure.
Physiologic responses are influenced by multifaceted effects that ultimately begin with
dehydration, feed deprivation, tissue damage, and diesel fumes. These connections to stress-
related glucocorticoids and inflammatory cytokines require emphasis during research
investigation and veterinary communication with producers. A potential investigation needs to
encompass these biomarkers in outcomes of BRD cattle rather than focusing solely on a singular
entity of predicting BRD. Large gaps in data indicate a need for underlying normalcy of
biomarkers prior to interpretation during a transportation event investigated. Other gaps, such as
the effects of fumes and truck design, require further research. Using all of the potential
biomarkers provided in this review, we could use these in a model to predict risk levels. Drastic
and prolonged changes in stress, acute phase proteins, and cytokines leads to inflammation and
immunosuppression. This cascade of factors is likely critical in understanding the pathogenesis
of BRD in feedlot health. There is a clear need to develop a model to predict BRD and to
develop therapeutic measures that concentrate on decreasing the aforementioned markers to
promote active immune function without the use of antibiotics. This goal is attainable through
the continued understanding of cattle physiologic responses and focusing research on addressing
the variables discussed in this review. Moving forward, research projects conducted on cattle
transportation should monitor for BRD and report findings. There is a need for connection of
clinical BRD morbidity to these markers.