Dear all
Here below an invitation to complete a scientific questionnaire on sheep welfare sent by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is currently working on a Scientific Opinion on the main welfare risks related to the farming of sheep for wool, milk and meat production.
This survey is addressed to experts with field experience on sheep welfare and production and EFSA is looking forward to your replies and collaboration.
Please note the replies to FAO will not be forwarded to EFSA.
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Dear expert,
this e-mail concerns the ongoing work of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to develop a Scientific Opinion on the main welfare risks related to the farming of sheep for wool, meat and milk production, taking into account the different management (farming) systems.
The EFSA ad hoc Working Group, responsible for this opinion, identified the main categories of management (farming) systems, constituting the risk assessment scenarios, as well as a number of risk factors and welfare problems for sheep raised in those systems.
In order to score those problems by their importance and for the different management systems, EFSA is in the process of consulting scientific and technical experts with field experience on sheep welfare and sheep production through an on-line Scientific Questionnaire on the main welfare problems for sheep for wool, meat and milk production.
This survey can be accessed at the following link at  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6QJCYRP and it will remain open till 28 May.
The survey is accompanied by the attached Information document, which provides the Draft descriptions of the main categories of management systems identified by the EFSA Working Group and necessary to complete the questionnaire, as well as additional information.

If you are a field expert in sheep welfare and production, your reply to this questionnaire would be highly valuable to the work of EFSA.
Please don't hesitate to forward the link to this on-line survey to other experts that you may know.
Thank you very much for your collaboration

Maria Ferrara on behalf of Animal Health and Welfare Team of ALPHA Unit
EFSA