Bogsår, en bedömningsfråga.

In 2009, the responsibility for animal welfare was moved from the local authorities at the municipality(kommunerna) to the County Administrative Board(länsstyrelsen). This was a result of many differences between the different municipalities in how they handled animal welfare. Shoulder lesions of sows are a matter of opinion and therefore, a complicated question. Sows suffer from shoulder lesions for many reasons: e.g. the amount of straw available. During the autumn of 2010, a Swedish farmer was convicted of animal cruelty in Varbergs district court. This was later appealed in the Court of Appeals, where it was overturned. The verdict brought the question concerning shoulder lesions to the surface and has since then been heavily debated. In the rapport I have investigated if there are any differences regarding this matter between the counties. To do this I requested public documents from the counties of Västra Götaland, Jönköping, Kronoberg, Kalmar, Skåne and Blekinge. I sent out a questionnaire to these counties to get as clear results as possible. The results from the public documents viewing showed no results, due to the fact that I could not view every document available. I had the opportunity to review the public documents of five of the six counties. In the question of the interview questionnaire four of the six counties answered. The results from the questionnaire show that similarities and differences could be observed. When interpretations of the law apply, different problems arise. This is something the County of Administration Board has taken in consideration and decided to work with this year. This thesis focuses on identifying and highlighting any differences between counties