Читать книгу Animal Cruelty Investigations - Группа авторов - Страница 136

We have already used the term “body condition” several times in this chapter. Body condition refers to the amount of fat stores and the presence of muscling in an animal. Body condition scoring is a hands‐on procedure originally developed as a method for assessing cattle used in food production. According to the species of animal being assessed, specific points on the animal's body are felt and observed for the presence of fat. The findings are then used to assign a score to each animal, which serves as its “body condition score” (BCS). Since its development, body scoring has been applied to almost every type of livestock and pet animal, as a way to assess the body that is much more accurate than simply looking.

As you know, many animals have thick, curly, or matted hair coats, dense feather coverings or even dark colorations, which can prevent an accurate assessment of body condition by sight alone. While no one will testify that body condition scoring is a foolproof method for analyzing animal fat stores, BCS charts serve the important role of setting a standard for the ideal body condition for the species, as well as the degrees on either side of that standard ending in emaciation or obesity.