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t25 Activity
T25 Facilitator Notes
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T25: Problem Animal
The problem animal tool supports identifying and exploring the underlying causes of perceived animal welfare issues through an in depth root cause analysis. This activity can be revisited when planned actions have resulted in desired welfare improvements to promote evaluation and reflection on unidentified or unaddressed root causes. Please note that the first step in this exercise is the same as that of Animal welfare body mapping (T20).
| Tool purpose: | Time needed: |
| • To raise awareness of the root causes of welfare issues affecting different parts of an animal’s body and possible actions to be taken to address them, either collectively or individually • To inform organisational planning based on root cause analysis of animal welfare issues | 2-3 hours |
| Materials needed: | |
| Chart paper, cards, sticky notes, coloured markers, tape, and scissors |
Keyword Search Tags
Project Phase:
Planning Phase
Approaches for Working With Communities: Community Development Approach, Community Engagement Approach, Societal Outreach and Campaigns Approach
Behavioural Drivers (COM-B):
Behaviour Change Diagnosis and Planning, Capability
Stages of Behaviour Change:
Preparation Stage
Project Support: Participatory Learning and Action Tools, Needs Assessment
Specific Topics: Animal Welfare, Feelings and Needs
Problem Animal
Figure T25a Problem animal diagram
Exploring the complexities of need and demand for farriery service.
This diagram was made by a group of animal owners. First, the group discussed the problems affecting each part of the animal’s body, then they analysed the problems in depth to find their root causes. The group found that wounds on different parts of the body have different causes, but there are also causal factors (sub causes) which are common to more than one body area, such as bad road conditions and the way that ropes are tied. Wounds on the belly, breast and tail base were found to be inter-related. The group created a community action plan to address some of the root causes identified during this exercise.
Figure T25b Problem animal – causes of identified animal welfare problems
| Animal body mapping PLEASE NOTE: Steps 1-3 are the same as in T20 Animal body mapping and should be completed prior to carrying out T25 Problem animal. | |
|---|---|
| Animal body parts map | |
| Step 1 | If the broken animal jigsaw puzzle is available, start by playing the game. Then, ask participants to sketch the body of their animal on the ground or on paper and to identify the different body parts and the local names used for each body part. |
| Step 2 | Once participants have identified all body parts, initiate a discussion on their perceptions of the role and function of each part. This discussion often creates an opportunity for facilitators to sensitize participants about which body parts are important to animals’ function, which is particularly relevant in relation to working animals. |
| Animal body issue map | |
| Step 3 | Follow step one above, then ask the group to identify issues they commonly perceive on the body of their animals. This may include wounds, symptoms of disease, or other problems with animal health or function which they observe. It is important to allow participants to identify what they perceive to be issues, rather than identify issues you as the facilitator perceive. Encourage participants to draw these issues on the body map or represent those using symbols next to the appropriate body part. |
| Problem animal | |
| Step 4 | Then, ask the community which 2 or 3 of the issues identified in step 3 are the biggest problems and focus on those for the rest of the activity. Start with those most common to everyone. Have participants discuss the causes of the problems and draw or write the causes near the relevant part of the animal’s body. Analyse each welfare issue in depth by repeatedly asking ‘why?’ questions. For example: ‘Why does the animal get that wound?’ – ‘Because of the leather belt on the harness’ ‘Why does the leather belt cause the wound?’ – ‘Because it is not cleaned and oiled’ ‘Why is the belt not cleaned and oiled?’ – ‘Because we don’t have the time’ ‘Why don’t you have the time?’ …and so on, until the group reaches the deepest root causes of the welfare problem and cannot go any further. When one welfare problem is complete, take up the next one and repeat the questions until root causes are drawn or written next to all the problems shown on the body of the animal. If time permits, add additional issues, and repeat the same process with participants. |
| Step 5 | As the discussion progresses and all the causes are identified, analyse any links or relationships between different causes and show these using lines or arrows (see Figure T25). Please note: It is common for participants to discuss, and debate causes. These discussions often create shared learning opportunities, whereby participants learn from one another as they discuss and seek agreement on the true causal factors. As a facilitator, you should allow and encourage this discussion without inserting your ideas. However, you may need to ask probing questions or take the time to guide participants to the real causal factors if they get stuck or their lack of understanding prevents them from identifying true root causes. You may also need to intervene if they struggle to resolve their differences in beliefs themselves. |
| Step 6 | Ask participants to reflect on what they have discussed and mapped. Discussion questions may include: • What have they realized or learned because of doing this activity? • What are possible solutions for addressing the root causes of priority animal welfare issues? • Are there opportunities to take collective action to address the root causes the issues? • Referring to the identified root causes, what are the implications or consequences for owners or animal-owning households if not addressed? Support the community to identify possible solutions if needed, either in this session or in a follow up session as time and resources permit. |
| Step 7 | Have the community helper record the root causes and any specific actions and activities in the community action plan, including who will monitor, a realistic timeline and any help needed from external stakeholders. Record the root causes and actions to be taken by the team to your project action tracker and support the community by linking them to any necessary stakeholders |
Facilitator’s notes: Problem animal
- The facilitator should have a good knowledge of animal welfare and be able to recommend solutions to address issues, including community-based collective action ideas.
- Men, women, owners, users and carers all have different roles and responsibilities related to their animals and may have different knowledge to contribute to understanding the root causes of welfare issues. Decide who best to include in this activity and whether to carry it out with men and women (or other subgroups) separately or in a mixed group. This will depend on group dynamics, your rapport with the community and the local context.
- The in-depth problem analysis explores socially and traditionally induced inequality related issues as root causes from different people’s lived experiences depending on their position within a society e.g. gender inequality, caste systems, migratory status, race, etc. might uniquely affect owners/users/carers understanding in living within and dealing with root causes. Therefore, the importance of creating safe and enabling environment during such discussion is a high priority as part of a ground rule when leading such sensitive areas. It is also important to acknowledge people’s realties/lived experiences; rather than being dismissive.
- This exercise needs a lot of patience and questioning in order to enable the deepest causal factors to come out of the discussion. Keep asking “why” until all root causes are identified.
- Consider using cards or sticky notes to document the causes and sub-causes, as participants may change their mind about the causes and either move or remove them.
- It is important for the facilitator to end such meetings on a positive note by doing Step 6 and 7 focusing on the potential solutions. Doing this helps with reflective motivation for people to be more motivated to continue to engage and work with us (rather than leaving them pondering about all the magnitude of the problems they have to tackle).
- If the animal body mapping (T20) exercise was performed by the group in the recent past, it should not be necessary to repeat steps 1-3. In this case, review and summarize the issues identified with the group, then move to root cause identification in step 4.
Next Steps
- T13 Income, expenditure and credit analysis to explore opportunities for collective action to reduce common community-wide expenditures.
- T26 Animal welfare cause and effect analysis to explore the root causes of an individual welfare issue identified during this Problem Animal activity in greater depth along with the related effects on animals and people. This tool is great for fostering motivation to improve animal welfare, as it explores the consequences of inaction for both animal and humans.
- This activity could be performed as a precursor to an Animal welfare cause and effect analysis (T26), which would enable
- T15 Cost benefit analysis to explore the risks and opportunities of action and inaction on both animals and humans, including potential solutions for reducing costs and increasing benefits to both. This tool is useful if previously agreed community actions are not being adopted due to lack of motivation or high perceived costs.
- Undertaking the root causes analysis using T25 tool paves the way to do COM-B behavioural diagnosis to further support the kind of substantive intervention needed to address the desired behaviour change.