Employee reactions and adjustment to euthanasia-related work: identifying turning-point events through retrospective narratives

This study used a retrospective narrative procedure to examine the critical events that influence reactions and adjustment to euthanasia-related work of 35 employees who have stayed in the animal care and welfare field for at least 2 years. The study analyzed adjustment trajectory graphs and interview notes to identify turning-point events that spurred either a positive or negative change in shelter workers' psychological well-being. Analysis of the identified turning-point events revealed 10 common event themes that have implications for a range of work, personnel, and organizational practices. The article discusses implications for shelter, employee, and animal welfare.     

Scientists' Assessment of the Impact of Housing and Management on Animal Welfare

A total of 22 scientists contributed to a consensus-oriented conceptual framework for assessment of farm animal welfare, addressing priority issues in cattle, pigs, and chickens. They used the Delphi method, in which participants contributed anonymously through e-mail. The framework puts welfare in an evolutionary context. Welfare problems arise when animals are kept in environments to which they have difficulty adapting. For integrated welfare assessment, design criteria and welfare performance criteria must be used in which the former may be weighted based on the latter, which, in turn, may be weighted based on the aspects of intensity, duration, and incidence. The main performance criteria were pathological states, abnormal behaviors, and behavioral restrictions. Space, social conditions, and substrates were the main design criteria. Conventional housing systems generally ranked lower than alternative systems. In this article, we show that a broad consensus basis exists among welfare scientists concerning the assessment of farm animal welfare.     

Scientists' Assessment of the Impact of Housing and Management on Animal Welfare

A total of 22 scientists contributed to a consensus-oriented conceptual framework for assessment of farm animal welfare, addressing priority issues in cattle, pigs, and chickens. They used the Delphi method, in which participants contributed anonymously through e-mail. The framework puts welfare in an evolutionary context. Welfare problems arise when animals are kept in environments to which they have difficulty adapting. For integrated welfare assessment, design criteria and welfare performance criteria must be used in which the former may be weighted based on the latter, which, in turn, may be weighted based on the aspects of intensity, duration, and incidence. The main performance criteria were pathological states, abnormal behaviors, and behavioral restrictions. Space, social conditions, and substrates were the main design criteria. Conventional housing systems generally ranked lower than alternative systems. In this article, we show that a broad consensus basis exists among welfare scientists concerning the assessment of farm animal welfare.     

Willingness to Pay: Australian Consumers and “On the Farm” Welfare

The success of welfare legislation for nonhuman animals rests upon primary producer compliance that, in turn, is affected by public willingness to pay (WTP) for such initiatives. Although the topic of the welfare of animals on farms (and relevant legislation) is becoming increasingly important to the Australian public, there remain relatively few recent assessments of the variables that may affect WTP and, therefore, support initiatives aimed at improving the welfare of animals living on farms. This study surveyed 1,224 community members in Queensland, Australia. The study assessed respondents' self-rated knowledge of, and concern regarding, farm animal welfare. In addition, the survey asked respondents how much more they would be prepared to pay for animal-based products to ensure that they came from a source where the Five Freedoms were met. Although self-rated knowledge and level of concern were found to affect WTP, the study found only concern for farm animal welfare actually predicted consumer behavior. Further analyses showed a potential confound between knowledge levels and locality. This article discusses the implications of this for future initiatives to increase WTP.     

The positive aspects of correct negative reinforcement

Abstract

In the scheme of contemporary animal training, horse training is virtually unique because it relies on negative reinforcement (NR) rather than positive reinforcement (PR). Furthermore, horse trainers are largely unaware that they are using NR in training. Instead, they believe in the benevolent nature of the horse and see their task in training as one of improving the balance and gymnastic ability of the horse—outcomes that emerge when the rider is similarly properly balanced. Under these conditions, it is claimed the willing horse will perform its required maneuvers. These beliefs may be associated with several welfare issues and indicate areas requiring future research: 1. The absence of release of pressure, the release of pressure at the wrong times, the use of opposing pressures simultaneously and the absence of shaping procedures are central to the development of acute and chronic stress responses in horses.

2. Resultant conflict behaviors contribute to equine wastage statistics and include behaviors that are dangerous to horses and humans.

3. There is a need for research into the mechanics of NR because it is poorly researched compared to PR.

4. When NR responses are installed correctly, only mild pressures need to be used, and results are obtained in few trials.

5. Many qualified animal trainers misunderstand NR and confuse it with punishment. They believe that PR has positive welfare implications and thus NR being “negative,” has negative welfare implications. So there is a need for horse trainers to understand learning theory and the principles that surround NR.

6. Horse trainers are isolated from advances in animal training. Therefore they increasingly seek knowledge and solutions from the growing number of “horse whisperers” and unqualified “horse psychologists.” This is potentially detrimental for the welfare of the horse and the need is urgent for universities throughout the world to become the knowledge bases for equitation science.

     

Thirty years after Brambell: whither animal welfare science?

It has been just over 30 years since the Brambell Committee issued its clarion call for research on the welfare of animals used in agriculture. What progress has farm animal welfare science made in those 30 years, and what challenges will it face in the next 30? In this article, I discuss the ways in which the Brambell report, with its emphasis on behavioral needs and suffering, both propelled and constrained the development of animal welfare science. The role that economic factors play and the ways in which they have imposed other kinds of constraints on scientists working with farm animals are also mentioned. Despite these constraints, animal welfare science has contributed to a number of significant improvements in the welfare of farm animals. There is, however, a growing sense that animal welfare science has reached an impasse and that ethical and scientific questions about animal welfare have become hopelessly entangled. In this context, I address what I view to be the principal challenge facing farm animal welfare science, namely to move the issue of beyond suffering to an evaluation of broader quality-of-life questions and their application to improvements in welfare.     

促进人工饲养实验猕猴心理康乐

目的促进实验猕猴心理康乐,既能减少动物异常行为的发生、获得可靠的科学数据,同时也是实现这一珍贵非人灵长类实验动物福利的重要内容。实验猕猴社会化集群、环境优化、婴猴饲养方式是影响动物心理康乐几个较大的因素,本文对其研究进展进行了综述,对推进我国灵长类实验动物福利具有积极作用。     

Stress, behaviour and reproductive performance in female cattle and pigs

Female farm animals are exposed to a great variety of environmental and management related stressors. As a consequence, their reproductive and maternal abilities may be compromised through mechanisms acting on the hypothalamic, pituitary, ovarian and uterine function. Responses to short- and long-term stressors may differ as short-term stressors often fail to affect reproduction or even may have stimulatory effects. Thus, the stress response induces diverse neuroendocrine reactions that can either increase or decrease the probability of an animal reproducing depending on the specific situation. The aim of the present review is to summarise the current knowledge on the stress concept and its implications on behaviour and reproductive performance in cows and female pigs as phenomena reported in laboratory animals are unable to explain all effects encountered in domesticated farm animals.     

Neuropeptidergic regulation of affiliative behavior and social bonding in animals

Social relationships are essential for maintaining human mental health, yet little is known about the brain mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance of social bonds. Animal models are powerful tools for investigating the neurobiological mechanisms regulating the cognitive processes leading to the development of social relationships and for potentially extending our understanding of the human condition. In this review, we discuss the roles of the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin in the regulation of social bonding as well as related social behaviors which culminate in the formation of social relationships in animal models. The formation of social bonds is a hierarchical process involving social motivation and approach, the processing of social stimuli and formation of social memories, and the social attachment itself. Oxytocin and vasopressin have been implicated in each of these processes. Specifically, these peptides facilitate social affiliation and parental nurturing behavior, are essential for social recognition in rodents, and are involved in the formation of selective mother-infant bonds in sheep and pair bonds in monogamous voles. The convergence of evidence from these animal studies makes oxytocin and vasopressin attractive candidates for the neural modulation of human social relationships as well as potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of psychiatric disorders associated with disruptions in social behavior, including autism.     

The neuroscience of affiliation: forging links between basic and clinical research on neuropeptides and social behavior

Animal studies point to the role of two neuropeptides-oxytocin and vasopressin-in the regulation of affiliative behaviors including mating, pair-bond formation, maternal/parenting behavior, and attachment. These findings may have important implications for understanding and treating clinical disorders marked by social deficits and/or disrupted attachment. This review focuses on advances made to date in the effort to forge links between basic and clinical research in the area of neuropeptides and social behavior. The literature on oxytocin and its involvement in stress response, affiliation, and prosocial behavior is reviewed, and the implications of these findings for such disorders as autism as well as other social and stress-related disorders including social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and some personality disorders are considered. Finally, unresolved issues and directions for future research are discussed.     

The sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming: an inquiry into social perceptions of dairy farming

Over the past 50 years, the scale and intensity of livestock farming have increased significantly. At the same time, Western societies have become more urbanised and fewer people have close relatives involved in farming. As a result, most citizens have little knowledge or direct experience of what farming entails. In addition, more people are expressing concerns over issues such as farm animal welfare. This has led to increasing public demand for more sustainable ways of livestock farming. To date, little research has been carried out on the social pillar of sustainable livestock farming. The aim of this study is to provide insights into the sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming systems. This study reviews the key findings of earlier published interdisciplinary research about the social perceptions of dairy farming in the Netherlands and Norway (Boogaard et al., 2006, 2008, 2010a and 2010b) and synthesises the implications for sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming. This study argues that the (sociocultural) sustainable development of livestock farming is not an objective concept, but that it is socially and culturally constructed by people in specific contexts. It explains the social pillar of the economics/ecological/social model sustainability in terms of the fields of tensions that exist between modernity, traditions and naturality - 'the MTN knot' - each of which has positive and negative faces. All three angles of vision can be seen in people's attitudes to dairy farming, but the weight given to each differs between individuals and cultures. Hence, sociocultural sustainability is context dependent and needs to be evaluated according to its local meaning. Moreover, sociocultural sustainability is about people's perceptions of livestock farming. Lay people might perceive livestock farming differently and ascribe different meanings to it than experts do, but their 'reality' is just as real. Finally, this study calls for an ongoing collaboration between social and animal scientists in order to develop livestock farming systems that are more socioculturally sustainable.     

Keeping horses in groups: A review

Although husbandry conditions for horses have improved over the last decades, many horses are still kept singly with limited or no physical contact to other horses. This is surprising, given the fact that keeping horses in groups is recognised best to fulfil their physical and behavioural needs, especially their need for social contact with conspecifics, as well as to have a beneficial effect on horse–human interactions during training.Group housing of farm animals is widely applied in practice. As a consequence, scientists have investigated numerous aspects of group housing to help further improve animal welfare and human–animal interactions under these conditions. However, compared to this literature available in farm animals, and the plentiful studies conducted of feral horse populations, there is much less done when it comes to the management of horses kept in groups in the domestic environment. In particular, limited scientific information is available into the effect of group size and group composition on behaviour and methods of introducing new horses into established groups, even though problems related to social integration are repeatedly taken as arguments against keeping horses in groups.This review, therefore, aims to provide an overview of the current scientific knowledge regarding keeping horses in groups. Furthermore, it aims to give insight into whether or not some of the concerns related to keeping horses in groups are justified and to review scientifically based solutions that could be useful in practice to improve horse welfare and human safety.     

Enhancing Nonhuman Primate Care and Welfare Through the Use of Positive Reinforcement Training

Nonhuman primates are excellent subjects for the enhancement of care and welfare through training. The broad range of species offers tremendous behavioral diversity, and individual primates show varying abilities to cope with the stressors of captivity, which differ depending on the venue. Biomedical facilities include small single cages, pair housing, and breeding corrals with large social groups. Zoos have social groupings of differing sizes, emphasizing public display and breeding. Sanctuaries have nonbreeding groups of varying sizes and often of mixed species. In every venue, the primary objective is to provide good quality care, with minimal stress. Positive reinforcement training improves care and reduces stress by enlisting a primate's voluntary cooperation with targeted activities, including both husbandry and medical procedures. It can also improve socialization, reduce abnormal behaviors, and increase species-typical behaviors. This article reviews the results already achieved with positive reinforcement training and suggests further possibilities for enhancing primate care and welfare.     

Enhancing nonhuman primate care and welfare through the use of positive reinforcement training

Nonhuman primates are excellent subjects for the enhancement of care and welfare through training. The broad range of species offers tremendous behavioral diversity, and individual primates show varying abilities to cope with the stressors of captivity, which differ depending on the venue. Biomedical facilities include small single cages, pair housing, and breeding corrals with large social groups. Zoos have social groupings of differing sizes, emphasizing public display and breeding. Sanctuaries have nonbreeding groups of varying sizes and often of mixed species. In every venue, the primary objective is to provide good quality care, with minimal stress. Positive reinforcement training improves care and reduces stress by enlisting a primate's voluntary cooperation with targeted activities, including both husbandry and medical procedures. It can also improve socialization, reduce abnormal behaviors, and increase species-typical behaviors. This article reviews the results already achieved with positive reinforcement training and suggests further possibilities for enhancing primate care and welfare.     

Chinese university students' attitudes toward the ethical treatment and welfare of animals

An important step in ensuring ethical animal treatment and welfare is to understand people's attitudes toward them. However, research is lacking from some Asian countries, such as China. This needs improvement. In this study I asked Chinese university students about their attitudes toward animal welfare issues. The students reported strong concern for the treatment of animals across a broad spectrum of issues, although the level of concern varied according to the issue. The results are in agreement with recent research showing that Chinese society displays generally positive attitudes and behaviors toward animal welfare initiatives. This study, combined with previous work reported in the literature, suggests that the Chinese public is perhaps philosophically ready to accept and support the urgent changes needed to improve animal welfare standards in their country.     

A Survey of Chinese Citizens’ Perceptions on Farm Animal Welfare

Farm animal welfare has been gradually recognized as an important issue in most parts of the world. In China, domestic animals were traditionally raised in backyard and treated as an important component of family wealth. Industrialization of animal production brings forth the farm animal welfare concerns recently in China, yet the modern concept of animal welfare has not been publicized and a comprehensive recognition on how consumers and farmers perceive animal welfare is lacking. Therefore, we conducted a survey on public opinions toward farm animal welfare in China, based on pigs (including sows, piglets, and fattening pigs), domestic fowls (including layers and broilers) and their products. From 6,006 effective questionnaires approximately two thirds of the respondents had never heard of ‘animal welfare’; 72.9% of the respondents claimed that, for the sake of animal derived food safety, human beings should improve the rearing conditions for pigs and domestic fowls; 65.8% of the respondents totally or partly agreed on establishing laws to improve animal welfare; more than half of the respondents were willing, or to some extent willing, to pay more for high-welfare animal products, whereas 45.5% of the respondents were not willing or reluctant to pay more. In summary, farm animal welfare is still in its early stage of development and more efforts are needed to improve the public conception to animal welfare in the process of establishing farm animal welfare standards and legislations in China.     

My pigs are ok,why change? – animal welfare accounts of pig farmers

Intensive pig production systems are a source of stress, which is linked to reduced animal welfare and increased antimicrobial use. As the gatekeepers of the welfare of the animals under their care, farmers are seen as the stakeholder responsible for improving animal welfare. The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge and attitudes of pig farmers towards pig welfare and the impact of such attitudes on farmers' selection of management strategies on the farm. We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 44 pig farmers in one of the main pig producing regions of Brazil. Interviews covered knowledge and attitudes towards pig sentience and behaviour and welfare-related issues commonly observed in intensive pig farms (belly-nosing, fights, tail-biting, diarrhoea and castration without pain control) and farmers' conception and attitudes towards pig welfare. We identified many management and animal-based indicators of poor welfare, such as the use of painful and stressful management practices and use of environments that limit the expression of natural behaviours. However, most farmers were satisfied with animal welfare standards at their farms. Farmers' perceptions are aligned with their understanding of animal welfare. Although they identified all the dimensions that impact the welfare of a pig on a farm (affect, biological functioning and naturalness), their social reality, industry demands and available advice pushed them to perceive their range of action limited to biological and environmental aspects of the animals that do not necessarily benefit affective state. This precluded farmers from making associations between good health and the animal's ability to express a full behavioural repertoire, as well as from viewing abnormal behaviours as problems. The negative consequences for the welfare of the animals were commonly alleviated by routines that relied on constant use of medication, including high dependence on antibiotics. Expressions of estrangement from the production chain were common voices among the participants. This suggests that farmers may not be sufficiently informed or engaged in responding to consumers' expectations and commitments made by companies, which can pose a severe economic risk for farmers. The findings of this study indicate that economic, technical and social factors restrict farmers' autonomy and their ability to perform their role as stewards of animal welfare. (Re)connecting different human, animal and environmental interests may be a step to changing this scenario.     

Synthesis of semantic modelling and risk analysis methodology applied to animal welfare

Decision-making on animal welfare issues requires a synthesis of information. For the assessment of farm animal welfare based on scientific information collected in a database, a methodology called 'semantic modelling' has been developed. To date, however, this methodology has not been generally applied. Recently, a qualitative Risk Assessment approach has been published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for the first time, concerning the welfare of intensively reared calves. This paper reports on a critical analysis of this Risk Assessment (RA) approach from a semantic-modelling (SM) perspective, emphasizing the importance of several seemingly self-evident principles, including the definition of concepts, application of explicit methodological procedures and specification of how underlying values and scientific information lead to the RA output. In addition, the need to include positive aspects of welfare and overall welfare assessments are emphasized. The analysis shows that the RA approach for animal welfare could benefit from SM methodology to support transparent and science-based decision-making.     

Complexities of Using Wild versus Captive Activity Budget Comparisons for Assessing Captive Primate Welfare

Activity budget comparisons between groups or individuals in the wild and those in captivity are commonly used to determine the range of wild-type behaviors that nonhuman animals in captivity perform. These comparisons are conducted with the view that individuals displaying a greater range of wild-type behaviors have enhanced welfare. Such comparisons have a greater appeal when it comes to primates because increased levels of anthropomorphism toward primates lead to welfare concerns. However, the validity of such comparisons has not been assessed. From the reviewed literature, some of the main complexities identified when defining “good welfare” using activity budgets were the ideas of behavioral motivation and adaptation, obstacles when using the wild as a benchmark for good welfare, study methods causing possible variances in behavior, and social and environmental factors. It is proposed that such influencing factors would be controlled for adequately in future studies with the use of multiple indices to measure welfare and methods that infer positive emotional states. It is hoped we can then build evidence of an animal’s emotional state and allow welfare to be inferred to a higher degree.