Showing papers on "Animal welfare published in 1986"

The Case for the Use of Animals in Biomedical Research

Abstract: USING animals as research subjects in medical investigations is widely condemned on two grounds: first, because it wrongly violates the rights of animals,1 and second, because it wrongly imposes on sentient creatures much avoidable suffering.2 Neither of these arguments is sound. The first relies on a mistaken understanding of rights; the second relies on a mistaken calculation of consequences. Both deserve definitive dismissal. Why Animals Have No Rights A right, properly understood, is a claim, or potential claim, that one party may exercise against another. The target against whom such a claim may be registered can be a single . . .

Violence against animals and people: is aggression against living creatures generalized?

Abstract: An association between childhood cruelty to animals and dangerous aggression against people at a later age could have important implications regarding early detection and treatment, preventive psychiatry, and a social ethic that encourages positive attitudes toward living creatures in general. Research reports in the literature are inconsistent and inconclusive regarding a possible relationship between animal cruelty and aggression against people. Although a single act is not predictive of another act, a pattern of substantial animal abuse may conceivably be associated with a pattern of recurrent violence directed against people. In the present study, extensive interview schedules were administered to aggressive criminals, nonaggressive criminals, and noncriminals. The nature of abuse was described for each subject who gave a history of substantial abuse. A clear relationship was found between early substantial abuse and recurrent violence against people. Possible explanations for conflicting results in the literature are discussed.

Technical environmental assessment predictors of residential satisfaction. A study of elderly women living alone.

Abstract: Residential satisfaction is important in its own right and as an influence on general well-being. Previous research suggests that objective environmental characteristics amenable to societal manipu...

Health and welfare of animals in modern husbandry systems-Dairy cattle

Abstract: THE codes of recommendations for the welfare of livestock in the UK. as drawn up by the Farm Animall Welfare Council. recognise certain basic needs (see below). The welfare of animals in anv husbandrv svstem, old or iiew. intensive or extensive, may be evaluated in the context of these needs. No system is perfect and these disparate needs may sometimes conflict. For example increased freedom of movement in young cattle mt(ay, increase the incidence of enteritis. the more comfortable cubicle mai(1'y also predispose to a greater incidence of mastitis. Conclusions as to the acceptability of a particular system are value judgements and thus expressions of personal opinion. However, this author believes that it is possible to achieve a balaniced judgement only if all five of the criteria for welfare ('the five freedoms') listed are considered in terms of the scientific understanding of the physiology, health and behaviour of the species in question; in this case, cattle. It is further believed that the right to good health and vigour is the most important of the five freedoms. This inevitably implies that less importance is attached to freedom of behavioural expression. This is perhaps an unfashionable opinion but one which is particularly necessary when evaluating the welfare of the dairy cow. Relative to malny farm animals the dairy cow has considerable behatvioural freedom and this has led to claims that 'there are no mrajor welfare problems in the dairy sector' (Wilson 1979). The more complete evaluation, which equates welfare with good

Farm Animal Welfare: Cattle, Pigs and Poultry

Abstract: Introduction Stockmanship Health and welfare Climatic environmental effects on welfare Environmental factors affecting susceptibility to disease Thermal comfort and thermal insulation Natural ventilation and lighting Kennel housing Welfare and flooring Care of sick animals, emergencies, companionship and mutilations Methods of studying farm animal welfare Welfare and the pig Welfare and cattle Welfare and poultry.

Recognition and Alleviation of Pain in Animals

Abstract: The pain and distress which animals experience as a consequence of their use by man figures prominently in discussions of animal welfare. Some improvements have been made in animal housing and husbandry practices and it is likely that further progress will be made in this field. In comparison, relatively little attention has been given to the problem of minimizing the pain and distress caused to animals by the various procedures to which they are subjected. The most publicized of these are the wide range of experimental techniques which are undertaken using laboratory animals, but also includes procedures such as castration of farm animals and neutering operations carried out on pet animals. The prevention or alleviation of the pain associated with such procedures is a complex problem with no single, simple solution. Consideration must be given to the use of analgesic drugs, the provision of high standards of general care, and the use of special nursing techniques. When dealing with post-operative care, the pre-operative management of the animal, the operative procedures and the anesthetic regime must all be evaluated and, when necessary, modified to minimize pain or discomfort.

Assessment of comfort and well-being in farm animals.

Abstract: The assessment of comfort and well-being in farm animals is discussed in terms of physical damage, physiological responses and behavior. Injuries may be due to the physical environment or contact, such as aggression, with other animals. Animals may reduce the frequency of injuries by modifying their behavior. Evaluation of injuries requires a methodical assessment of specific areas of the body and examination of the facilities and behavior of the animal to determine cause. The physiological response of an animal is dependent upon its psychological response. The adrenal medullary and cortical responses represent distinct strategies that may occur simultaneously or independently of each other. Stress frequently results in suppression of immune responses, although some aspects of the immune system are enhanced. Inadequate or excessive motivation results in behavioral problems and facilities must accommodate the behavior of the animals. Methods of preference-testing have been improved to evaluate factors in the environment and assess motivation for specific behaviors more reliably. All of the methods used to assess comfort and well-being must consider the animal's ability to adapt to different environments. Although it remains difficult to assess comfort and well-being across systems, improvement within a system can be demonstrated.

A pivotal year for lab animal welfare.

Abstract: Developments in the U.S. during 1985 related to laboratory animal welfare are discussed. The enactment of amendments to the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 and revisions to the Public Health Service's animal care guidelines are described as major federal moves to tighten standards and to locate responsibility for proper animal care at the institutional level. These regulatory changes will have a significant economic impact on the cost of doing research, but are generally accepted by the scientific community as necessary. Although moderate animal welfare groups see signs of progress, there is a growing number of activists who see recent policy developments as only a step toward the real goal of total elimination of the use of animals in research. It is apparent that the combination of political pressure, financial stringency, and better experimental methodologies will result in a continued reduction in laboratory animal use.

Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986: The Animal Procedures Committee

Abstract: A new British Act of Parliament on animal experimentation establishes a statutory body, the Animal Procedures Committee, which will advise the Government on the administration of the Act. The membe...

Laboratory animal protection: the European Convention and the Dutch Act.

Abstract: The Council of Europe has adopted a Convention for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes. The Convention was opened for signature by governments of the affiliated countries on March 18, 1986. The government of the Netherlands signed on August 4, 1986. In this article, some aspects of the Convention are compared with current practice in the Netherlands under the Dutch Experimental Animals Act (1977). Special attention is paid to Animal Protection Officers and to problems in the assessment of severe and enduring pain in procedures with animals.

Alternatives to Aversive Procedures with Animals in the Psychology Teaching Setting

Abstract: Every college undergraduate learns in his or her first introductory course that the aims of scientific psychology are understanding, explaining, and predicting behavior. How students are taught about behavior varies depending on the area of psychology involved. But within some major psychology subfields—behavior analysis, learning, experimental, and physiological psychology—teaching students about behavior often means instruction and observation in animal behavior. In some cases, students are asked to study the principles of animal behavior for their own sake. More commonly, however, animals are used in teaching or laboratory settings because they are assumed to be models which serve as approximations for analogous behavior in humans.

Regulation of animal experimentation: United States of America.

Abstract: Two national mechanisms regulate the humane treatment of the 20-40 million laboratory animals that are used annually for experimental purposes in the United States each year. They are: the Public Health Service policy (commonly called the National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy) of 1985, and the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 as amended, a federal law. National policies are constantly being strengthened. Until 1984, national policies covered mainly animal husbandry practices. But the 1985 revised NIH policy directly involves the laboratory for the first time by requiring protocol review for humane concerns. Protocol review of proposed experiments is to be conducted by Animal Care and Use Committees--the institutional oversight committees. It is with effective protocol review that the Refinement, Reduction, and Replacement (of Russell and Burch's three Rs) to reduce ethical costs of experiments can be made an everyday reality. With this new authority for Animal Care and Use Committees, and a mandate for broader representation in membership, the revised NIH policy should bring improvements. Proposals are currently being considered by the U.S. Congress to strengthen the Animal Welfare Act. This law is in need of revision since about 90% of the laboratory animals are currently excluded from its coverage. The Scientists Center for Animal Welfare has been active in identifying ways in which national policies can be strengthened. In particular, focus has been made on meaningful protocol review by institutional oversight committees. Some recommendations for effective oversight committees based on recent workshops conducted by the Scientists Center for Animal Welfare are described.

Day Care and Alzheimer's Disease: A Weekend Program in New York City

Abstract: Relatively few day care programs have been established exclusively for individuals with Alzheimer's Disease. Of the limited number of such programs in the New York City area, there is currently only one that operates on Saturday. The Day Activities Program at the New York Institute for Aging is staffed entirely by occupational therapy personnel. A description of the program follows including intake procedure, clinical characteristics of particrpants, physical environment, staffing patterns, and activities that have been found to be successful with mild to moderately demented individuals.

Moral community and the responsibility of scientists.

Abstract: There is a quaint term in English for describing the science of the care and production of domestic animals--animal husbandry. While not particularly useful as a description of the scientific methods by which such production is achieved, the term does capture what I believe is the moral ethos which ought to govern the scientific treatment of animals in the context of scientific experimentation. While great attention has been given to the claims of some philosophers and animal welfare advocates that animals have rights, less attention has been paid either to alternative foundations for conferring moral standing on animals, or, on the nature of the duties and responsibilities that would arise if it were true that animals could be said to have moral rights. I will argue that animals, or most animals, cannot reasonably be said to have moral rights. And even if one decides to stretch this term to include all animals, it cannot be done without conflating what I believe to be important differences in the moral standing of humans and animals. Rather than attempt to motivate humane treatment and reduction in animal use on the basis of animal rights I argue that scientists have an obligation, based upon their duty to care for the helpless and the powerless who can nonetheless be wronged, to act as stewards toward animals. Husbandry carries the connotation of care for a household and I believe this is the ethos that should pervade the animal laboratory or storage facility.

Japan Whaling Association v. American Cetacean Society: The Great Whales Become Casualties of the Trade Wars

Abstract: The United States, encouraged by environmental andnanimal protection organizations, has been the major proponentnof effective measures to conserve whales.nJapan, on thenother hand, has been the most outspoken defender of whaling.nA major confrontation between the two countries occurrednin Japan Whaling Association v. American CetaceannSociety.' The United States blinked.4 This pro-whaling decisionnby the United States Supreme Court had two...

Xenograft and Partial Affections

Abstract: Making moral decisions of the sort brought to our attention by contemporary philosophical reflections on animals has a tendency to highlight our particular connections to other people. The decision to adopt a vegetarian diet, for instance, is sure to affect relationships with spouses and friends, and not simply because the vegetarian becomes rather more trouble to have to a dinner party; the deeper problem is that the moral vegetarian poses by his/her diet an implicit critique of the...

Regulation of animal experimentation--the international experience: Switzerland.

Abstract: The reviewer is head of a Central Animal Laboratory of a Medical Center, where about 140 researchers, chiefly M.D.'s work on 11 species: monkeys, dogs, cats, calves, pigs, sheep, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice and gerbils. In 1984 there were 120 licence projects with 32.000 experiments, 74% were carried out on mice, 24.6% on rats and the rest on the other species. Approximately two third of all animals were used for in vitro studies. Each researcher has to apply for a licence for a limited project by giving the title, a brief description of the method, his reasons for wanting to do the experiment and the value of the expected results, and the exact number of animals required. Details of the planned experiments are discussed with the staff of the Central Animal Laboratory. All information is filled in by the responsible researcher on a nation-wide standardized form. The completed form is signed by the head and forwarded by the secretariat to the Cantonal Veterinary Department. Four copies are submitted of which one goes to the Federal Veterinary Department. All applications for a licence are handled by the cantonal veterinary officer. The decisions are controlled by a Cantonal Commission for animal experiments, consisting of 8 members out of which 4 are animal protectionists. In addition the Department of Education has set up a bioethical commission consisting of 4 members of the university, one from the veterinary faculty, two from the medical faculty and one from the life sciences. This commission can also be called on by a researcher if he needs to clarify points before the application is submitted. The animal protection law requests the cantonal veterinary officer to make a thorough check of the project which often demands one or more letters asking for further information. He has to check whether an animal experiment is necessary at all, whether the experiment is properly designed, whether animals of lower order could be used and whether the demanded number of animals is needed. After a project has been completed or every year for a larger project, the number of animals used in the project has to be reported to the cantonal veterinarian who will prepare statistics on total number of animals used. A division of the experiments into in vivo and in vitro experiments will be prepared and categorization according to the estimated degree of stress and pain is being considered.

Animals Serving the Handicapped

Abstract: Mankind for centuries has been hiding or ignoring the less than perfect examples of its own species. Society has recently recognized this problem by undertaking goals to mainstream into daily life those people with special needs. This is evident by the appropriation of tax monies and public funds for the building of hospitals designed with special living quarters for the handicapped, for the development of equipment and prosthetic devices intended to normalize the appearance and abilities of...

Man's relation to experimental animals: modern times--the present situation in Switzerland

Abstract: The situation in Switzerland is characterized by a particularly violent antivivisectionist movement. A pending public vote on a constitutional amendment threatens to ban animal experiments totally. The scientific community has reacted by establishing binding Ethical Guide-Lines that should help the scientists to deal responsibly with the ethical conflict that follows from the principle of reverence for life: to reduce animal experiments and especially animal suffering as far as possible without denying man the fulfillment of his own claims to security.