Showing papers on "Animal welfare published in 1991"

Gender, Sex Role Orientation, and Attitudes toward Animals

Abstract: To examine the relationship among gender, sex role orientation, and attitudes toward the treatment of animals, 144 male and 222 female college students were administered the Bem Sex Role Inventory, a Likert-scale questionnaire designed to assess attitudes toward animal welfare issues, and a measure of perceived comfort touching animals of a variety of species. There were significant gender differences on all of the animal-related measures with the exception of self-reported comfort touching positively perceived animals. Gender and the expressive (feminine) dimension of sex role orientation accounted for a significant proportion of the variation in attitudes toward animal welfare issues and comfort with other species. Correlations between the masculine and feminine dimensions of sex role orientation were related in opposite directions on all animal attitude measures.

The Animal Rights Crusade: The Growth of a Moral Protest

Abstract: This history and analysis of the animal rights movement chronicles its development from associations of kindly pet-lovers to groups of ruthless activists

Welfare of laying hens in cages and alternative systems: environmental, physical and behavioural aspects

Abstract: There are many different characteristics of housing systems which affect the welfare of laying hens, particularly because welfare itself has many diverse aspects. When cause and effect relationships between systems and welfare are assessed, it is evident that no system currently under consideration is ideal. Of those priorities listed by UK authorities such as the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Farm Animal Welfare Council, all systems are likely to provide ‘freedom from hunger and thirst, adequate lighting and the company of conspecifics’. However, conventional cages are less likely than other systems to provide ‘freedom of movement, freedom from fear, comfort and shelter, suitable flooring and freedom to display most normal patterns of behaviour’. Alternative systems, though, often expose birds to the danger of disease, to aggression from dominant birds and to the risk of cannibalism or beak trimming to avoid it. Overall, welfare is compromised more in conventional cages than in well-run alternative systems, though welfare is more sensitive to poor management and to market forces in the latter. Problems in cages are also less likely to be alleviated by genetic selection than those in alternative systems. The ideal system for present-day stocks should combine the small group sizes found in cages with the freedom of movement and complex environment characteristic of alternative systems.

The implications of cognitive processes for animal welfare

Abstract: In general, codes that have been designed to safeguard the welfare of animals emphasize the importance of providing an environment that will ensure good health and a normal physiological and physical state, that is, they emphasize the animals' physical needs. If mental needs are mentioned, they are always relegated to secondary importance. The argument is put forward here that animal welfare is dependent solely on the cognitive needs of the animals concerned. In general, if these cognitive needs are met, they will protect the animals' physical needs. It is contended that in the few cases in which they do not safeguard the physical needs, it does not matter from a welfare point of view. The human example is given of being ill. It is argued that welfare is only adversely affected when a person feels ill, knows that he or she is ill, or even thinks that he or she is ill, all of which processes are cognitive ones. The implications for welfare of animals possessing certain cognitive abilities are discussed. For example, the extent to which animals are aware of their internal state while performing behavior known to be indicative of so-called states of suffering, such as fear, frustration, and pain, will determine how much they are actually suffering. With careful experimentation it may be possible to determine how negative they feel these states to be. Similarly, the extent to which animals think about items or events absent from their immediate environment will determine how frustrated they are in the absence of the real item or event but in the presence of the cognitive representation.

Pet projects: animal assisted therapy in nursing homes.

Abstract: 1. Animal assisted therapy is an applied science using animals to solve a human problem. It is an interdisciplinary approach using animals as an adjunct to other therapies. 2. The major difference between animals as therapy and entertainment is the animal-human bond, a special relationship that develops when a person has strong feelings of psychological attachment to the animal. 3. It is essential that a complete nursing and activity assessment be made before implementation of individualized animal assisted therapy.

An Attitude Survey of Animal Rights Activists

Abstract: Animal rights activism is increasing rapidly, yet no empirical research has sought to determine who the animal rights activists are, what they believe, and what they hold as their agenda. An attitude survey was therefore conducted of 402 animal rights activists who attended a recent rally in Washington. Results indicated that nearly half of these activists felt that animal research should not be the primary focus of the animal rights movement. There was also considerable disagreement surrounding the issue of laboratory break-ins. These and other findings from the survey suggest that animal rights activists hold diverse objectives and viewpoints.

In Vitro Digestion for Pigs and Poultry

Abstract: There is now widespread interest in the development of in vitro methods for assessing the digestibility of feedstuffs for monogastric farm animals, i.e. pigs and poultry. In vivo methods require the use of surgically modified animals, which is becoming less favoured due to increased awareness of animal welfare, and are expensive and slow. A number of research groups around the world are now developing in vitro methods, and this book, based on a workshop held at the Rowett Research Institute in October 1990, presents current knowledge of the subject. The book should be of interest to research workers in animal nutrition in both academic institutions and the feedstuff industry.

Improved housing of mice, rats and guinea-pigs: a contribution to the refinement of animal experiments

Abstract: The keeping of experimental animals requires housing systems appropriate to the needs and behaviour of each species, as demanded by various supranational and national guidelines. It is questionable...

The importance of animal cognition in agricultural animal production systems: an overview

Abstract: To describe and then fulfill agricultural animals' needs, we must learn more about their fundamental psychological and behavioral processes. How does this animal feel? Is that animal suffering? Will we ever be able to know these things? Scientists specializing in animal cognition say that there are numerous problems but that they can be overcome. Recognition by scientists of the notion of animal awareness has been increasing in recent years, because of the work of Griffin and others. Feeling, thinking, remembering, and imagining are cognitive processes that are factors in the economic and humane production of agricultural animals. It has been observed that the animal welfare debate depends on two controversial questions: Do animals have subjective feelings? If they do, can we find indicators that reveal them? Here, indirect behavioral analysis approaches must be taken. Moreover, the linear additivity of several stressor effects on a variety of animal traits suggests that some single phenomenon is acting as a "clearinghouse" for many or all of the stresses acting on an animal at any given time, and this phenomenon might be psychological stress. Specific situations animals may encounter in agricultural production settings are discussed with respect to the animals' subjective feelings.

Physicians and the animal-rights movement.

Abstract: THE current animal-rights movement threatens the future of health science far more than many physicians recognize The movement is no fringe group of fanatics who cannot have a serious effect on the real world It is led by politically shrewd people who have built a powerful machine opposed to all animal studies in the life sciences By impugning the motives of scientists, inaccurately portraying the conditions under which most animal research takes place, and often camouflaging the radical nature of their true goal, the movement's leaders have won support from many well-meaning but misguided sympathizers with animal welfare The cost

Animal Rights, Animal Wrongs and the Question of Balance

Abstract: The issue of “animal rights” is part of a larger, overriding problem of the rights of all living beings to an habitable earth. The dangers posed to the overall environment by researchers who are insensitive to their animal subjects is not unlike that of animal rights activists who are equally unaware of the adverse effects which arise from some of their own daily actions. The present paper looks at both the world of science and antivivisection, making the case that all of us must begin to appreciate more fully the concept of there being limits to growth and the need to make better use of life sustaining resources still available. Issues involved in the debate over ethics in animal research are extremely complex. Greater wisdom must be sought out and exercised in order to lead us toward policies that will work out best in the long run for both people and other animals. Scientists should not overreact to criticism of animal exploration and study which truly benefits the survival of all life on earth. Furthe...

Animal behavior and animal welfare.

Abstract: The value of behavioral techniques in assessing animal welfare, and in particular assessing the psychological well being of animals, is reviewed. Using cats and horses as examples, 3 behavioral methods are presented: (1) comparison of behavior patterns and time budgets; (2) choice tests; and (3) operant conditioning. The behaviors of intact and declawed cats were compared in order to determine if declawing led to behavioral problems or to a change in personality. Apparently it did not. The behavior of free ranging horses was compared with that of stabled horses. Using two-choice preference tests, the preference of horses for visual contact with other horses and the preference for bedding were determined. Horses show no significant preference for locations from which they can make visual contact with other horses, but they do prefer bedding, especially when lying down. Horses will perform an operant response in order to obtain light in a darkened barn or heat in an outside shed. These same techniques can be used to answer a variety of questions about an animal's motivation for a particular attribute of its environment.

Can reason defeat unreason

Abstract: This is Animal Rights Awareness Week in the United States — an occasion celebrated by the groups calling themselves animal activists of one stripe or another. Among biomedical scientists, the 'celebration' occasions acute despair.

The production of pink veal from dairy calves in australia

Abstract: Every year more than a million baby calves are slaughtered in Australia and sold as ‘bobby veal’ to retail stores and the catering trade. This product is of poor quality and yields of saleable meat are very low. A new system of veal production has been developed in Victoria which is cost-efficient and overcomes many of the animal welfare criticisms levelled at traditional white veal systems practised overseas. As well as satisfying domestic requirements, it has potential to be a new export commodity.

Biotechnology and animal welfare

Abstract: Biotechnology is a huge field. This discussion will be limited to processes which require the manipulation of genetic material to produce a substance which is administered to a farm animal or manipulation of the animal's own genetic material. This paper is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all animal related biotechnology research but rather a brief outline of both the detrimental and positive effects of biotechnology on animal welfare. In the last section of the paper ethical questions will be discussed from the viewpoint of the author who has had years of experience in making practical improvements in animal handling and slaughter practices.1,2 The use of biotechnology with farm animals can be divided into seven basic categories. The first category is the use of substances produced by biotechnology methods to improve the productivity of farm animals. One example is growth hormone injections. The second category is transgenic animals where a gene from another species is incorporated into an animal. An example is the insertion of human growth hormone genes into pigs. The third category is transgenic animals used as animal models in biomedical research and the fourth category is creating mosaic animals which are combinations of two species which normally do not interbreed. The fifth use of biotechnology is inserting genes into animals which will enable them to make medically valuable substances in their milk. The sixth area is deleting or adding genes to study basic principles of gene expression or replacing faulty genes to correct a genetic defect. The last category is an indirect use of biotechnology. Examples would be diagnostic tests and DNA fingerprinting.

Animal rights and animal experimentation. Implications for physicians.

Abstract: Practicing physicians are just becoming aware of the animal rights movement, which during the 1980s spawned numerous acts of violence against research facilities throughout the United States. The animal rightists are challenging physicians to show moral justification for the human exploitation of nature and the world of subhuman species. They have aroused public interest in animal welfare, sparked protective legislation for experimental animals, and indirectly encouraged the creation of committees to oversee the conduct of animal experimentation and the conditions of animal confinement. This controversy has necessitated a closer look at the questions of animal experimentation and animal rights against the backdrop of human experimentation and human rights. Physicians and specialists in animal care seek to alleviate suffering and anxiety, and, as moderates, they may be able to bring both sides of the animal rights controversy together in a spirit of mutual tolerance and in the common cause of promoting both human and animal welfare.