Showing papers on "Animal welfare published in 2003"

Animal welfare: captivity effects on wide-ranging carnivores.

Abstract: Animals that roam over a large territory in the wild do not take kindly to being confined. Some species — ring-tailed lemurs and snow leopards, for example — apparently thrive in captivity, whereas others, such as Asian elephants and polar bears, are prone to problems that include poor health, repetitive stereotypic behaviour and breeding difficulties. Here we investigate this previously unexplained variation in captive animals' welfare by focusing on caged carnivores, and show that it stems from constraints imposed on the natural behaviour of susceptible animals, with wide-ranging lifestyles in the wild predicting stereotypy and the extent of infant mortality in captivity. Our findings indicate that the keeping of naturally wide-ranging carnivores should be either fundamentally improved or phased out.

Child Development and the Human-Companion Animal Bond:

Abstract: Companion animals are more common in households with minor children than in any other household type. More than 70% of U.S. households with children also have pets, with most parents reporting acquisition of an animal "for the children." Yet, studies of children's development largely have been limited to children's relationships with other humans. This article argues for a biocentric approach to development, in which children's contacts with the non-human world—animals, plants, and natural ecologies—come under scientific scrutiny. To understand the developmental significance of this ubiquitous aspect of children's environments, theory and research on companion animals in relation to perceptual, cognitive, social, and emotional development are reviewed and evaluated. The significance of children's encounters with animals, especially in the context of a human-companion animal bond, is emphasized. Biocentric research directions are described.

Assessing animal welfare at the farm and group level: the interplay of science and values

Abstract: In the social debate about animal welfare we can identify three different views about how animals should be raised and how their welfare should be judged: (1) the view that animals should be raised under conditions that promote good biological functioning in the sense of health, growth and reproduction, (2) the view that animals should be raised in ways that minimize suffering and promote contentment, and (3) the view that animals should be allowed to lead relatively natural lives When attempting to assess animal welfare, different scientists select different criteria, reflecting one or more of these value-dependent views Even when ostensibly covering all three views, scientists may differ in what they treat as inherently important versus only instrumentally important, and their selection of variables may be further influenced by a desire to use measures that are scientifically respected and can be scored objectively Value assumptions may also enter animal welfare assessment at the farm and group level (1) when empirical data provide insufficient guidance on important issues, (2) when we need to weigh conflicting interests of different animals, and (3) when we need to weigh conflicting evidence from different variables Although value assumptions cannot be eliminated from animal welfare assessment, they can be made more explicit as the first step in creating animal welfare assessment tools Different value assumptions could lead to different welfare assessment tools, each claiming validity within a given set of assumptions

Farm Animal Welfare: Social, Bioethical, and Research Issues

Abstract: Concern for animal welfare is emerging as a major component of Western social ethics. The central issue is the use of animals in research and in food production. Laws reflecting the new ethic have been passed worldwide. Rollin urges animal producers and agricultural scientists in the USA to address animal welfare problems now, before federal legislation forces the issue. This book examines the origin and nature of the new social ethics for animals as a mainstream social phenomenon. In lay language and lively engaging prose, Rollin explains how changes in the nature of animal use in the 20th century have led to the need for an ethic that goes well beyond traditional social-ethical concerns about "kindness" and "cruelty" to animals. The specific welfare issues of close confinement, pain control and animal welfare that arise in various animal production industries are discussed in turn. Rollin identifies research problems in the beef cattle, swine, dairy cattle, veal calves, and poultry livestock industries. This book provides an excellent introduction to the philosophical, ethical, social and scientific dimensions of agriculture animal welfare.

Surgical Implantation of Transmitters into Fish

Abstract: Although the Animal Welfare Act does not cover poikilotherms, individual institutions and policies and legal requirements other than the Animal Welfare Act (e.g., the US Public Health Service and the Interagency Research Animal Committee’s Principles for the Utilization and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in Testing, Research, and Training) require the review of projects involving fish by institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs). IACUCs may, however, lack the knowledge and experience to evaluate fish projects judiciously, especially when the projects are in field settings. Surgeries involving implantation of transmitters and other instruments into the coelom, which now comprise a very common research tool in the study of freeranging fishes, are examples of surgeries that use a broad spectrum of surgical and anesthetic techniques, some of which would not be considered acceptable for similar work on mammals. IACUCs should apply the standards they would expect to be used for surgeries on homeotherms to surgeries on fish. Surgeons should be carefully trained and experienced. Surgical instruments and transmitters should be sterile. Regulations and laws on the use of drugs in animals should be followed, particularly those concerned with anesthetics and antibiotics used on free-ranging fish. Exceptions to surgical procedures should be made only when circumstances are extreme enough to warrant the use of less than optimal procedures.

A History of Prison Inmate-Animal Interaction Programs

Abstract: Interest is growing in establishing animal-facilitated programs in prisons. Although food animals have been maintained by prisons for years, few have looked at the benefits inmates derive from working with animals. Recently, prisons have started dog and horse training programs. Preliminary evidence indicates that inmates benefit, learning life-enhancing skills and lowering the recidivism rates. Shelter dogs and wild horses trained by the prisoners help people with physical and emotional needs. State and federal funds are needed to further study the benefits derived for prisoners, animals, and society.

The humaneness of rodent pest control.

Abstract: Animal Welfare 2003, 12: 000-000 Rat and mouse control methods potentially affect the welfare of many millions of animals every year Here, the humaneness of the methods used in the UK and the USA is assessed in terms of their speed and mode of action, the appearance and behaviour of affected animals, experiences of human victims, long-term effects on animals that survive exposure, and welfare risks to non-target animals Several methods emerge as relatively humane: cyanide, alpha-chloralose, electrocution traps and well-designed snap traps all usually kill swiftly and with little distress Preventative methods such as rodent-proofing are also humane, as well as an essential — and probably under-used — component of effective control However, anticoagulant poisons, the most common means of controlling rodents, generally take several days to kill, during which time they cause distress, disability and/or pain Sub-lethally affected animals are also likely to experience haemorrhages and their sequelae, and carnivores feeding on affected rodents may be secondarily poisoned The acute rodenticides zinc phosphide and calciferol are also generally inhumane, the former typically causing severe pain for several hours, and the latter, pain and illness for several days Sticky boards, to which rodents become adhered by the feet and fur until they are killed or simply eventually die, also raise very serious welfare concerns This evidence highlights remarkable paradoxes in the way society treats different classes of animal, and argues for more education, legislation and research targeted at reducing the vast numbers of rodents currently killed inhumanely

Farm Animal Welfare: A New Repertoire of Nature-Society Relations or Modernism Re-embedded ?

Abstract: Within society, farm animal welfare is moving up the policy and moral agenda as many of the industrial processes associated with animal farming are now being called into question. In the academy, there is growing intellectual interest in the relationship of humanity to animality and the porosity or otherwise of the biologically and socially constructed boundaries between them. This paper uses the farm animal welfare debate to explore changes in society animal relations by looking in turn at the farm, at farm animals and at the notion of farm animal welfare itself. The paper explores the paradox that for as long as society eats and kills animals for food, we are necessarily bound up in a persistent modernist and essentialist conceptualisation of animals and nature. However, alternative approaches are investigated as part of what might be described as a more postmodern approach to animalian difference.

Animal Health and Welfare in Organic Agriculture

Abstract: Organic principles and values - the framework for organic animal husbandry the role of animals in farming systems - a historical perspective organic livestock standards animal welfare, ethics and organic farming understanding animal behaviour and its use in organic animal husbandry the role of humans in the management of organic herds animal health and diseases in organic farming - an overview organic animal husbandry - the future challenges. (Part contents.)

The 3Rs and animal welfare - conflict or the way forward?

Abstract: The animal experiment is central to the 3R concept. In European law, animal experiments are classed according to their aims. In the German animal protection law, they are classed, e.g. as interventions and treatments for experimental purposes, for further education and training, or for the production, preparation, storage or multiplication of substances, products or organisms and for the fulfillment of legal requirements, and are thus regulated with varying strictness. In contrast, in Switzerland all such measures performed on live animals underlie the same approval requirements. For animal welfarists, the term "animal experiment" includes every intervention and every treatment which is associated with pain, fear and/or suffering and does not directly benefit the respective animal. In the animal experiment, the animal concerned usually suffers as a human would, independent of the experimental goal. Expecting an animal to suffer a treatment one would not want to undergo oneself cannot be in accord with an ethic of respect for fellow creatures. Animal welfarists aim to save animals such suffering. Consequently, they demand the immediate abolition of all animal experiments. From the perspective of those who allow animal experiments to be performed or who perform them themselves, the goal of the experiment is more important than the animal. Therefore, the following question is central to 3R research: "Can I reach my goal while causing the animal less suffering, using fewer animals or without using animals at all?" The starting point is that the ethical responsibility for man is valued higher than that for the animal. The aim is to protect humans from harm caused by substances and products or from unwanted side effects of medication, to understand diseases and to search for a cure or alleviation of these. When a scientist reaches his goals without using animals, the demand of animal welfarists to abolish the animal experiment is fulfilled. These aspects do of course not encompass all the differences and agreements in the positions of animal welfarists and those who support animal experiments. It is not without reason that the discussion around animal experiments is multifaceted and continues to be held intensely from all positions. The classic pattern of a discussion entails that the one side collects the arguments which illustrate that animal experiments lead to wrong results, cannot be transferred and finally stand more against than for the good of mankind. The latter statement is valid, because the wrong methods benefit from investment, thus preventing or hindering new, better research and application of knowledge. The other side uses, among others, the argument that the person performing the experiment knows the limits of the test procedure and can deal with them accordingly. For further defense of current and future animal experiments, scientists like to present their organ transplant patients, i.e. those who can only lead a life worth living thanks to continuous medication, and admonish that patients with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease or with cancer put their last hope into new medical insights which can only be gained with animal experiments. Animal welfarists argue against this, that the motivation for animal experiments does not always lie in the ethical responsibility for mankind, but also in pure gain of knowledge, titles and money. After all, they also claim that they are protecting man, animal and environment from diseases and want to help them. It is not about saving animals at any price, even including human life, as is commonly brought against them. But they are also not prepared to accept that without real necessity or at any hint of a dilemma, the decision always falls immediately against the animal. The animal experiment may no longer be the method of choice, both for ethical and also for scientific reasons. What does all of this have to do with 3R research? It is a fact that animal experiments are still the method of choice, the "gold standard". The official German statistics on animal experiments in 2001 (Governmental animal protection report, 2002) counts a total of 2.13 mill. experimental animals, with a tendency towards a further increase. The increase is ascribed to animal experiments especially in basic research, counting 926,294 animals. The other more than a million animals were used for research and development of products and equipment for human, dental or veterinary medicine (509,101), the production or quality control of products or equipment for human, dental or veterinary medicine (289,273), toxicological investigations or other safety tests (189,996), the diagnosis of diseases (26,508), education and training (39,625) and other purposes (145,764). Before this background, all activities which lead away from animal experiments or reduce the suffering caused in the remaining experimental animals must be judged as positive developments. 3R research leads to a reduction of animal experiments and animal suffering. At the same time, the earnest consideration of the 3Rs also leads to a critical and specific discussion of the animal experiment in question.

Domestic Violence and Animal Cruelty: Untangling the Web of Abuse

Abstract: A growing body of research indicates that batterers often threaten, hurt, or kill family pets as a means of coercing and controlling their female partners and that women sometimes delay seeking shelter out of concern for the welfare of their pets. This article reviews the research on the link between animal abuse and domestic violence, describes the implications of this research for social work practice, and offers suggestions and resources for integrating this content into all aspects of the social work curriculum.

Impact of animal welfare on costs and viability of pig production in the UK

Abstract: The European Union welfare standardsfor intensively kept pigs have steadilyincreased over the past few years and areproposed to continue in the future. It isimportant that the cost implications of thesechanges in welfare standards are assessed. Theaim of this study was to determine theprofitability of rearing pigs in a range ofhousing systems with different standards forpig welfare. Models were constructed tocalculate the cost of pig rearing (6–95 kg) in afully-slatted system (fulfilling minimum EUspace requirements, Directive 91630/EEC); apartly-slatted system; a high-welfare,straw-based system (complying with the UK-basedRoyal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty toAnimals, Freedom Food standards) and afree-range system. The models were also used toassess the consequences of potential increasesin space allowance, and to estimate the cost ofrearing pigs under organic standards. The cost of rearing pigs ranged from92.0 p/kg carcass weight (cw) and 94.6 p/kgcw forthe partly-slatted and fully-slatted systems,to 98.8 p/kgcw and 99.3 p/kgcw for the FreedomFood and free-range systems respectively. Whenspace allowance was increased by 60% to levelsin a recent proposal to revise pig welfareDirective (91/630/EEC), the rearing costs wereunchanged for the free-range system but rose by4.6 p/kgcw for the fully-slatted system. Rearingcosts under organic standards were 31% higherthan in the free-range system. These resultssuggest that improved pig welfare can beachieved with a modest increase in cost At present, price premiums received for meatproduced under high welfare systems in the UKoffset the higher costs of production in thesesystems. To ensure profitability in the longterm, it is important that these premiums aremaintained.

Effect of the RSPCA Freedom Food scheme on the welfare of dairy cattle

Abstract: To evaluate the effect of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Freedom Food (FF) scheme on the welfare of dairy cattle in England, 28 FF and 25 non-FF farms were assessed during the winter of 2000 to 2001. The assessments were based on a protocol which included the examination of the farms' records, the farmers' estimates of the incidence of disease, and independent observations of the behaviour and physical condition of the cows. The data were analysed to identify which measures of welfare were affected by FF membership and to assess the number of farms on which intervention would be required, as defined by a panel of 50 experts. The FF farms had better results for 12 of the welfare indicators, including those for mastitis, non-hock injuries, cow cleanliness and body condition, and poorer welfare indicators for eight of the measures, including hock injuries, lameness and restrictions in rising behaviour. Except for the prevalence of dull coats (which was lower on the FF farms) there were no significant differences in the proportions of FF and non-FF farms on which intervention was required according to the experts' assessment.

Assessing animal welfare at the farm and group level: a United States perspective

Abstract: The United States has traditionally lagged behind Europe in the adoption of voluntary or legislated standards for the care and treatment of animals on farms US federal legislation of farm animal practices is minimal, confined to aspects of livestock transport and slaughter Although some of the livestock and poultry producer (commodity) groups wrote guidelines, codes of practice, or statements regarding the humane treatment of animals in the 1980s, these were usually very general statements of current industry practice, developed with little consultation with independent experts and involving no mechanism for encouraging or ensuring compliance by producers However, this has changed dramatically in the last few years, with an increasing trend among US retailers to require their suppliers to adopt minimum animal welfare standards The major chain restaurants and supermarkets are working through their trade organizations, the National Council of Chain Restaurants and the Food Marketing Institute respectively, and with the commodity groups, to develop a uniform set of standards and a national auditing programme Standards and auditing programmes have already been approved for dairy cattle, laying hens and meat chickens, and for slaughter, including ritual slaughter (kosher and halal) The process of setting auditable standards is complicated by the lack of legislative underpinning, the scope of the auditing that will be required because of US farm sizes and the large distances between farms, and the varying levels of expertise of potential auditors For these reasons, engineering-based auditing criteria that are relatively easy to measure and to standardize are more common There are both strengths and potential weaknesses of retail-driven rather than legislatively driven animal welfare standards Regardless, the recent changes in the US possibly pave the way for increasing dialogue between Europe and the US on farm animal welfare issues

Attitudes and activities related to urban wildlife: Pet owners and non-owners

Abstract: A survey on attitudes toward common urban animal species was conducted in Trondheim, Norway. Owners of pet animals liked most of the 24 species included more than did non-pet owners. Only for less popular species (mosquitoes, rats, snails, and insects) were no differences found between the two groups. Pet owners also fed wildlife more often, and they participated more often in animal-related activities, compared with non-pet owners. Experiences of problems with animals did not seem to influence attitudes toward other species than those causing problems.

Cruelty to animals in normative, sexually abused, and outpatient psychiatric samples of 6- to 12-year-old children: relations to maltreatment and exposure to domestic violence

Abstract: We examined the associations of children's reported “cruelty to animals” and “touching animal's sex parts” with the reported presence of physical abuse and parental physical fighting for three groups of children. Maternal caregivers of 1433 6- to 12-year-old children completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI). These children were categorized into three groups: a normative sample screened for the absence of sexual abuse (n=540), a sexually abused sample (n=481), and a psychiatric comparison group (n=412) without a history of sexual abuse. The caregivers also provided information on comorbid physical abuse and domestic violence. Single items from the CBCL and the CSBI related to cruelty to animals and sexual contact with animals were examined across the three groups. Gender and maltreatment history were significantly related to cruelty and sexual contact, with physical abuse and domestic violence, in some cases, having an additive effect. Cruelty to ...

Waiting for Wolves in Japan: An Anthropological Study of People-Wildlife Relations

Abstract: Introduction 1. Mountain Villages 2. Wild Boar 3. Monkeys 4. Deer and Serow 5. Bears 6. Wolves Conclusion

Fish Research and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

Abstract: Fish represent the most diverse group of animals in the vertebrate phylum. The more than 25,000 species are characterized by an array of anatomical, biochemical, physiological, and behavioral repertoires. For this reason, it is difficult to develop a comprehensive guideline on the care and use of fishes. Institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs) meet the challenge of ensuring adequate fish welfare using guidelines (Animal Welfare Act [AWA] and Public Health Service [PHS] Policy and their guides) derived mainly from the care and use of mammalian species, which may not be optimal for regulating fish research, teaching, or extension activities. Discussion focuses on various issues that often confront IACUCs in meeting regulatory requirements while assuring proper fish welfare. Issues include questions concerning animal tracking and inventory, utilization of fisheries bycatch, facility inspections in remote locations, and euthanasia. Common sense solutions appropriate for field and laboratory fish activities are suggested, which should help investigators, IACUCs, and regulatory agencies meet PHS and AWA objectives.