Animal welfare science

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by DrChrissy (talk | contribs) at 19:13, 8 November 2011 (←Created page with ''''Animal Welfare Science''' is the scientific study of the welfare of animals as pets, in zoos, laboratories, on farms and in the wild. Although [[animal welfa...'). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Animal Welfare Science is the scientific study of the welfare of animals as pets, in zoos, laboratories, on farms and in the wild. Although animal welfare has been of great concern for many thousands of years in religion and culture, the investigation of animal welfare using rigorous scientific methods is a relatively recent development.

History

Early legislation which formed the impetus for assessing animal welfare and the subsequent development of animal welfare science include the Ireland Parliament (Thomas Wentworth) “Act against Plowing by the Tayle, and Pulling the Wooll off Living Sheep”, 1635, and the Massachusetts Colony (Nathaniel Ward) "Off the Bruite Creatures," Liberty 92 and 93 in The Body of Liberties of 1641.[1]

Richard Martin's Act of 1822, a “Bill to Prevent the Cruel and Improper Treatment of Cattle” is often considered to be the precursor of more modern relevant legislation. The first national law to regulate animal experimentation was passed in Britain, the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1876, followed by the Protection of Animals Act of 1911 enforced in the UK. In the US it was many years until there was a National law to protect laboratory animals although there were a number of states that passed anti-cruelty laws between 1828 and 1898.[2]

Organisations

Organisations interested in animal welfare were set up early in the century, e.g. the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare was founded in 1926.

Scientific journals and articles

Veterinary journals carrying articles on animal welfare have been published for many years, for example, the Veterinary Record has been published weekly since 1888. Peer-reviewed scientific journals have been launched more recently e.g. Applied Animal Behaviour Science in 1974, Animal Welfare in 1992 and the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science in 1998.[3]

Animal welfare science can be considered as the assessment of welfare. The first paper to include the term ‘assessment” appears to be one by William Thorpe entitled The assessment of pain and distress in animals.[4] This was followed 20 years later by a highly influential paper on assessing pain and distress in laboratory animals by Morton and Griffiths.[5]

Several books on animal welfare science have been written, for example by Professor Marian Dawkins.[6]

Methods

Animal welfare science uses a variety of measures or indicators.

Animal behaviour

  • Occurrence of abnormal behaviours (e.g. stereotypies, feather pecking, tail-biting)
  • Departure from ethogram of ancestral precursors
  • Behaviour upon release to a natural environment
  • Preference studies
  • Motivation studies
  • Cognitive bias studies
  • Self selection of anxiolytic
  • Effects of frustration

[7]

[8]


[9]


[10]


[11]

[12]


[13]

[14]


Physiology

  • Heart rate
  • Corticosteroids (plasma, saliva, urine, faeces, hair, feathers, eggs)
  • Immune function
  • Neuorobiology
  • Thermal imaging

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

Teaching

The numbers of animal welfare scientists is increasing rapidly. The subject is now being taught in all European countries and the number of university courses on animal welfare in Brazil has increased from one to over 60 in 15 years. The diversity of animal welfare science is increasing and the expansion is likely to continue. The decision by the American Veterinary Medical Association to promote the teaching of the subject in all American veterinary schools will have a substantial effect. [21]

References

  1. ^ "Animal Rights History". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "AWIC". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "JAAWS". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Thorpe, W.H., (1965). The assessment of pain and distress in animals. Appendix III in report of the technical committee to enquire into the welfare of animals kept under intensive husbandry conditions, F.W.R.Brambell (chairman). H.M.S.O., London
  5. ^ Morton D.B. and Griffiths, P.H.M., (1985) Guidelines on the recognition of pain, distress and discomfort in experimental animals and an hypothesis for assessment. Veterinary Record, 116: 431–436
  6. ^ Dawkins, M.S., (1980) Animal suffering: the science of animal welfare. Chapman and Hall, London
  7. ^ Zimmerman, P.H., Lundberg, A., Keeling, L.J. and Koene, P., (2003). The effect of an audience on the gakel-call and other frustration behaviours in the laying hen (Gallus gallus domesticus). Animal Welfare, 12: 315–326
  8. ^ Mendl, M., Burman, O.H.P., Parker, R.M.A. and Paul, E.S. (2009). Cognitive bias as an indicator of animal emotion and welfare: emerging evidence and underlying mechanisms. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 118: 161–181
  9. ^ Stolba, A. and D.G.M. Wood-Gush. (1989). The behaviour of pigs in a semi-natural environment. Animal Production, 48: 419-XXX
  10. ^ Dawkins, M.S., (1989). Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 24: 77-80 DOI: 10.1016/0168-1591(89)90126-3
  11. ^ Sherwin, C.M., (2004). The motivation of group-housed laboratory mice, Mus musculus, for additional space. Animal Behaviour, 67: 711-717 DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.08.018
  12. ^ Sherwin, C.M. and Olsson, I.A.S. (2004). Housing conditions affect self-administration of anxiolytic by laboratory mice. Animal Welfare, 13: 33-38
  13. ^ Duncan, I.J.H. and Wood-Gush, D.G.M., (1971). Frustration and aggression in the domestic fowl. Animal Behaviour, 19:500–504
  14. ^ McBride, G., Parer, I.P. and Foenander, F. (1969). The social organisation of the feral domestic fowl. Animal Behaviour Monographs, 2:125–181
  15. ^ Laws, N., Ganswindt, A., Heistermann, M., Harris, M., Harris, S. and Sherwin, C. (2007). A case study: fecal corticosteroid and behavior as indicators of welfare during relocation of an asian elephant. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 10: 349-358 DOI: 10.1080/10888700701555600
  16. ^ Accorsi, P.A., Carloni, E., Valsecchi, P., Viggiani, R., Garnberoni, M., Tarnanini, C. and Seren, E. (2008). Cortisol determination in hair and faeces from domestic cats and dogs. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 155:392-402 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2007.07.002
  17. ^ Bortolotti, G.R., Marchant1, T.A., Blas, J. and German, T. (2008). Corticosterone in feathers is a long-term, integrated measure of avian stress physiology. Functional Ecology, 22: 494-500 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2008.01387.x
  18. ^ Felix, R., Mayo, S. Carlsson, H. et al (2008). Egg Corticosterone: A Noninvasive Measure of Stress in Egg-laying Birds. Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery, 22: 310-314
  19. ^ Kemppinen, N., Hau, J., Meller, A., Mauranen, K.,Kohila, T. and Nevalainen, T. (2010). Impact of aspen furniture and restricted feeding on activity, blood pressure, heart rate and faecal corticosterone and immunoglobulin A excretion in rats (Rattus norvegicus) housed in individually ventilated cages. Laboratory Animals, 44: 104-112
  20. ^ Wilcox, C.S., Patterson, J. and Cheng, H.W. (2009). Use of thermography to screen for subclinical bumblefoot in poultry. Poultry Science, 88: 1176-1180 DOI: 10.3382/ps.2008-00446
  21. ^ Broom D.M., (2011). A History of Animal Welfare Science. Acta Biotheoretica, 59: 121-137 DOI: 10.1007/s10441-011-9123-3
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Animal_welfare_science&oldid=459673211"