The scientific study of animal welfare involves measuring physiological, behavioural, and/or cognitive variables to infer the welfare state of animals. Such an approach implies these measures are indicators, or reflect, an unmeasured latent variable of welfare state. Drawing inspiration from recent developments in human psychology and psychiatry, in this paper we propose an alternative perspective in the form of a network theory of animal welfare. This theory posits that there is no latent variable; rather, welfare is a network system of causal interactions between and within behavioural, physiological, and cognitive components. We then describe a statistical network modelling approach motivated by network theory, in which welfare-related response variables are associated with each other after controlling for all other variables measured. In three examples using simulated data, we demonstrate how this approach can be used, and the sort of novel insights it can bring. These examples cover a range of species and research questions, which network analysis is well suited to address. We believe a network approach to animal welfare science holds promise for developing our understanding of the concept of animal welfare, as well as producing practical and meaningful information to improve the welfare of animals.

Bodyweight is an important health and welfare indicator for captive non-human primates (NHPs). Bodyweight can be measured during routine handling procedures, which cause stress. Alternatively, animals can be trained to step onto a scale, but training success varies greatly between individuals. Being able to weigh animals regularly without having to handle or train them is thus desirable for monitoring animal health and welfare. This study investigates the utility, ie the participation, reliability and time investment, of voluntary weighing in captive NHPs living in large social groups. Subjects of the study were 92 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) housed in four social groups at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in Rijswijk, The Netherlands. A scale was placed in their home enclosure during several sessions. Individuals were unwilling to step onto an unbaited scale. When likeable food items were used to attract individuals to the scale, 68% of them stepped onto the scale. Age and dominance rank did not affect stepping onto the scale, whereas exploratory tendency and social group did. The level of agreement between bodyweight by voluntary weighing and bodyweight measured during sedation was very high. These results show that the majority of rhesus macaques in social groups can be weighed voluntarily and that voluntary weighing is reliable. When optimising and further developing the method, voluntary weighing can form a valuable tool in the captive management of NHPs.

Traditionally, assessment of animal welfare generally focused on physiological signs of health with less consideration of psychological well-being. More recently, the Five Domains model highlighted the concept of all aspects of an animal's life influencing their affective state. In equestrianism, however, there is a lack of awareness of the Five Domains model and, specifically, how different factors may affect the mental well-being of horses (Equus caballus). This divide between scientific research and lay horse owners could compromise equine welfare by failing to recognise horses as sentient beings with species-specific needs. The present study therefore aimed to explore how evidence-based information can be effectively communicated to equestrians (n = 259) through an online survey and whether increased knowledge of equine welfare needs has any impact on horse caregivers’ assessment of their own horses’ quality of life. Results showed that a simple educational infographic based on the Five Domains model had a significant impact on equestrians’ assessment of equine welfare, although longitudinal, empirical studies are needed. Scores on a Likert scale for health, behaviour/human interactions and overall welfare were significantly lower following the intervention but scores for emotional well-being were significantly higher. This may suggest that, whilst the infographic increased participant awareness of the importance of emotional state and the factors affecting welfare, there were difficulties or inconsistencies in objectively assessing these emotions. This highlights the need for equine welfare science to be communicated more proactively to horse owners in an accessible, engaging format.

Donkeys (Equus asinus) are widely used throughout Ethiopia and play essential roles in a variety of everyday and income-generating tasks for the people that use them. The challenges faced by people and their working equids vary across communities and geographic locations. This may have implications for how donkeys are perceived by the people they work for, the roles they fulfil and ultimately their welfare. Two complementary methodological approaches were used in this study to explore the socio-economic value of donkeys for their owners and the welfare of the donkeys in rural and urban Ethiopia. Using a questionnaire, donkey owners were asked about their donkeys, their attitudes and beliefs related to donkey use and ownership, and the role donkeys played in their lives. Animal-based welfare assessments were also conducted on a sample of donkeys from different locations, with the overarching aim of the study to investigate differences in use, beliefs, and donkey welfare between rural and urban locations. In both rural and urban locations, working donkeys are critical for their owners’ income-generating activity and therefore their livelihoods. The work they undertake differs substantially between locations, as does their welfare. Work in each setting presents its own challenges and these are reflected in the behaviour and physical health of the donkeys. Rural donkeys showed more apathetic behaviour, a higher ectoparasite burden and greater evidence of tethering/hobbling. Urban donkeys were more alert and had a wider range of body condition scores. The findings highlight marked differences in the role and welfare of donkeys between different areas within the same country, demonstrating the importance of understanding the context, both from the perspective of humans and working equids, prior to staging interventions intended to benefit either party.

Many captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Thailand participate in the tourism industry at attractions known as ‘elephant camps.’ There has been significant criticism of low welfare venues, where the elephants may experience injuries, poor nutrition, unnatural social environments and aversive handling. Despite increasing concern for animal welfare, the general public often have difficulty identifying the welfare issues affecting captive animals. The aim of this study was to investigate participants’ willingness to support an elephant attraction and their perceived emotional value from the experience, based on the affective state of the captive elephant and their level of contact with it. Participants (n = 590) from the United States were randomly assigned to one of four vignettes (using a 2 × 2 experimental design) that described an elephant attraction, varying the affective state of the elephant (feels excellent, feels terrible) and the level of contact they could have with the elephant (low, high). A mixed methods approach was used, where participants provided answers to Likert-type questions, followed by an open-ended response. Participants showed greater willingness to support the elephant attraction and greater perceived emotional value from the experience when the elephant felt excellent, as opposed to when the elephant felt terrible. There were no significant differences between low and high contact for the measures included in this study. Qualitative responses varied greatly, with participants making many assumptions about the elephant and the attraction, revealing potential misconceptions that they had regarding the welfare of captive elephants. This research may be used to encourage a shift in tourism preferences to venues that reflect positive elephant welfare.

Societal concern for animals under human care has influenced our approaches to advance animal welfare in a variety of contexts. The Animal Programs Department at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium sought partnership with the Center for Human-Animal Interactions Research & Education (CHAIRE) at The Ohio State University to develop a holistic welfare approach for the animals within their department using a focal species, the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). A one-year project using the Five Domains Animal Welfare Model collected data over six 60-day periods to evaluate long-term cortisol production and behavioural observations of cheetahs under changing environmental factors. Species and individual histories were incorporated with behavioural observations and hair cortisol production, giving a holistic view of welfare. Cortisol and behavioural data were analysed using linear models to compare cheetahs at population and individual levels. Participation in a cheetah run activity, housing occupancy, and 60-day period were found to influence all behaviours within the population and stereotypic behaviour also differed within individual cheetahs. No differences in hair cortisol concentrations were found for the group, but further analysis revealed differences within individuals throughout the study. No correlation of stereotypic behaviour and cortisol levels were found. This study created a welfare assessment protocol that can be used within zoological institutes and was the first to measure cortisol concentrations in hair in cheetahs.

In Europe, conventional housing systems for finishing bulls (Bos taurus) tend to consist of group pens with a high stocking density. Up until now there have been no regulations in place defining bulls’ space requirements, even although insufficient space allowance is considered to impair animal welfare. Our study aimed to measure the surface area that finishing bulls occupy in standing and lying positions. We observed 46 bulls on a German fattening farm. The animals from one pen were assigned to one of three weight classes (W1: < 450 kg; W2:450-649 kg; W3: ≥ 650 kg), and two pens of each weight class were examined. For image recordings, a camera trap was installed above the pens. To analyse the covered surface, the recorded images (n = 242) were edited. Furthermore, the observed lying postures were differentiated in terms of lying position and stretched-out legs. On average, the areas covered by the bulls increased with class of bodyweight. A finishing bull covered up to 1.21 m2 in a standing position and up to 1.57 m2 in a lying position, the most space being needed in an outstretched position. The calculated values provide information only about the surface a finishing bull covered in different positions in the pen. In practice, additional dynamic and social space must be taken into account for recommendations on space requirements, in order to ensure adequate inter-individual distances, social interaction and characteristic behaviours to improve animal welfare.

Heat stress reduction in hutch-reared dairy calves is overlooked on most dairy farms. We hypothesised that during summer, the microclimate within hutches is directly affected by compass direction as a result of differences in exposure to solar radiation. On a bright, mid-August day a number of behavioural and physiological heat stress response measures (respiratory rate, body posture, being in the shade or sun) were recorded in 20-min intervals from 0720-1900h on calves housed in hutches with entrances facing all four points of the compass. In conjunction with this, dry bulb (ambient) and black globe temperatures, and wind speed were recorded both inside the plastic hutches and at one sunny site at the exterior. Data were compared in terms of distinct periods of the day (0720-1100, 1120-1500, 1520-1900h). Dry bulb temperatures were higher inside hutches compared to outside while for black globe temperatures the opposite was true. Daily average temperatures and respiratory rates did not differ between hutches facing different compass points. In the morning and afternoon, hutch temperature and calf respiratory rate differed relative to compass point. Calves in east- and north-facing hutches were seen more in the shade than those in south- and west-facing ones. Our conclusion was that in a continental region having hutch entrances face towards the east or north confers some advantages in mitigating severe solar heat load in summer.

People's awareness of livestock welfare has increased in recent years and veterinarians have a critical role to play in maintaining and improving these standards. The aim of this study was to explore the attitude of veterinary students to livestock welfare and an online questionnaire was utilised to gauge the opinions of students from the Bursa Uludag University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Turkey. A five-point Likert scale covered judgments ranging from ‘Strongly disagree’ to ‘Strongly agree.’ Female students were found to have a higher score for questions related to the welfare of livestock than males. It was also found that students yet to undertake courses in clinical science and animal welfare, ie first and second years, gave higher scores than third, fourth and fifth years who had completed both of these. Moreover, students having owned or dealt previously with livestock provided lower animal welfare scores than their counterparts who had done neither. Seemingly, the sensitivity of veterinary students decreases during the latter stages of their education. To conclude, we suggest further investigation into the extent to which veterinary medicine education influences students’ attitudes to animal welfare as they progress through the course.

A need exists for research that contributes to estimating the risk factors associated with the management of outdoor cats (Felis silvestris catus) and addresses the lack of such surveys in Brazil and other Latin American countries. With this in mind we aimed to: i) identify the causal factors affecting the practice of owners allowing their cats to roam freely and; ii) evaluate potential welfare risks associated with the allowance of outdoor access, based on cat owners’ reports. An online questionnaire consisting of 25 questions was answered by 8,485 Brazilian cat owners and logistic regression models used to obtain odds ratios. A number of the factors significantly related to owners allowing their cats to have outdoor access were unneutered cats, the manner in which the cat was acquired, residence in rural areas, the number of cats owned, the presence of other pets in the house, younger owner age, owner declaration of not being responsible for the cat, owner perception about the role of the cat in the house, owner knowledge about cats’ potential for transmitting diseases, a lack of knowledge about zoonoses, and a lack of knowledge regarding toxoplasmosis. The practice of allowing outdoor access was associated with significantly higher odds of owners reporting several welfare issues, such as frequent flea contamination, sporotrichosis, going missing, poisoning, mistreatment, and accidents. We conclude that the practice of allowing outdoor access, as reported by 37.1% of our respondents, may result in risks to feline welfare. Increasing public awareness through campaigns that highlight the risks associated with outdoor access would improve feline management practices and welfare.

We compared closed- and open-sided industrial houses with respect to the welfare of broiler chickens in southern Brazil. Ten flocks from each design were evaluated and measures divided into the following categories: i) bird health: contact dermatitis on the breast and abdominal areas, bird soiling, foot-pad dermatitis, hock burn, lameness, fractures, bruising, scratches, dead on arrival, diseases; ii) environmental measurements: relative humidity, temperature, air velocity, ammonia (NH3), carbon dioxide (CO2), light intensity, litter moisture; iii) behaviour: bird behaviour, touch test; and iv) affective states: qualitative behaviour assessment. Closed-sided houses showed worse contact dermatitis on the breast and abdominal areas, lower exploratory behaviour prevalence, higher NH3 (11.2 [± 6.8] vs 7.5 [± 3.9] ppm) and CO2 (1,124.9 [± 561.5] vs 841.0 [± 158.0] ppm), lower light intensity (6.9 [± 6.3] vs 274.2 [± 241.9] lux), while open-sided houses had a higher prevalence for scratches and panting behaviour, and lower air velocity (2.1 [± 0.7] vs 1.1 [± 1.0] m s−1). Stocking densities of 13.9 (± 0.4) and 12.0 (± 0.3) per m2 for closed- and open-sided houses, respectively, likely influenced some results. All values shown are means (± SD). Even though open-sided houses presented fewer animal welfare restrictions (according to five indicators as opposed to three for closed-sided houses), both revealed important welfare problems, evidenced by poor environmental indicators, behavioural restrictions and injuries.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how farm animal welfare (FAW) is internalised in consumers’ purchasing decisions at the point of purchase. The study is based on means-end chain theory and the laddering interview technique to elicit respondents’ mental representation of attributes, consequences and values of an animal food product. Respondents were approached and interviewed at the point of purchase in two supermarkets in Uppsala, Sweden. A summary representation of respondents’ mental representation of attributes, consequences and values of an animal food product (pork fillet) was created. The findings indicate that FAW is the most salient means-end-chain element FAW enters respondents’ mental representation of pork fillet at the point of purchase as a consequence of other elements. FAW is considered to lead to values of hedonism and universalism type. This study contributes to the literature by detailing how animal welfare can be embedded in consumers’ mental representation of cause and effect of animal food product attributes at the point of purchase. The findings are useful practically for policy-makers and for agri-business and other actors in the food value chain who would like to promote enhanced FAW. The findings also provide insight into how FAW can be promoted through market-based solutions.