Cattle may suffer pain and distress if incorrectly stunned. Regular monitoring of stun quality in abattoirs is now required by EU law. This study aimed to assess stun quality in cattle slaughtered under commercial conditions. A stun protocol was developed to evaluate when inadequate stunning occurred. This included rating of identified symptoms into three levels from highest to lowest risk for inferior animal welfare. Stun to stick interval times, shot accuracy, repeat shots, and stun quality variations between different cattle classes and by different shooters was also investigated. A total of 585 bulls and 413 other cattle classes (306 cows, 58 steers and 49 calves) were studied. Inadequate stunning occurred in 12.5% (16.7% of bulls, compared with 6.5% other cattle). Bulls displayed symptoms rated the highest level for inferior stun quality three times more frequently than other cattle. Despite being shot accurately, 13.6% bulls were inadequately stunned compared with 3.8% other cattle. Twelve percent of cattle were reshot, and 8% were inaccurately shot. Calves were shot inaccurately more frequently (14%) than other cattle. Percentage of cattle shot inaccurately ranged from 19% for the least experienced shooter to 5% for the most experienced. Stun to stick times averaged 105 (± 17) s posing questions for animal welfare, considering the number of cattle inadequately stunned. Stun quality could be improved by using more powerful stunners for shooting bulls, regular servicing of weapons, and use of neck restraints to improve shot accuracy. This study highlights the importance of external monitoring of stun quality at slaughter.

The provisioning of foraging opportunities to primates has been shown to be an effective means of enriching the laboratory environment. In this study artificial turf was used as the substrate for a particulate food given to the subjects as an environmental enrichment technique. Eight rhesus monkeys exhibited a significant reduction in behavioural pathology when allowed to extend the amount of time they spent in consummatory activities. An increasing trend in time spent foraging with a concomitant decline in aberrant behaviour over a period of six months was particularly noteworthy. No significant difference in preference for particulate monkey chow or more flavourful particulate food treats was expressed by the primates.

Undesirable behaviours (UBs) are common in dogs and can jeopardise animal and human health, leading to dog abandonment and euthanasia. Dogs exhibiting UBs may have compromised welfare from underlying emotional motivations for the behaviour (eg anxiety) or from the methods used by owners to resolve the problem (eg aversive techniques). The objective of this study was to estimate proportional mortality due to UBs and risk factors for death due to UBs, including death from road traffic accidents, in dogs under three years of age attending primary-care veterinary practices in England from 2009-2014. Cases were identified by searching de-identified electronic patient records from primary-care veterinary practices participating in the VetCompass Programme. The findings highlight that dogs under three years of age are at a proportionately high risk of death due to UBs (33.7%) compared with other specific causes of death (eg gastrointestinal issues: 14.5%). Male dogs had 1.40x the odds of death from UB compared with females. The proportional mortality from UB for male dogs where information on the cause of death was available was 0.41. Neutered dogs had 1.94x the odds of death due to a UB compared with entire dogs. Aggression was the most prevalent UB overall. Veterinarians had recommended referral in 10.3% of cases where dogs died due to exhibiting a UB and had dispensed nutraceutical, pheromone or pharmacological treatment to 3.0% of the UB cases that died. This study shows that undesirable behaviours require better preventive measures and treatment, through further research and education of veterinarians, other professionals within the dog industry and owners.

Isolating an animal refers to the situation where the animal is physically fully demarcated from conspecifics without physical, visual, olfactory and auditory contact. Animals housed in separate cages in the same room are, although deprived of physical and visual contact, still in olfactory and auditory contact, and thus not totally isolated. During the fifties and sixties several studies claimed to show physiological and behavioural differences between individually and group housed rats and mice. The so-called ‘Isolation Syndrome’ characterised by changes in corticosterone levels, metabolism, growth, and behaviour was introduced, rather as a model for psychoneurosis than through any concern for animal welfare. Today, it is often stated as common knowledge in laboratory animal science textbooks that individual housing as well as isolation of rats and mice has an effect on physiology and behaviour. It is, however, unclear whether this effect actually impairs animal welfare.

The aim of this paper is to analyse studies on individual housing of mice and rats to evaluate whether there is documented proof that individual housing affects welfare, and, alternatively whether it is possible to house these animals individually without negative impact on welfare, eg by providing special housing improvements.

A range of studies have shown that individual housing or isolation has effects on corticosterone, the open field behaviour, barbiturate sleeping time and the metabolism of different pharmaceuticals in the animals. However, this review of 37 studies in rats and 17 studies in mice showed divergence in test results difficult to explain, as many studies lacked basal information about the study, eg information on genetic strains and housing conditions, such as bedding, enrichment and cage sizes. Furthermore, test and control groups most frequently differed in cage sizes and stocking densities, and behavioural tests differed in ways which may very well explain the differences in results. Overall, there seemed to be an effect of individual housing, although it may be small, and it seems reasonable to assume that, through making small changes in the procedures and housing environments, the effects can be minimised or even eliminated. More well-controlled and standardised studies are needed to give more specific answers to the questions this issue poses.

Animal welfare concerns stem from recognition of the fact that animals can experience emotions such as pain or joy. Nevertheless, discussion of animal emotions is often considered anthropomorphic, and there is a clear need to use explanatory frameworks to understand animals' emotions. We borrowed appraisal theories developed in cognitive psychology to study sheep emotions. Emotions are viewed as the result of how an individual evaluates a triggering situation, following a sequence of checks, including the relevance of the situation (its suddenness, familiarity, predictability, and intrinsic pleasantness), its implications for the individual (including consistency with the individual's expectations), the potential for control, and both internal and external standards. We assumed that if the outcome of checks has an impact on the animal's emotional responses, then animals do not only show emotional responses but also feel emotions. We showed that sheep use similar checks to those used by humans to evaluate their environment, ie suddenness, familiarity, predictability, consistency with expectations, and control. Furthermore, this evaluation affects their emotional responses (behavioural responses, such as startle, ear postures, and cardiac activity). It is concluded that sheep are able to experience emotions such as fear, anger, rage, despair, boredom, disgust and happiness because they use the same checks involved in such emotions as humans. For instance, despair is triggered by situations which are evaluated as sudden, unfamiliar, unpredictable, discrepant from expectations, and uncontrollable, whereas boredom results from an overly predictable environment, and all these checks have been found to affect emotional responses in sheep. These results have implications for animal welfare: although a completely invariable and totally predictable environment should be avoided to prevent boredom, sudden events should probably be minimised, the animals should be offered the possibility to control their environment, and care should be taken to ensure a degree of predictability concerning the various events.

A central aim of animal welfare science is to be able to compare the effects of different ways of keeping, managing or treating animals based on welfare indicators. A system to aggregate the different indicators is therefore needed. However, developing such a system gives rise to serious challenges. Here, we focus specifically on the ethical aspects of this problem, taking as our starting point the ambitious efforts to set up an aggregation system within the project Welfare Quality® (WQ). We first consider the distinction between intra- and inter-individual aggregation. These are of a very different nature, with inter-individual aggregation potentially giving rise to much more serious ethical disagreement than intra-individual aggregation. Secondly, we look at the idea of aggregation with a focus on how to compare different levels and sorts of welfare problems. Here, we conclude that animal welfare should not be understood as a simple additive function of negative or positive states. We also conclude that there are significant differences in the perceived validity and importance of different kinds of welfare indicators. Based on this, we evaluate how aggregation is undertaken in WQ. The main conclusion of this discussion is that the WQ system lacks transparency, allows important problems to be covered up, and has severe shortcomings when it comes to the role assigned to experts. These shortcomings may have serious consequences for animal welfare when the WQ scheme at farm or group level is applied. We conclude by suggesting ways to overcome some of these shortcomings.

Understanding how consumers’ concerns affect the consumer decision-making process is important for developing a market for animal-friendly products. This paper presents a synthesis of research on the role of animal welfare in consumer decision-making. Drawing on basic models and concepts from consumer behaviour literature, we present the findings along the lines of five phases of the consumer decision-making process: (i) need recognition; (ii) information search; (iii) information evaluation; (iv) purchase decision; and (v) post-purchase evaluation. Consumer decision-making about animal-based food products is routine, situational and sometimes irrational, instead of based on complete information. Consumers associate animal welfare with a higher quality perception and labels and high prices further increase the perception of quality. The findings have implications for stakeholders that aim to develop a market for animal-friendly products, like (coalitions of) governments, animal interest groups, retailers and brand manufacturers.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of selection on low mortality in combination with brooding by a mother hen on open-field response at 5-6 weeks of age and on plumage and body condition at 42 weeks of age. Birds in the experiment were either selected for low mortality in group housing (low mortality line) or randomly selected (control line) for two generations. These lines originated from the same population. Twenty groups of 10 female birds from each line were used. Within each line, ten groups were brooded by a foster mother and ten groups were non-brooded. At 5-6 weeks of age, the chicks were tested in an open-field test for five minutes. At 42 weeks of age, plumage condition and incidence of comb lesions and toe wounds of all birds was recorded. It was found that both brooded chicks and chicks from the low mortality line were more active in the open-field test at 5-6 weeks of age, indicating that they were less fearful or had a stronger exploratory motivation. No interactions were found between selection on low mortality and brooding. Birds from the low mortality line also had a lower incidence of comb and toe wounds compared with the control line at 42 weeks of age. No effect of brooding on plumage condition or incidence of wounds was found. This study indicates that selection on low mortality is a promising way forward to reduce maladaptive behaviour in laying hens, especially if such an approach is combined with improved rearing conditions.

The relationship between social behaviour and skin injuries (caused by horns) of loose housed horned cows was investigated on 35 dairy farms. While the frequencies of two agonistic behaviour elements (push and chase away) were positively correlated with the occurrence of skin injuries, the frequencies of butting and horning were not. Butting appears to have an ambivalent motivation, in that its occurrence is correlated positively both with agonistic behaviour and with social licking. Horning showed a positive correlation with social licking only. Four groups of husbandry conditions that may be associated with the occurrence of social behaviour and of injuries were distinguished: i) herd management, with variables including problem solving management by the farmer, integration of new cows, and dealing with periparturient and oestrus cows; ii) human-animal relationship, with variables including ability to identify individual cows, frequency of brushing the cows, number of milkers, and frequency of personnel changes; iii) animal characteristics, with the variable of herd size; and iv) stable characteristics, with the variable of space per cow (m2). The relevance of the husbandry variables investigated here had been confirmed in a previous stepwise regression analysis (Menke 1996). The variables for herd management and human-animal relationship conditions correlated in a consistent way with the occurrence of agonistic behaviour and/or of injuries, while most of them also correlated in the opposite direction with the occurrence of social licking. Herd size correlated positively with agonistic behaviour, but negatively with social licking. Space per cow correlated negatively with agonistic behaviour and injuries. In more than 70 per cent of the herds investigated, the levels of agonistic behaviour and of skin injuries were low, implying that horned dairy cows can be kept with less risk than is often assumed. We argue that such risks strongly depend on management factors that can be improved.

The aim of this study was to assess unconsciousness in pigs during exposure to CO2 through changes in the middle latency auditory evoke potentials (MLAEP) of the central nervous system (CNS), blood parameters (pH, carbon dioxide partial pressure [pCO2], oxygen partial pressure [pO2], oxygen saturation [SatO2] and bicarbonate [HCO−3]), behaviour and the corneal reflex. The MLEAP did not decrease significantly until after 60 s exposure to CO2. The blood parameters (decreased pH, pO2 and SatO2 and increased pCO2 and HCO3) changed 53 s after the onset of immersion. The burst suppression index (BS%) and the A-line ARX index (AAI) from the MLEAP recovered basal levels at 136 and 249 s, respectively. The first blood parameter to return to basal levels was HCO−3 at 76 s of exposure, followed by SatO2 at 180 s, pH and pO2 at 210 s and pCO2 at 240 s. During exposure to the gas, pigs exhibited lateral head movements and sneezing (10.3 s), gasping (23.5 s) and vocalisation (26.1 s). Furthermore, all pigs demonstrated muscular excitation after between 19 and 39 s exposure, when the AAI and BS% values were not significantly different from basal values. It was suggested, therefore, that these excitatory movements represent conscious movement, indicative of aversion to the gas. According to our results, loss of consciousness began, on average, after 60 s inhalation of 90% CO2. During exposure to the gas, decreased brain activity was seen, immediately following the changes in blood parameters. Following exposure, the restoration of blood parameters to basal levels allows a return to normal brain activity.

The purpose of this experiment was to provide information relevant to the current debate concerning the optimisation of terminal stocking density for commercial broiler production. In a modern, controlled-environment house with 24 floor pens (each 11.4 m2), 4020 day-old broilers (Ross 308) were allocated to three terminal (42 days) stocking densities (28, 34 and 40 kg m-2) x two sexes x four replicates, according to a randomised block design. Group sizes varied from 130 to 208. Husbandry conditions were in accordance with normal commercial practice. Performance and behaviour were measured systematically during each of the six weeks of life, and additional measurements were made of leg health and litter condition. Data were analysed using ANOVA to determine the effects of stocking density, sex and age. The realised mean terminal stocking densities were 28.2, 33.5 and 38.5 kg m2. The main significant effects of stocking density treatment were a linear decline in food intake with increasing density during week six (the final week), and a reduced proportion of time spent panting deeply during weeks five and six at the lowest density. Increased (shallow and deep) panting shown by females in weeks two to five suggests that if thermal discomfort becomes a problem at higher stocking densities later in the growing period, it may do so earlier in females. There was no conclusive evidence from this study that broiler welfare is compromised any more at 40 than at 34 kg m−2. The fact that the proportion of time spent panting deeply in week six was considerably lower at 28 kg m2 than at 34 and 40 kg m−2 suggests that thermal comfort (and hence welfare) at this age may be improved at densities of less than 34 kg m−2. However, the significant effects of age, age x density, and age x sex on time spent panting deeply suggest that the age at slaughter and the sex of birds in single-sex flocks should be taken into account in future considerations of optimal maximum terminal stocking density.

Sodium fluoroacetate (1080) is widely used for the control of vertebrate pests in Australia. While the ecological impact of 1080 baiting on non-target species has been the subject of ongoing research, the animal welfare implications of this practice have received little attention. Literature relevant to the humaneness of 1080 as a vertebrate pest control agent is reviewed in this paper. Previous authors have largely concentrated on the perception of pain during 1080 toxicosis, giving limited attention to other forms of distress in their assessments. Authors who suggest that 1080 is a humane poison largely base their conclusions on the argument that convulsive seizures seen in the final stages of 1080 toxicosis indicate that affected animals are in an unconscious state and unable to perceive pain. Other authors describe awareness during seizures or periodic lucidity that suggests central nervous system (CNS) disruption cannot be assumed to produce a constant pain-free state. Some literature report that 1080 poisoning in humans is painless and free of distress, but this is contradicted by other clinical studies. Using available data an attempt is made to reassess the humaneness of 1080 using the following criteria: speed and mode of action, appearance and behaviour of affected animals, experiences of human victims, long-term effect on survivors, and welfare risk to non-target animals. It is concluded that sodium fluoroacetate should not be considered a humane poison, and there is an urgent need for research into improving the humaneness of vertebrate control methods in Australia.

It is extremely difficult to carry out an assessment of welfare in an entirely objective manner. The choice of welfare indicators, as well as the assignment of relative weightings to these indicators, both involve a certain degree of subjectivity. The aim of this study was to create a possible method of dealing with this subjectivity, using the opinions of groups of experts to increase the consensus for a protocol for the on-farm assessment of laying-hen welfare. The selection of the 17 separate welfare indicators was based both on a questionnaire submitted to 18 international poultry welfare experts and on the practical feasibility of collecting the respective data during a one-day farm visit. Subsequently, a second group of 13 experts was asked to assign relative weightings to the welfare indicators in this protocol. This assessment was carried out twice, once with and once without provision of detailed information on the welfare indicators. When detailed information was provided, the weightings assigned to the welfare indicators were generally lower than when no detailed information was provided. In conclusion, subjectivity regarding the choice of welfare indicators and the assignment of their relative weightings, can be dealt with and made transparent by seeking consensus among experts. Although the choice of experts, the methodology for extracting consensus data, and the nature and amount of information on the welfare indicators that should be provided, are likely to benefit from further refinement, the data presented in this study should be valuable for the development and application of formalised protocols for an integrated assessment of the welfare of laying hens, on-farm.

The effect of providing a shelter to single-housed rats was measured in terms of the preference shown for a cage containing a shelter compared with a barren cage, the range of behaviours performed and the apparent fearfulness of the animals. All animals showed a strong preference for cages containing a shelter and rats housed in this environment showed increased exploratory behaviour and were apparently less fearful, based on their willingness to leave the home-cage. It would seem appropriate to provide enclosed shelters within the cages of laboratory rats as a way of improving their environment.

Although the term ‘quality of life’ (QoL) is not unfamiliar to veterinary surgeons, only recently has the scientific community attempted to measure it in farm and companion animals. Typically such studies have applied methodologies from the field of human health-related quality of life (HRQoL), without due consideration of the applicability of both the term and its measurement to animals. However, it is necessary to clarify the philosophical basis of QoL if it is to be defended as a rigorous and reliable aid to decision-making in animal welfare science. In this paper we review common concepts in human HRQoL and discuss the value of, and difficulties regarding, the transfer of the concept of human HRQoL to companion animals. Human definitions tend to focus on individuals and their assessment of the state of their life in terms of physical, social and psychological functioning. The use of the term ‘quality of life’ for animals may therefore expand on what is usually considered when using the term ‘welfare’, and thereby improve on current practice, which tends to focus on relatively few outcome measures that are largely indicative of poor welfare. However, failure in the human literature to properly define QoL and defend the choice of measures accordingly, together with the common use of objective indicators and proxies, has led to confusion over the relative roles of objective and subjective measures in the determination and constitution of QoL. A suggestion for an appropriate definition of animal QoL that clarifies these relationships is offered, together with a list of social/environmental and physical/psychological health-related domains that may be suitable for a generic companion animal QoL assessment tool. In the absence of knowledge on both basic needs and individual preferences, particularly for institutionalised animals, QoL tools may be more appropriately designed as outcome-based tools, focussing on observable signs of health and behaviour. The extent to which recent QoL assessment tools for companion animals have covered these domains, and the extent to which the psychometric properties of the tools have been addressed, is also briefly discussed.

Mammals are unique among vertebrates in experiencing a need to carry out behaviours which are not necessary for their immediate survival. This poses questions as to the nature of these behavioural needs, how they evolved and their implications for the welfare of mammals in captivity. Evidence is provided to show that mammals carry out daily programmes of activity which meet four kinds of requirement, namely, for security, appropriate environmental complexity, novelty and opportunities for achievement. Within their programmes mammals perform two kinds of activity: work, which relates to day to day survival, and leisure, in the form of curiosity or play, which provides experience which may prove to be of value in the long term.

The existence of behavioural needs is consistent with our knowledge of mammalian evolution. Even the earliest known mammals, living over 120 million years ago, differed from reptiles in having brain to body size ratios four to five times greater. The increase in brain size resulted largely from the massive expansion of a region of the cerebral cortex, known as the neopallium, which acts as a co-ordinating centre for sensory data, and creates a model of the world which determines subsequent action. During the 60 million year tertiary era, relative brain size increased in most orders of eutherian mammals, so that only the more intelligent survived.

Because mammals rely for their survival on collecting and analyzing data and acting intelligently, they need facilities to search for information to establish and monitor their concept of the real world; their psychological well-being depends on an environment which offers such facilities. There are two kinds of behavioural needs; psychological needs, which appear to be unique to mammals, and ethological needs which are experienced by all vertebrates. It is concluded that environmental quality for captive mammals should not just be assessed negatively, by the absence of abnormal behaviours, but more positively by the extent to which it meets their psychological needs.

The effect of an environmental enrichment — straw bales — on the behaviour of growing broiler chicks was investigated by comparing the behaviour of broilers kept in matched pairs of houses on commercial farms with and without bales. The birds provided with bales perched on them and clustered around them. The most striking result, however, was that, even away from the bales, birds in the enriched houses were more active (showing more walking and running and less sitting) than birds in unenriched houses. The study provides support for the ‘Freedom Food’ recommendation that activity in commercially kept indoor chickens can be increased by providing environmental enrichment in the form of straw bales.

A study was conducted over 24 days to evaluate the effects of three environmental enrichment techniques (frozen balls of ice containing fish, various scents, hanging logs) on four captive African lions (Panthera leo). Behavioural data on activity level and behavioural diversity were collected daily during a baseline and an enriched session. All enrichments produced positive changes in behaviour. Enrichment was also associated with increased use of space by the lions. The enrichment techniques evaluated in this study each produced distinct and positive changes in behaviour thus reinforcing the need for variety to be exercised in captive enrichment programmes. Providing different enrichments allows animals to perform a greater range of behaviours, become more active in captivity, and will decrease the likelihood of habituation to certain enrichment items. Environmental enrichment should be a part of any management protocol for animal welfare and health.

Three types of fertility control, surgical sterilization, hormonal chemosterilization, and immunosterilization, are reviewed with regard to their potential for controlling problematic populations of carnivores. The fertility control agent and delivery protocol of choice may vary considerably according to: (i) the reason for control; (ii) the degree, urgency and duration of population reduction required; (iii) concerns about ethics and public opinion; and (iv) the status, population dynamics, social structure, mating system, size, behaviour and reproductive endocrinology of the target animals. Although they are often perceived and advocated as more preferable methods of population control than lethal approaches, it is important that wildlife managers as well as members of the public realize that the ethical acceptability of the various fertility control techniques may differ considerably - and that numerous questions regarding their effectiveness, humaneness and ecological safety remain unanswered.

Published information provides scientific evidence that traditional, involuntary restraint techniques of research non-human primates are intrinsically a source of distress resulting from fear. It has been documented that common methods of enforced restraint result in significantly increased adrenal activity as well as significant changes in a variety of other physiological parameters. There is no scientific evidence that the animals adequately habituate to involuntary restraint. Numerous reports have been published demonstrating that non-human primates can readily be trained to cooperate rather than resist during common handling procedures such as capture, venipuncture, injection and veterinary examination. Cooperative animals fail to show behavioural and physiological signs of distress. It was concluded that the advantages of training techniques over traditional restraint techniques will have to be explored more extensively in the future for the sake of research subjects and scientific methodology.