Municipal regulations and humane movement policies often restrict or discourage the use of ‘exotic’ species as companion animals. However, confusion arises because the term ‘exotic’ is used in various ways, and because classifying species as exotic or non-exotic does not satisfactorily distinguish suitable from unsuitable companion animals. Even among commonly kept species, some appear to be much more suitable than others. Instead, decisions about suitable companion animal species need to be based on a number of relevant issues. As ethical criteria, we considered that keeping a companion animal should not jeopardize - and ideally should enhance - its welfare, as well as that of its owner; and that keeping a companion animal should not incur any appreciable harm or risk of harm to the community or the environment. These criteria then served as the basis for identifying and organizing the various concerns that may arise over keeping a species for companionship. Concerns include how the animals are procured and transported, how well their needs can be met in captivity, whether the animal poses any danger to others, and whether the animal might cause environmental damage. These concerns were organized into a checklist of questions that form a basis for assigning species to five proposed categories reflecting their suitability as companion animals. This assessment framework could be used in creating policy or regulations, and to create educational and decision-making tools for pet retailers, animal adoption workers, and potential owners, to help prevent animals from being placed in unsuitable circumstances.

The ability to monitor the welfare of animal collections in zoological institutions is critical to the mission of these facilities. Historically, zoos have utilised negative indicators of welfare, such as stereotypic behaviour to examine and monitor collection animals. However, absence of stereotypic behaviour or negative indicators of welfare does not indicate that an animal is thriving. The goal of the current study was to continue efforts to validate behavioural diversity as an indicator of welfare using cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) as a model species. Behavioural and faecal glucocorticoid metabolite data were collected on 18 cheetah at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park over a period of three months to explore the relationship between behavioural diversity and adrenal hormones related to the stress response. Results suggest that behavioural diversity can be utilised as an indicator of animal welfare to monitor animal collections within zoological facilities. However, additional research with other species should be conducted to better understand behavioural diversity as a positive indicator of animal welfare. We hope this manuscript will increase discussion surrounding behavioural diversity as well as increase efforts to validate it as an indicator of welfare.

This study compares various morphometric features of two strains of broilers, selected and ‘relaxed’ (ie random-bred), raised under two feeding regimes, ad-libitum-fed and restricted-fed. We consider the possible consequences of the different body shapes on the musculoskeletal system. The ad-libitum-fed selected birds reached heavier bodyweights at younger ages, had wider girths, and developed large amounts of breast muscle which probably displaced their centre of gravity cranially. At cull weight, they had shorter legs than birds in the other groups and greater thigh-muscle masses; therefore, greater forces would have to be exerted by shorter lever arms in order to move the body. The tarsometatarsi were broader, providing increased resistance to greater loads, but the bones had a lower calcium and phosphorus content, which would theoretically make them weaker. Many of these morphological changes are likely to have detrimental effects on the musculoskeletal system and therefore compromise the walking ability and welfare of the birds.

Welfare is a multidimensional construct and its quantification is of major scientific, societal and economic importance in veterinary medicine. The construction of indices that measure welfare validly and reliably remains a considerable challenge. A general methodology for constructing welfare indices can be adapted from human medicine (in particular, from methodologies to assess Quality of Life [QoL]) and modified to reflect the fact that all assessments of animal welfare must be observer-based. The methodology is based on the creation of individual, composite indices for distinct dimensions/domains of welfare such as pain, disease, or stress. The domains include behavioural, physiological and biochemical markers. We have established QoL methodologies in the assessment of acute and chronic pain in dogs and generalised this approach to farm animal welfare. We describe the development of a questionnaire with seven behavioural categories which are used to create a single pain score to assess acute pain in dogs. For chronic pain in dogs, a structured questionnaire with over 100 items has been devised, which the owner completes by indicating degree of agreement with each item using a seven-point Likert scale. The welfare measure includes pain as an integral component as well as husbandry, behavioural and physiological/biological measures. In each case, a profile of the individual indices can be studied and compared over time or among observers. These indices may also be combined to form a single composite welfare measure, should this be appropriate, using scaling models. In the welfare setting, we have both causal and indicator variables — and indeed, for farm animals, the causal variables may be sufficient cause for poor welfare (eg the presence of disease or inadequate husbandry).

Veterinary care is important for maintaining companion animal health; however, it also has the potential to impact other aspects of patient welfare. To investigate factors related to veterinary care that are likely to influence canine and feline welfare, animal welfare researchers, veterinarians with an expertise in animal welfare, and Canadian and American companion and mixed animal veterinarians were invited to participate in a three-stage online survey. Participants were asked to do the following: i) identify factors related to the veterinary experience that impact patient welfare; ii) rate the relative impact of each factor; and iii) gauge the feasibility of measuring and improving each factor. Overall, 78 participants identified 85 factors that impact animal welfare in the clinic (eg restraint techniques) and home environment (eg advice regarding behaviour and training). Among factors, seven themes emerged: physical environment of the clinic; routine animal care provided by veterinary team members (‘staff); interactions between the patient, staff, and client; clinic management; medical and surgical procedures; staff attitudes and education; and communication between the veterinarian and client. Mean relative impact scores ranged from 1.0 to 3.8 on a five-point scale (0-4), with 70% of factors receiving a score greater than 3. Most participants (> 80%) agreed that 68% of the identified factors could be feasibly improved in an average veterinary clinic and that 43% of the factors could be feasibly measured during a welfare assessment. These results identify key areas where veterinary care may impact the welfare of canine and feline patients and highlight priority areas where assessment and improvement are possible.

Tests of emotionality conducted outside the home-cage show that rodents from standard laboratory housing are more anxious than animals from enriched housing; however, it is not known if this also indicates increased anxiety within the home-cage. We used a novel method, recording the self-administration of a psychoactive anxiolytic, to examine home-cage anxiety levels of laboratory mice (three per cage) in Standard (n = 10 cages), Unpredictable (n = 10 cages) and Enriched (n = 6 cages) housing. The mice were given a choice of drinking either non-drugged water or a solution of the benzodiazepine Midazolam. There was a significant effect of housing on the proportion of total fluid consumed from the bottle containing Midazolam solution (P = 0.02). Mice from Standard and Unpredictable cages drank a greater proportion than mice from Enriched cages. This indicates that mice from the Standard and Unpredictable laboratory caging may have been experiencing greater anxiety than mice from the Enriched cages. There was also a significant effect of bottle position (P = 0.002). Mice from the Standard and Unpredictable cages drank a greater proportion of total fluid from the bottle containing Midazolam solution when this was toward the rear of the cage rack, ie in a location that was less susceptible to extraneous disturbance. Monitoring self-administration of psychoactive drugs as a method of welfare assessment could be applied to a wide variety of housing conditions, husbandry practices, or experimental procedures that putatively induce negative mental states. The major finding is that standard cages for laboratory rodents may induce greater anxiety than enriched cages. This is discussed in terms of animal welfare and the validity of data from animals housed in minimalistic environments.

While concerns regarding the day-to-day management of domestic horses have been raised in relation to behaviour problems and welfare, most published studies have focused on the management of performance horses and less is known about the routine management of leisure horses and the prevalence of behavioural problems within this population. The objective of this study was to generate data on the day-to-day management of UK leisure horses and to quantify the prevalence of stable/stall-related and handling behaviour problems. A self-administered internet survey was used to collect individual horse-level data from a convenience sample of leisure horse owners. The survey was online for a year and respondents were asked to report on their routine over the previous week to minimise recall bias. The survey covered the horses’ stable and turn-out routine and environments, including opportunities for social contact with other horses. Respondents were also asked to rate the frequency their horse displayed 20 stable-related and handling behaviour problems. Data on 1,850 individual horses were collected. Stable-related and handling behaviour problems were displayed by 82% of horses sampled. The findings suggest a trend towards year-round stabling. The restriction in turn-out opportunities may have welfare costs for the horses involved. The high prevalence of stable-related and handling problems, including stereotypies, is a concern.

There has been increasing policy debate about farm animal welfare over the last 5-10 years in a number of countries, particularly concerning the need for government intervention, for example by means of legislation. Assessment of farm animal welfare policy requires some evaluation of the associated relative costs and benefits involved. When considering the benefits, it is desirable not only to collate scientific evidence about the effects of policy on the welfare of animals but, also on the extent to which citizens in society want such a policy and the benefits that they perceive to result from it. This paper describes an exploratory survey which tests the application of a technique, contingent valuation, to estimate, in money terms, the benefits that people perceive to be associated with specific measures to improve farm animal welfare through eliciting their willingness to pay for welfare legislation (a case-study relating to the banning of battery cages in egg production is used). The study shows that the methodology could provide very useful information to policy makers and others interested in public perceptions and concerns about animal welfare, and public support for animal welfare policies.

We assessed the value of sleep behaviour as a novel measure of stress in group-housed animals. We observed, non-invasively, sleep behaviour in 144 group-housed rats, and related it to other physiological and physical indicators of stress and welfare. Sleep frequency and duration correlated negatively with adrenal weight, and positively with bodyweight gain, and final bodyweight. Thus, low frequencies of sleep behaviour and low sleep duration correlate with some indicators of elevated physiological and physical stress, raising the possibility that sleep behaviour may provide an under-utilised, but potentially important, non-invasive indicator of stress and welfare for animals in groups.

Thinking about animal consciousness is beset with many pitfalls, a few of which are: i) lack of clarity in words used, especially confusing ‘cognition’ with ‘consciousness’ and using words such as ‘emotion’ in both an objective sense (behaviour and physiology) and to imply consciousness; ii) failing to acknowledge sufficiently that different people use different versions of the argument from analogy with ourselves to infer consciousness in non-humans in animals; iii) assuming that choice and preference imply consciousness; iv) assuming that autonomic responses imply consciousness (a particular danger to those who look for physiological ‘measures’ of animal welfare); v) assuming that complexity of behaviour implies complexity of cognition and in turn consciousness; and vi) assuming that only cognitively complex organisms are conscious. Consciousness raises many questions of direct relevance to animal welfare that as yet have no answers, but finding possible answers may be made slightly easier if we avoid these obvious pitfalls.

In the UK, numerous pedigree dogs of many breeds experience compromised welfare due to the direct and indirect effects of selective breeding. Many breeds are selected to have physical conformations which, although perceived by some to be desirable, have direct negative effects upon their welfare. Dogs are regularly bred whose heads are too large and pelvises too small to birth naturally or whose faces are so flat that they are unable to breathe or exercise normally. There are also many indirect effects of selective breeding for appearance, including significantly elevated prevalence of specific diseases within particular breeds. Current breeding practices can therefore result in unnecessary suffering due to pain, disability, disease and behavioural problems. In this paper, we summarise and review the current scientific evidence for such suffering, and difficulties associated with assessing the impact of current breeding practices. Limited record-keeping, lack of transparency in the breeding and showing world, and the absence of sufficient research, mean that the full extent of the problem is difficult to assess. Furthermore, the collection of data is currently unsystematic, and although there are specific case studies of individual breeds and particular disorders, relatively few have been conducted in the UK. Individual breeds each suffer from their own array of problems, so each breed's survival and improvement (in terms of health and welfare) is likely to require a different specific course of action. With 209 breeds currently registered in the UK, this makes the situation complex. We collate and present a range of suggestions which may help to improve pedigree dog welfare significantly, and prioritise these based on expert opinion.

Twenty horses were paired for age, sex and breed and placed into one of two groups. The horses in Group A (control) were reinforced using only negative reinforcement (NR) while those in group B (treatment) were reinforced with both positive reinforcement (PR) and NR concurrently. All horses were shaped for the halt response while being driven in long-reins over a period of 5 consecutive days. On day I, all horses were given a baseline test of 20 random halts while being long-reined in an indoor arena. On days 2-4, the shaping of the halt response continued with horses being reinforced according to the group to which they had been allocated. On day 5 of testing the baseline test was repeated (final test). During the baseline and final tests, behavioural responses and accuracy of completion of the halt response were recorded. Heart rates were recorded continuously during testing. One-way analysis of variance in randomised blocks and analysis of covariance using baseline data as a covariate showed no effect on latency to halt. However, horses reinforced with both NR and PR shook their heads vertically less and were more likely to lick their lips than those reinforced with NR only. There was also a trend for an increase in roundness of outline of the horses that were reinforced with both PR and NR. These results suggest that the implementation of PR effectively into equitation training may improve the welfare of the horse.

Animals should be given the opportunity to perform behaviours that they are motivated to show if we are to maximise their welfare. Research studies into motivation and appropriate methods of studying it are therefore important. Different factors may need to be taken into consideration depending on the form of the behaviour being studied. Certain commodities, such as a perch for night-time roosting, have a value only if the animal is given full access to them until it has completed the behaviour. For other commodities, such as food and water, the amount can be varied along a continuous scale without affecting the animals’ demand for that resource. The commonly used operant techniques generating demand curves are based on the assumption that demand is not affected by the size of the reward (ie how much of the commodity the animal gains access to). As a consequence, these techniques are appropriate only for assessing motivation for resources of which the size can be varied. Resources of the ‘all-or-none’ type, on the other hand, require a different approach. We discuss different adaptations of the push-door technique as a measure of motivation, and we present results that validate a version with fixed, individually adapted levels of resistance. The method was validated using laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) tested at different levels of food deprivation and exposed to two series of increasing door resistances. The results show that the level of food-deprivation affects the amount of resistance that is overcome. We conclude that this method could be used to study hens’ motivation for commodities of the ‘all-or-none’ type.

A polled sheep with a short tail, and devoid of wool on the head, legs, belly and breech, has been proposed as a breeding goal (Scobie et al 1997). This paper examines the practical and welfare implications of such an objective. Mean shearing times were significantly (P < 0.001) slower for control Romney (97s) and Coopworth (88s) ewe hoggets compared to times for both breeds after they were ‘trimmed’ to resemble the breeding goal (47s). Romney wethers were slower to shear than ewes (P < 0.001), but trimmed wethers (53s) were much faster to shear than the untrimmed controls (99s). Trimmed sheep produced less wool (pooled mean weights of fleece wool for trimmed sheep vs total wool for controls being 2.5 vs 3.5 kg; P < 0.001), half the difference (ie 500g) consisting of lower value oddment wools from the untrimmed controls. Tails were docked to 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 per cent of the distance between the base of the tail and the hock of Perendole lambs, and 0, 20, 40 and 60 per cent on Coopworths. More dags accumulated as the tail stump increased in length, although significance was dependent on the time of year and management system. No flystrike (cutaneous myiasis) was observed in Perendales given physical and chemical protection, while a small proportion of all tail lengths were flystruck in Coopworths given only physical protection. When shorn as hoggets, the time taken to shear Perendole ewes increased with increasing tail length (P < 0.001). Provided the undocked short tail is bare of wool, the proposed breeding goal should deliver an economic solution to sheep breeders attempting to satisfy markets conscious of chemical residue and animal welfare issues in the new millennium.

The effectiveness of electrical water bath stunning of 172 individual broilers for 1 s with a constant root mean square (RMS) current of 100, 150 or 200 mA, delivered using a variable voltage/constant current stunner with 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 or 1400 Hz sine wave alternating current (AC), followed by slaughter using a unilateral or ventral neck-cutting procedure, was evaluated. A binary logistic regression of broilers showing epileptiform activity or not following stunning showed that both the electrical frequency (Hz) and RMS current (mA) had a significant effect on the probability of the electroencephalogram (EEG) manifestation. The univariate analysis of variance showed that the time to the onset of less than 10% of the pre-stun relative power contents was significantly affected only by the interaction between electrical frequency and slaughter method. A similar analysis of variance of the time to reach less than 10% of the pre-stun total power content showed slaughter method, RMS current, the slaughter method/frequency interaction and the RMS current/frequency interaction to be either significant or approaching significance. Based on these results it is recommended that effective water bath stunning of broilers with a minimum constant current of 100, 150 and 200 mA could be achieved with electrical frequencies of up to 200, 600 and 800 Hz, respectively. In addition, It is likely that electrical frequencies of above 800 Hz would have required a minimum current of greater than 200 mA to induce epileptiform activity in the EEGs of broilers.

Although cats’ popularity as pets rivals that of dogs, cats are little studied, and people's abilities to read this apparently ‘inscrutable’ species have attracted negligible research. To determine whether people can identify feline emotions from cats’ faces, participants (n = 6,329) each viewed 20 video clips of cats in carefully operationalised positively (n =10) or negatively valenced states (n = 10) (cross-factored with low and high activity levels). Obvious cues (eg open mouths or fully retracted ears) were eliminated. Participants’ average scores were low (11.85/20 correct), but overall above chance; furthermore, 13% of participants were individually significantly successful at identifying the valence of cats’ states (scoring ≥ 15/20 correct). Women were more successful at this task than men, and younger participants more successful than older, as were participants with professional feline (eg veterinary) experience. In contrast, personal contact with cats (eg pet-owning) had little effect. Cats in positive states were most likely to be correctly identified, particularly if active rather than inactive. People can thus infer cats’ affective states from subtle aspects of their facial expressions (although most find this challenging); and some individuals are very good at doing so. Understanding where such abilities come from, and precisely how cats’ expressions change with affective state, could potentially help pet owners, animal care staff and veterinarians optimise feline care and welfare.

Our aim was to evaluate the effects of single or mixed sex fattening of boars and split marketing (SM) on pig welfare. Female (n = 10), male (n = 10) and mixed sex (n = 10) groups were fattened to 105 kg. Two focal pigs per pen were selected for continuous behaviour observations and skin lesion inspections. Aggressive and sexual behaviours were recorded during feeding. One week prior to slaughter the three heaviest pigs in half of the pens were marketed. There was more sexual behaviour in mixed and male groups. However, there was less agonistic behaviour in mixed and female compared to male groups. SM male groups tended to have higher lesion scores than non-SM male groups. There was more mounting in non-SM mixed groups than in both SM and non-SM female groups. The welfare of boars was improved in mixed sex groups but females fared better in single sex groups. Split marketing reduced the welfare of pigs in male groups but improved pig welfare in mixed groups.

This paper summarises the findings from five studies in eight countries on over 1,500 cattle slaughtered commercially by the halal or shechita methods without stunning. It reports the number of cuts applied to the neck, the cutting methods and the frequency of complications during the bleeding period. Complications during the bleeding period that occurred in some cattle included: (i) delay in the time to collapse, which was interpreted as late loss of consciousness; (ii) premature arrest of bleeding from the carotid arteries due to false aneurysm formation; and (iii) blood entering the respiratory tract during bleeding. These features are important as they determine or reflect the duration of consciousness following the cut and the potential for protracted suffering from wound nociception or blood irritating the respiratory tract. When cattle were not restrained following the halal cut, they took on average 20 s to collapse. Fourteen percent stood up again after an initial collapse, and 1.5% took more than 4 min before their final collapse. Eight percent took 60 s or longer to collapse, and those animals were more likely to have false aneurysms in the severed ends of the carotid arteries. False aneurysms, which were at least 3 cm in diameter, formed in the severed cardiac ends of the carotid arteries in 10% of cattle slaughtered by halal or shechita. Some false aneurysms formed in the severed ends of the carotid arteries within 7 s of the halal cut, and in 10% of the cattle bloodflow came to a halt in one of the arteries within 10 s. On average, the false aneurysms developed within 21 s. Nineteen percent of cattle slaughtered by shechita and 58% of cattle slaughtered by halal had blood lining the mucosa of the trachea. All animals had blood lining the glottis. In both situations there could be a sense of respiratory tract irritation from the blood. It is proposed that severing the carotids at the position in the neck which corresponds to C1 will reduce the frequency of false aneurysm formation and subsequent arrested bloodflow from the severed arteries, and it will deafferent the respiratory tract reducing the transmission of potentially unpleasant sensory signals associated with blood contaminating the upper and lower parts of the tract. Most cattle subjected to halal and shechita have the neck cut at a position which corresponds to C2 to C4, and changing to a cut at C1 could partly reduce the potential for suffering during slaughter without stunning.

The study of environmental enrichment has identified a variety of effective forms of enrichment, but there are widespread problems associated with their use. Few forms of enrichment are cognitively challenging, and even the most effective often result in rapid habituation. This study examined the use of a computer-joystick system, designed to increase in complexity with learning, as a potential form of enrichment. Eight orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), housed in male/female pairs, were observed for 120 h during a baseline period and 120h when the computer-joystick apparatus was available. Data were collected in 1 h sessions using instantaneous group scan sampling with 30 s intervals. The orangutans spent 25.9% of the scans using the joystick system. One member of each pair monopolised the computer system: ‘high users’ spent 48.9% of scans using the joystick system compared with 2.9% by ‘low users’. Behavioural changes associated with the provision of the computer included increases in aggressive behaviour, anxiety-related behaviours, solitary play, contact with and proximity to a social partner, and decreases in feeding. The lack of habituation by the high users, both within and across sessions, indicates that computer-assisted tasks may be a useful form of environmental enrichment for orangutans. However, the significant increase in aggression indicates that this form of enrichment may be more suitable for singly caged animals, or that the provision of multiple apparatuses should be tested for the ability to eliminate potential competition over the device.

The WelFur project aims at the development of on-farm welfare assessment protocols for farmed foxes (the blue fox [Vulpes lagopus], the silver fox [Vulpes vulpes]) and mink (Neovison vison). The WelFur protocols are based on Welfare Quality® (WQ) principles and criteria. Here, we describe the WelFur protocols after two years of developmental work. Reviews for each of the 12 WQ welfare criteria were written for foxes and mink to identify the welfare measures that have been used in scientific studies. The reviews formed the basis for potential measures to be included in the WelFur protocols. All measures were evaluated for their validity, reliability and feasibility. At present, we have identified 15 fox and 9 mink animal-based (or outcome-based) welfare measures, and 11 and 13 input-based (resource-based or management-based) measures. For both foxes and mink, each of the four WQ principles is judged by at least one criterion, and seven out of the 12 criteria include animal-based measures. The protocols will be piloted in 2012. Using the WQ project and protocols as a model has been a fruitful approach in developing the WelFur protocols. The effects of the WelFur protocols will provide benchmarks from which the welfare of animals on European fur farms can be assessed.