The ability to evaluate the welfare of non-human animals accurately and objectively is influenced by a variety of factors including the nature of our relationships with them. Subjective biases in the perception of an animal's quality of life can have either positive or negative consequences for its welfare and are likely to be particularly exaggerated in the case of companion animals, such as dogs, cats and other pet species, with which people tend to form strong anthropomorphic, attachment-based relationships. The consequences of these subjective biases are likely to be further exacerbated by the fact that many of the physical and behavioural attributes that humans find appealing, and have selected for, in companion animals, are inherently detrimental to their welfare. Using a range of examples, this paper explores some of the complex ways in which anthropomorphism and subjectivity can cloud our ability to make reliable judgements concerning the welfare of companion animals, even in the face of seemingly obvious and overt indicators of pain and suffering.

The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effect of driver and driving style on the behaviour, salivary cortisol concentration, and heart-rate variability of pigs during a short journey. In addition, the effect of differing accelerations (longitudinal, lateral, and vertical) of the trailer on these variables was studied. One hundred and thirty-five cross-bred pigs (Piétrain × Hypor) were transported in groups of five on a trailer towed by a jeep. Three different drivers transported the pigs using a normal, a quiet, and a wild driving style (the latter two in relation to their normal style). Driving style mainly had an effect on the longitudinal and lateral accelerations. Salivary cortisol increases were lowest for the wild driving style. The latter can be explained by the shorter duration of these journeys and not by the accelerations, thus it is our view that acceleration due to manoeuvring as opposed to acceleration due to overall speed should be avoided. Also, in practice, journeys should take as brief a time as possible. Increasing acceleration saw an increase in the proportion of pigs standing during the journey and a decrease in the proportion of pigs lying down. Measurements of variability in heart rate revealed that lateral acceleration was an important stressor for pigs. We concluded that, as driving style has an effect on different stress variables, increased driver awareness of the effects of their driving on the responses of pigs, would improve pig welfare.

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.

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).

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.

Lameness is one of the greatest infringements of welfare in dairy cows. The objective of this study was to investigate associations between milk yield and foot lesions causing lameness in Chilean dairy cattle with the hypothesis that if we can demonstrate that lameness reduces yield, and so income, from lame dairy cows then we have both economic and welfare arguments for reducing lameness in dairy cattle. For one year, all lame cows from seven farms with Holstein Friesian cattle were treated by their herdsmen. Herdsmen were trained by the researcher and a colour atlas was utilised to assist in diagnosis of lesions. All abnormalities on the foot and the suspected cause of lameness were recorded, and cattle were treated. A two-level hierarchical model with repeated monthly test-day yields within cows was used to investigate the impact of double sole (DS), sole ulcer (SU), white line disease (WLD), digital dermatitis (DD) and all ‘other’ causes of lameness on milk yield before and after treatment. There were 1,635 cows with complete data. Cattle with a DS were higher yielding than cattle that were never lame with a reduction in yield from four months before treatment. Cattle lame with DD were higher yielding than non-lame cattle before and after treatment. For all causes of lameness, yield increased the month after treatment. We conclude that lesions causing lameness reduced the milk yield of dairy cows in these seven herds in Chile. We discuss the current evidence base for prevention of lameness in dairy cows and hypothesise that rapid treatment is a feasible current approach to improve cow welfare immediately and probably reduce milk lost; more evidence for effective prevention is required.

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.

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.

Many juvenile hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) are ‘rehabilitated’ with little or no previous experience of life in the wild. A study is described in which twelve such animals were monitored after release in Devon. They quickly learned their way about, built nests and found them again, and interacted normally with each other and with wild conspecifics. While several showed significant weight loss, this represented only the excess accumulated in captivity. Deaths caused by a predator (badger) and motor cars suggest that captives destinedfor release should not be allowed to become tame and unwary. However, deaths are to be expected in natural circumstances and at least one third of these animals survived beyond the nine-week study, despite having no previous experience of life in the wild. This supports the belief that, although deaths are to be expected, rehabilitating hedgehogs (even naïve juveniles) is possible and worthwhile.

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.

In humans, psychological manipulations such as hypnosis, behavioural modifications, relaxation training and cognitive behaviour therapy have all been used to reduce pain intensity. One thing these treatments have in common is selective attention. Work on attention-based cognitive coping strategies has shown that they have potentially useful analgesic qualities in pain therapy. In animals, there have been few studies on the effects of attentional shifts on pain perception. There is extensive literature on stress-induced analgesia and it is likely that, in some of the experiments, attention could be an important variable. This paper will present some of our recent work on selective attention and pain perception using the sodium urate model of gouty arthritis. Birds are naturally prone to articular gout and the model we have developed mimics acute gouty attacks in a single joint. Experimental sodium urate arthritis produces a tonically painful inflammation lasting for at least 3h during which time the animals show pain-related behaviours. Changes in motivation can reduce these pain-related behaviours and it has been hypothesized that these motivational changes act by way of altering the attention of the animal away from pain. The motivational changes investigated included nesting, feeding, exploration and social interactions. The degree of pain suppression ranged from marked hypoalgesia to complete analgesia and as such demonstrates a remarkable ability to suppress tonic pain. These shifts in attention not only reduced pain but also significantly reduced peripheral inflammation. These results are discussed in terms of the limited capacity models of attention.

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.

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 greatest challenge to the welfare of dairy cows occurs in the peripartum period. Given the perception that cow welfare is better in more natural environments, it was hypothesised that cows in a PASTURE-based production system (cubicle housing with grass silage pre-partum and rotational grazing with concentrate supplementation post-partum) would have improved peripartal welfare compared to cows in a HOUSED production system (cubicle housing with a total mixed ration [TMR], pre-partum and post-partum). Blood samples were analysed for acute phase proteins (APP), cortisol, white blood cell (WBC) differential and counts and other biochemical metabolites as non-specific indicators of sub-clinical ill-health and nutritional stress. Daily monitoring of rectal temperature (RT) and rumen fill (RF) scores were used to monitor ill-health and nutritional status. Reproductive health and welfare (calving difficulty, retained placenta, puerperal metritis, endometritis and oestrous cyclicity) was also recorded. No differences were found between treatments for APP, cortisol or WBC. Blood metabolite differences indicated that PASTURE cows were under greater nutritional stress than HOUSED cows. HOUSED cows showed an increase in RF score from day 0 to 10 post-partum and had a higher RF score than PASTURE cows. PASTURE cows had an overall lower RT and lower incidence of reproductive disorders. Results primarily reflect nutritional differences between treatments with PASTURE cows showing greater potential nutritional/metabolic stress in early lactation which has attendant implications for welfare. Nevertheless, this did not result in inferior health and, in accordance with our hypothesis, PASTURE cows’ reproductive health and welfare tended to be better than that of HOUSED cows.

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) that are kept in captivity come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and a proportion of them have been subjected to maternal separation and social deprivation during development. The long-term effects of such practices have received little investigation. This study investigates whether the removal of infants from their mothers and/or other chimpanzees affects their activity levels and abnormal behaviours later in life. A total of 69 resocialised chimpanzees were studied at six zoos in the United Kingdom. Chimpanzees were categorised into one of three rearing conditions: reared by their mother in a group of conspecifics (MGR); reared with other conspecifics but separated from their mothers (RO); and reared apart from their mother or other conspecifics for a period of time during infancy (RA). Results indicate that ‘socially deprived’ individuals show reduced levels of normal activity, elevated levels of abnormal behaviours and a wider repertoire of abnormal behaviours. These differences were more pronounced in younger individuals, with adults from the three different rearing conditions performing abnormal behaviour patterns at comparable levels. It is concluded that human-rearing, either alone or with conspecifics, influences behaviour through suppression of normal activity levels as a result of separation and elevation of levels of abnormal behaviours as a mechanism for coping with maternal loss and restricted rearing. However, these effects are not irreversible and recovery of ‘normal’ behaviours may occur with access to an enriched social environment.

Identifying farmers’ attitudes to farm animal welfare (FAW) is an important step in determining farmers’ efforts to improve FAW, knowledge of which is of particular importance for understanding how the living conditions of production animals are determined. This study developed a hypothetical model of farmers’ attitudes to FAW, including the antecedents of these attitudes and possible influences on FAW-related behaviour. Two models for empirical measurement of attitudes, namely formative and reflective models, were also evaluated and compared. The results suggested that choice of measurement model considerably influences conceptualisation of attitudes and that there may be considerable model misspecifications in previous literature relating to farmers’ FAW attitudes. Existing literature on farmers’ FAW attitudes was reviewed with the aim of providing a preliminary indication of the coverage of farmers’ FAW attitudes. A need for future research related to farmers’ attitudes to FAW was identified.

Childhood experiences of animals and current attitudes towards animals were assessed using a questionnaire, which was completed by 227 Japanese students and 174 British students. Pet ownership in childhood, as well as contact with other animals and negative experiences of pets, were used as the independent variables; current attitudes towards pets and other animals were the dependent variables. There were some differences between Japan and the UK: in childhood, the British students had had significantly more pets and more animal-related experiences, such as visiting animal shelters and livestock farms, than had the Japanese students. Their current attitudes were also more positive, and they showed a greater interest in animal welfare issues than did the Japanese students. In both countries there was a positive association between childhood pet-keeping and current favourable attitudes to pets, as measured by the Pet Attitude Scale. Open-ended responses also suggested that the roles of pets for children are perceived in similar ways in Japan and the UK. Adult attitudes to pets and interest in animal welfare seem to be greatly influenced in both countries by childhood experiences of animals, including pets, and may therefore be a general phenomenon.

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.

This study was undertaken in order to determine the variation of the acute phase proteins haptoglobin and Pig-MAP (major acute phase protein) in the serum of pigs affected by transport-related stress. Pigs were subjected to one of two pre-slaughter treatments: a) short-duration transport (1 h 15 min transport and 2 h lairage); or b) long-duration transport (6 h transport and 14 h lairage). There were 10 individuals in each treatment group, belonging to the NN (n = 5) or Nn (n = 5) genotypes for halothane susceptibility. Samples were taken before transport, just after transport, and on stunning at slaughter. We measured levels of serum haptoglobin, Pig-MAP and cortisol. Our results showed that the short-duration transport did not modify the levels of haptoglobin or of Pig-MAP in any of the three samples, whereas cortisol was increased just after transport. In contrast, there was an increase in haptoglobin and Pig-MAP in serum from animals after long-duration transport, as observed in the post-mortem samples (20-21 h after the beginning of transport); cortisol levels were not increased in these conditions. In this experiment, homozygotes for the halothane gene tended to have higher values of haptoglobin after slaughter than did heterozygotes. In conclusion, combined determination of acute phase proteins and cortisol levels could provide valuable information on welfare problems related to transport.