The preference of Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) for different in-cage shelters was tested. First, 15 males and 15 females were made to choose between a cage with a shelter and one without. Different shelters were tested consecutively: short (10-cm) or medium (15-cm) pipes made of black acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), 7.6 cm in diameter and open at both ends; and short or medium boxes made of black acrylic panels and open at only one end. The strongest use of the shelter cage for nesting (about 75% of days) was in the case of the medium, open pipe, for both males and females. The strongest use of the shelter itself for nesting was also in the case of the medium open pipe (52% of days). A second experiment gave a choice between pairs of shelters (of seven different types) to 10 males and 10 females. Both sexes nested significantly more in a medium pipe closed at one end than under a wheel, and tended to nest more in that medium, semi-closed pipe than in a medium, open pipe. Also, females tended to nest more in the medium, semi-closed pipe than under an aluminium cover. Other pairings did not yield significant differences. Direct use of the shelters for nesting was rather low, except for the medium, semi-closed pipe (about 50% of days). Semi-closed ABS pipes are inexpensive, easy to clean, and do not interfere with running wheels, and they could be recommended as environmental enrichment for hamsters.

Sir, I must make a brief response to Tumbull's suggestion (1995 Animal Welfare 3: 340) that I am misinformed in my belief that cattle are infectious immediately after exposure to the tuberculosis organism. There seem to be two schools of thought on this issue, and yet it is one of critical importance in tackling the final stages of tuberculosis eradication schemes. On the one hand it is claimed that only cattle with gross visible lesions at abattoir inspection are capable of passing on tuberculosis (TB) to other cattle (Gallagher 1980; Dunnet et al 1986; Tumbull 1994; Wilesmith & Williams 1986). On the other hand this view is not substantiated by other studies on the aetiology and pathogenesis of cattle TB. For most adult cattle, tuberculosis seems to start as a lung infection following inhalation of infected aerosolised sputum or dust. Primary lesions may heal, but more usually they remain open, and may persist as the subclinically latent condition, or progress slowly or rapidly to chronic, or fatal and acute bronchopneumonia. And even where an apparent sealed tubercle develops, it would seem that intracanalicular bronchiolar spread continues, such that intermittent or continuous bacterial shedding occurs in the sputum. Therefore cattle with micro-lesions that would be missed at gross abattoir inspection could be infectious to other cattle despite being non-visibly-lesioned in the lungs or visibly-lesioned only in bronchomediastinal lymph nodes. Such cattle may also be producing infectious faeces via swallowed sputum (Blood et al 1979; Francis 1947; Jubb & Kennedy 1970; Neill et al 1994; Richards 1972).

Animal shelters rescue and care for society's unwanted companion animals. Nonetheless, several studies have shown that ending up in a shelter can be stressful, and that shelter husbandry can amplify and spread certain diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate and describe husbandry policy, practices and routines as well as occurrence and prevention of diseases in Swedish cat shelters. A survey was sent to 64 potential shelters of which 39 (61%) responded. Thirty-two shelters (82%) housed cats (Felis silvestris catus) in groups; one shelter provided only solitary housing. Thirty-one shelters provided single, pair and group housing. The most common group size was 3-5 cats (59%). Ninety-two percent of responding shelters had routines and/or protocol(s) for the management of the cats, 35 had healthcare routines and 30 shelters had routines for the admission of cats. All shelters with the exception of one had quarantine, and 22 shelters (58%) vaccinated cats prior to admittance. There was a significant positive correlation between shelter size and number of reported diseases. The most common reported disease was cat ‘flu/cold, although altogether, shelters reported a low occurrence of disease. Practices differ between shelters relating to management, eg use of quarantine and vaccination routines. In Sweden, group housing is common and shelters provide cats with plenty of resources, eg hides and climbing structures, often providing outdoor access and a more ‘home-like’ environment. The possibility that providing a more ‘enriched home-like’ environment can help cats cope with the shelter environment is discussed, thereby decreasing the occurrence and transmission of infectious diseases.

The European Union (EU) has often been regarded as a prime mover in the cause of improved animal welfare. There is a great deal of European legislation to support this contention. This article discusses a recent case brought by the UK Government under Article 177 of the Treaty of Rome 1957 which challenges the assumption that EU law always favours animal welfare. We suggest that free trade is the driving force behind EU legislation and that where this conflicts with animal welfare, free trade is usually preferred.

The objective of this study was to describe the availability and use of designated hospital pens in Danish dairy herds and to analyse the association between availability and use of hospital pens and the herd-level incidence of reported disease treatments. Hospital pens were divided into either ‘individual hospital pens’ designed for only one animal or ‘group hospital pens’ designed for two or more animals. Questionnaires were sent to 350 dairy cattle herd owners. These questionnaires focused on four animal categories: dairy cows, heifers, males six months or older, and calves younger than six months. Depending on the category of animal, between 50 and 82% of the herds had access to individual hospital pens and between 39 and 65% of the herds had access to group hospital pens. Between nine and 24% of the herds did not have access to any type of hospital pens. The availability of hospital pens was generally higher for dairy cows than the other animal groups. There were significantly more reported treatments for hoof/leg disorders in herds with one or more cows in hospital pens at the day of visit.

For animals undergoing rehabilitation it is vital to monitor welfare in a way that is feasible, practical, and limits stress to the animal. The industry gold standard is to assess welfare under the Five Domains model, including nutrition, environment, physical health, and behaviour as the first four physical domains and mental domain as the fifth. Feasibility and effectiveness of these domains for assessing welfare of sea turtles undergoing rehabilitation were reviewed and it was determined that the mental state can be best assessed through behavioural changes. A scoping review of the literature was conducted using Scopus and Web of Science to investigate use of environmental enrichment devices (EEDs) as a measure of welfare in sea turtles. Behavioural assessments using EEDs were found to be well-documented; however, most EED studies pertained largely to livestock or zoo animals. Furthermore, studies rarely concentrated on reptiles, and specifically sea turtles. Results also showed that certain welfare assessment methods may be less appropriate for short-term captivity experienced during rehabilitation. Additionally, the hospital environment limits the ability to address some of the domains (ie biosecurity, feasibility, safety of turtle, etc, might be compromised). This review shows that only three of the nine environmental enrichment strategies described in the literature suit the specific requirements of sea turtles in rehabilitation: feeding, tactile, and structural. It is documented that turtles display behaviours that would benefit from EEDs and, therefore, more specific studies are needed to ensure the best welfare outcomes for sea turtles undergoing rehabilitation.

Population control of the house mouse (Mus musculus), Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) and black rat (Rattus rattus) is common practice worldwide. Our objective was to assess the impact on animal welfare of lethal and non-lethal control methods, including three dispatch methods. We used the Sharp and Saunders welfare assessment model with eight experts scoring eleven control methods and three dispatch methods used on the three species. We presumed the methods were performed as prescribed, only taking into account the effect on the target animal (and not, for example, on non-target catches). We did not assess population control efficacy of the methods. Methods considered to induce the least suffering to the target animal were captive-bolt traps, electrocution traps and cervical dislocation, while those with the greatest impact were anticoagulants, cholecalciferol and deprivation. Experts indicated considerable uncertainty regarding their evaluation of certain methods, which emphasises the need for further scientific research. In particular, the impact of hydrogen cyanide, chloralose and aluminium phosphide on animal welfare ought to be investigated. The experts also stressed the need to improve Standard Operating Procedures and to incorporate animal welfare assessments in Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The results of our study can help laypeople, professionals, regulatory agencies and legislators making well-informed decisions as to which methods to use when controlling commensal rodents.

The within-farm prevalence of vulva biting in breeding sows in south-west England was investigated using a postal survey sent to 410 pig farmers in January 1997. The response rate was 65 per cent and there were 83 useable replies. The majority of farms where vulva biting was reported indicated a low within-farm prevalence of 1-9 per cent of sows affected, although prevalences as high as 30-60 per cent were reported. The injuries reported ranged from bleeding to removal of the whole vulva, the most commonly reported injuries being bleeding and superficial damage to the vulva. No long-term effects from this injury to service and dry sows were reported by 70 per cent and 76 per cent of farmers respectively. Competition for food, aggressive sows, closeness to farrowing and mixing of sows were the most common reasons suggested by these farmers as causes of vulva biting.

Whale watching is defined as tours by air, sea or land to view any of the 86 reported species of whales, dolphins and porpoises in their natural habitat where a commercial aspect exists (IFAW 1999). Whale-watching platforms include small boats, sailboats, cruise ships, inflatables, kayaks, helicopters and airplanes, and the activity can also include observation from land-based sites and approaches made by swimmers. In addition to being non-disruptive to the cetacean population, ‘responsible whale watching’ has many potential educational, environmental, scientific and socioeconomic benefits for human communities (Hoyt & Iñíguez 2008). As a result, tourism of this kind can have a positive effect on nature through the promotion of a general interest and awareness in cetaceans, sustainable economic growth for local economies (which are often otherwise struggling), therefore providing multiple benefits, including improved motivation to preserve marine wildlife.

Chimpanzees are sometimes housed in conditions of restricted social contact during use in biomedical research, a practice that may adversely affect their behaviour. This study measured the impact of such conditions on levels of stereotyped body rocking in six young, nursery-reared chimpanzees. Subject age at the beginning of the biomedical research protocol ranged from 1.1 to 3.8 years. Over a six-month period the subjects were moved to a different facility. During this time they were used in a biomedical research study which involved some periods of single housing. They were then returned to their original facility. The percentage of time subjects devoted to stereotyped rocking was measured for 36 weeks before and 36 weeks after participation in the biomedical protocol. Data on body rocking were also analysed for a post-test control group of animals (n = 9) who had a similar history of handrearing, but who did not leave the facility to participate in a biomedical research study. The behavioural analyses included 263 hours of focal animal observational data and revealed that the experimental subjects devoted equivalent amounts of time to rocking before and after participation in the biomedical research protocol. The experimental subjects and the control subjects showed similar levels of rocking. These findings indicate that participation in this particular short-term biomedical research protocol did not affect the expression of stereotyped rocking in chimpanzees.

Around the world, people who care for animals as stock-keepers, stockmen, farmers, producers are placed in a position where they can greatly influence the quality of life of the animals they manage. A stock-keeper's viewpoint on animal welfare and animal care will be enormously influenced by their cultural frame, how animals are viewed in the society where they live, and how much ‘permission to care’ the individual stockman sees as being granted to them in the place where they work. Sometimes the capacity to care is subsumed by commercial production pressures, lack of time, lack of motivation, perceived lack of resources, perceived lack of ‘value’ for individual animals, lack of perception of animal issues, or sometimes through a lack of knowledge or exposure to concepts of animal care and welfare. The extent and focus of animal welfare training is moulded by the needs of the audience, the company, the retailer or the legislator. For these reasons ‘one size fits all’ training is not usually appropriate, although there may be some general rules which can be applied to nearly all welfare training. These general rules include: do not start by importing values and technology/procedures which those trained cannot use; understand why the people you train do what they do; the initial training should be sympathetic to local knowledge and resources; engage with the industry and its affiliates and if at all possible, obtain government, professional and academic support and involvement; and beware that in the absence of knowledge and training, new technologies and new procedures can create new welfare problems.

The rise in public interest in animal rights and welfare during the last two decades has been dramatic, and concern for zoo animals is evident throughout society in many South East Asian countries. It is essential that problems related to animal welfare are understood in order for zoos to make significant improvements in their professional and ethical standards. In this paper, I describe in detail the procedures of welfare and ethics evaluations in South East Asian zoos. Zoo evaluation is an ongoing process and is carried out on behalf of the South East Asian Zoos Association to evaluate the members of this organisation. During recent evaluations, several major and minor problems have been identified and constructive suggestions have been provided to zoo authorities which have in turn significantly improved the standards of animal welfare and ethics. Thus, the welfare evaluation procedures outlined in this paper could serve as a model for other zoos to follow — locally, regionally and globally.

Twin infant black and white ruffed lemurs, male and female, were fostered on a part-time basis, in conjunction with hand-rearing, with an adult pair who were highly related to them. The adult female showed allomaternal behaviour towards the twins, although she did not attempt to suckle them. The adult male ignored the twins for the first few weeks but as they became more mobile and playful he frequently initiated play with one or both. Growth rates showed a significant trend when compared with parentally raised and hand-reared infants, with the fostered twins growing at rates intermediate between those found under the two other rearing methods. Fostering of rejected infants as a captive management strategy is advocated as an alternative to traditional hand-rearing techniques because of the welfare advantages to both infants and foster parents.

Carbon dioxide stunning of broilers is not permitted in Germany. However, the competent authority can license a system for testing, during which scientific evaluation with regard to animal welfare is required. Between 2004 and 2011 several aspects of three systems have been evaluated in Germany and Italy under practical conditions including: (i) supply to the stunning system; (ii) induction conditions; (iii) stunning effectiveness; and (iv) process control. The systems were: (i) LINCO progressive gas-stunning system in which broilers in their transport crates are lowered stepwise into a pit filled with CO2 and exposed to slowly increasing concentrations of CO2 in air up to between 50 and 65% with total dwell times between 275 and 440 s depending on birds’ weight; (ii) Stork PMT two-phase gas-stunning system (40% CO2/30% O2/30%N2 for 1 min/80% CO2 for 2 min) in which broilers are tipped onto a belt, on which they pass through the gas atmospheres; and (iii) Anglia Autoflow two-phase CO2-stunning system, in which the birds are exposed to the atmosphere in their crates. Results on the third system are pending as the investigation is still ongoing. In systems (i) and (ii) analysis of behaviour showed that birds were only exposed to high CO2 concentration (> 40%) after becoming unconscious. Stunning effectiveness was very high but, nevertheless, occasionally birds (0.027% LINCO system and 0.003% Stork PMT system) were able to regain consciousness. Examples of evaluation of behaviour during induction are presented in this paper and animal welfare aspects are compared. Controlled-atmosphere stunning systems for broilers using less than 40% CO2 until animals are unconscious, show obvious advantages compared to electrical water-bath stunning, for example, the avoidance of shackling and achieving high stunning effectiveness.

This paper presents the report of a LASA workshop on developing the ethics component of the UK modular training system for laboratory animal scientists. The objectives were: (i) to define and agree the goals of ethics training; ii) to set out means of achieving these goals in terms of an appropriate syllabus, effective approaches to training, and the resources necessary; (iii) to define the audience - who should be trained and to what level; and iv) to consider the practicalities and means of assessment of prospective licensees. Although the focus was on the UK system, the issues are similar wherever ethics is taught in the laboratory animal context.

A keynote paper introduced the subjects for discussion and four course organizers then provided examples of current practice. Syndicate group sessions addressed questions in relation to the goals enumerated above. This report represents a summary of the papers, syndicate group discussions and conclusions of the workshop.

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are an economically and ecologically important fish species that interact with humans during farming, fishing and research operations. Routine handling in nets exposes fish to mesh and causes scale loss. To promote welfare and experimental refinement, a study was performed in a controlled environment to investigate the effect of net mesh type (rubber-coated or standard knotless, both bag volumes circa 7 l; mesh size: 6 mm) and the number of fish per net (capture density) on scale loss. Up to three large adult salmon (mean weight: 900 g) or 15 small smolts (mean weight: 145 g) were briefly captured in hand-nets during routine immersed-stock movement between tanks. Scales were recovered and counted from transportation containers, to establish a simple and rapid methodology. For both size grades, scale loss was generally proportional to capture density. For large adult salmon, scale loss significantly increased with capture density when knotless mesh was used, however the increase was less marked and not statistically significant for adults handled in rubber mesh. Small smolts also demonstrated significantly reduced scale loss when handled with rubber mesh, which increased gradually with capture density. In contrast, small smolts handled in knotless mesh showed greater scale loss as capture density increased. An overall reduction in scale loss with increased capture density was not shown, although the biomass loading per net used in this study were intentionally low (< 3.5 kg). This method suggests a low-tech and rapid approach to quantitatively compare net types and husbandry techniques and suggests a fundamental but simple improvement to salmonid handling in recreational and commercial operations. However, any correlation to conventional stress assays or behavioural observations remains to be established.

There has been insufficient research into CO2 stunning with regard to its effect on pigs being slaughtered. This lack of knowledge may be at least partly responsible for the partial rejection of CO2-stunning methods. During routine slaughter work, 598 pigs (average carcase weight: 94 kg) were evaluated. The stunning procedure was carried out in industrial stunning chambers with 90% CO2 by volume and an exposure time of either 120 or 90 s. The corneal reflex response was evaluated immediately prior to bleeding in order to determine the depth of narcosis. Blood was taken at slaughter (slaughter blood) to determine the partial pressure of breathing gases and the acid-base status. We found that CO2 stunning mainly produced hypoxaemia, but also normoand hyperoxaemia, in arteriovenous slaughter blood. No further positive reflex responses occurred at a pO2 threshold of ≤ 1.6 kPa. PCO2 increased to values of 40 kPa and above. This extreme hypercapnia resulted in a decrease of the slaughter blood pH with values of less than 7.00 (ie, strong respiratory acidosis). Starting with threshold values from pCO2 > 23 kPa and pH < 6.85, stunned pigs revealed only a few or no positive reflex responses, respectively. The non-respiratory Stewart-variable serum [SID3] was elevated to alkaline values of 65 mmol L−1 and above, in comparison to the normal values of 45 (± 2) mmol L−1. We conclude that the use of cut-off points such as the pH and/or pO2 in routine sampling of slaughter animals (eg by application of ion-sensitive electrodes) would establish the depth of narcosis in pigs destined for slaughter. The efficiency of monitoring could thereby be improved during slaughter, in line with the demands of animal welfare.

There has been an increased demand by some sections of society for higher farm animal welfare standards. In response, a number of programmes marketing products of animal origin, produced under higher animal welfare standards, have been established on the market in recent years. However, the market segments for products from so-called animal welfare programmes (AWPs) have remained small. Farmers are considered an important stakeholder group for higher market shares of more animal welfare-friendly products. Farmers’ decision to adapt their production to the requirements of AWPs is multi-dimensional, but always linked to financial incentives. Since little is known about the financial attractiveness of higher animal welfare standards in livestock farming, this study investigates the perceived economic success of 579 conventional farmers keeping livestock on their farms. The survey data were analysed using propensity score matching to assess the average effect of participation in AWPs on a farm's perceived profitability, liquidity and stability from the farmer's point of view. No significant effect was found of participation in AWPs on the economic success of farmers. The implications of this result are two-fold. On the one hand, it suggests that it is of particular importance to create further financial incentives to encourage farmers to take part in these programmes. On the other, it shows that farmers’ concerns that the required costly and highly specific investments will pay off are unfounded, as farmers participating in AWPs rate their own financial situation as equivalent to that of their colleagues not participating in AWPs.

Lion (Panthera leo) cubs are used in wildlife interaction tourism but the effects on cub welfare are unknown. We assessed the behaviour of three cohorts of lion cubs, twelve animals in total, at three different interaction facilities, using continuous and scan-sampling methodologies for the entire duration of cub utilisation for human interactions. Cubs spent most time inactive (62%), particularly sleeping (38%), but also spent a substantial amount of time playing (13%) and being alert (12%). A generalised linear mixed model revealed that cub behaviour was similar in two facilities but different from cubs in the third. In these two similar facilities, as human interactions increased, the time spent resting, sleeping and playing with other cubs decreased, and alert behaviour, grooming of humans and flight responses increased. In the third facility, cubs had an abnormal activity budget, with high levels of inactivity (80%) accompanied by a lack of response to human interactions. We conclude that in some facilities normal cub behaviour cannot be achieved and may be compromised by a high frequency of human interactions, which therefore needs to be controlled to limit adverse effects on cub behaviour.