Routine handling has been shown to affect stress levels in a variety of animal species. This could result in a general decrease in welfare and may confound the results of scientific experiments or observations on captive study animals. In reptiles, there seems to be variation in the effects of handling on stress levels. Furthermore, most studies on reptiles only look at the effect of handling in the short term. In this study we quantified the physiological and behavioural impact of being held, twice daily, for 1 min at a time over a three-week period on the green anole (Anolis carolinensis). Measurements were collected at the end of the three-week repeated handling period. Our results showed no effect of repeated handling on body mass, tail-base width, heterophil to lymphocyte ratios (H/L ratios), behaviour and faecal corticosterone metabolite (FCM) levels for both males and females in the experimental treatments (‘handled’, ‘unhandled’). Our study animals did score very highly for several stress-indicating variables in the three weeks preceding the experiments — suggesting that they had experienced considerable stress during capture, transport and temporary housing in the pet store.

An increasing public concern over the welfare of livestock species is motivating more producers to consider changes to production practices. Providing environmental enrichment for intensively housed animals is one such potentially welfare-enhancing change. The goal of environmental enrichment is to provide biologically relevant environmental stimuli that allows an animal to perform highly motivated, species-specific behaviours. To date, there is no research specific to the applicability of environmental enrichment for commercial boars (Sus scrofa domesticus), nor on commercial boar welfare in general. In this study, eight individually housed, mature boars were observed to prefer interacting with hanging cotton rope enrichment over hanging rubber chew sticks when given the option. There was a significantly negative correlation between the amount of time boars spent interacting with rope and the amount of time they spent performing stereotypic pen manipulation, suggesting that the rope was more effective at reducing stereotypic behaviour than the rubber. Such reductions in amount of time spent performing abnormal stereotypic behaviours could indicate that some of the animals’ behavioural needs are being met by the enrichment object. Thus, the results of this study could help provide producers with more objective, research-based suggestions concerning the efficacy of practical enrichment choices for individually housed boars.

High calf mortality rate is a significant problem facing semi-domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) production around the world. Mortality rates, commonly due to predation, can range from 5 to 70%, which constitutes a great welfare concern. This study examined the influence of quantifiable maternal characteristics on reindeer calf survival. Data were compiled from 18 years’ worth of records on the survival of calves in the Cairngorm reindeer herd (Scottish Highlands, UK). Overall, mortality rate of calves (n = 635) in the herd was 34.9% to six months old, rising to 47.8% by one year old. For both Total Calf Survival (including perinatal losses) and Postnatal Calf Survival (excluding perinatal losses) of calves up to six months old, the only maternal trait found to significantly influence calf survival was the age of the cow at calving. Calves of very young and old cows showed higher mortality rates. Only 40% of the cows were associated with 77% of calf deaths and it was demonstrated that there were significant individual differences between cows in relation to their ability to consistently rear calves successfully. These findings can be applied to reduce calf mortality within herds, guiding selection towards females with successful reproductive histories and with ages falling in the prime productive range (3-11 years old). Additionally, annual variation had a highly significant influence on calf survival with rising mortality over the recorded period, indicating a role of environment on survival and an avenue for further research to investigate the impact of external factors, such as climate and pathogen load on post-natal loss.

Each year large numbers of puppies and kittens are taken to animal shelters and veterinary groups for euthanasia. These unwanted young animals are largely the result of the indiscriminate breeding of household dogs and cats. The surplus animals not killed by shelter personnel and/or by veterinarians are often abandoned or escape, and are the root cause of the stray and feral, dog and cat problem.

With this issue the UFAW journal Animal Welfare enters its second year. It is appropriate here to thank two of the Section Editors, Professor Anton Beynen and Dr James Serpell for the work they did on Volume 1 of the journal; they have now stood down as active members of the editorial team but have joined the group of Editorial Advisers. We welcome the two new Section Editors, Professor Jann Hau and Dr Dennis Turner.

Despite increased concerns about dairy cattle welfare, there is a paucity of knowledge regarding their welfare and the attitudes of farmers and veterinarians in the Western Balkan region. This is the first on-farm study to address dairy cattle welfare and the attitudes of farmers and veterinarians towards animal welfare in Kosovo. Thirty tie-stall dairy farms across seven Kosovo regions were assessed twice with an interval of 10 to 12 months. During the first visit, the Welfare Quality® assessment protocol was applied, whilst the second visit focused on clinical animal-based indicators and interviews with the farmers regarding intervention thresholds for a number of welfare indicators. Additionally, such thresholds were obtained from 15 veterinarians via an online questionnaire. The main areas of concern that were highlighted relate to comfort around resting (soiling of animals, restriction of lying down movements) and injuries, including lameness. Farmers and veterinarians agreed on the intervention thresholds for the majority of the indicators (eg animals with dirty udders, animals with lesions/swellings) but differences were found for important health and welfare issues (eg farmers suggesting a higher threshold for lameness compared to veterinarians). Compared to the on-farm prevalences, both farmers and veterinarians suggested lower intervention levels for welfare issues indicating an awareness of problems. In conclusion, investments into close co-operation between farmers, veterinarians and other advisors regarding awareness-building and inducing changes in daily management routines are considered necessary to improve dairy cow welfare.

Brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) is a major welfare concern in flat-faced dog breeds. As BOAS causes respiratory difficulties and exercise intolerance, it can reduce dogs’ daily quality of life (QOL). However, evaluation of QOL in dogs is difficult, and many owners perceive BOAS signs as ‘normal’ for the breed. Accelerometers that measure frequency, duration and intensity of activities can offer an objective way of evaluating dogs’ daily activity and thereby deliver potential insights into QOL. The aim of this study was to assess habitual physical activity of 48 brachycephalic and 23 non-brachycephalic dogs using accelerometers. The accelerometers were used for one week and owners filled in a questionnaire regarding their dog’s well-being and activities. Veterinary-assessed BOAS grading for brachycephalic dogs was determined. Compared with controls, more severely affected French Bulldogs and Pugs had significantly lower total activity counts and spent less time in high activity. In Pugs, mildly affected dogs were also less active, but age can be a contributing factor here, as older age decreased activity in Pugs and controls showed a wider age range. In French Bulldogs, those dogs with no or mild signs of BOAS did not differ from controls regarding their daily activity. In conclusion, accelerometers were easy to use for objective measurement of daily activity in bracycephalic dogs, although a degree of discomfort due to the collar was reported. Results showed that BOAS signs were associated with decreased habitual physical activity. These findings emphasise the importance of actions taken to reduce incidence of BOAS in brachycephalic breeds.

The aim of this study was to develop an on-farm dairy cattle welfare assessment protocol at different-sized farms in two major commercial dairy farming states in India. For developing the protocol, the basic ‘Integrative Diagnostic System Welfare’ (IDSW) framework was modified to include three welfare components (animal housing and other facilities; feeds and feeding practices; and animal health, performance and behaviour) and 20 welfare indicators (ten resource- and ten animal-based). Each indicator was weighed on a value scale with an aggregate welfare score of 100. The protocol was tested for feasibility, validity and reliability using Cronbach's alpha and Guttman split-half coefficient. Using this protocol, welfare was assessed on 60 commercial farms in Punjab and 50 in Haryana, divided into three adult herd sizes: small (S < 20), medium (M = 21–50) and large (L > 50). Welfare scores in L (76.60 [± 1.70]) and M (68.40 [± 2.27]) sized herds in Punjab were higher than in S herds (60.80 [± 2.77]). In Haryana these were higher in L (68.1 [± 1.18]) than in S (60.50 [± 2.74]) and M (59.35 [± 2.17]) sized herds. The aggregate average welfare score was higher in Punjab (68.60 [± 1.49]) than in Haryana (62.65 [± 2.02]). Welfare at more than 75% of the farms in Punjab and more than 50% of those in Haryana was judged as ‘acceptable.’ Six welfare indicators in Punjab and eight in Haryana were most compromised. Four indicators (microclimate protection measures, availability of milking parlour, cow cleanliness and reproductive efficiency) were the most compromised indicators in both states. To improve dairy cattle welfare in these states we recommend an emphasis on improving housing and feeding conditions, especially at small and medium farms, along with heat stress amelioration measures and improving hygiene and reproductive efficiency at all farms.

Captive bolts or firearms are unsuitable for euthanasia of livestock when an intact brain is required for diagnostics. Injectable barbiturates can be used, but this method carries risk of poisoning animals eating the carcase. Intravenous saturated salt solutions have been used to euthanase heavily sedated ruminants and are cheap, readily available and not a risk to scavenging animals. However, there is concern that they may be painful or cause distress to animals that are not unconscious. This study aimed to determine the suitability of saturated salt solutions, in combination with xylazine, as a method of euthanasia of ruminants using a sheep model. Thirty-two sheep were sedated with xylazine (0.4 mg kg-1 IM) and euthanased with an intravenous overdose of pentobarbitone (PENT; n = 10), saturated potassium chloride (KCL; n = 11) or saturated magnesium sulphate (MGS; n = 10). Time until end of rhythmic breathing and cardiac arrest, and movement events were recorded. Conscious perception of pain was evaluated by measuring cortical brain activity by electroencephalography (EEG). There was no evidence of perceived pain or unpleasant sensory experience for any treatment as indicated by P50, P95 and Ptot and so all methods were deemed humane. Time until transient EEG was comparable for all treatments. Time until onset of isoelectric EEG was prolonged for KCL. Animals euthanased with KCL consistently exhibited severe reflex movements during infusion (eg kicking, convulsion). No severe movement events were observed in animals euthanased with MGS, hence, physiological and movement data support the preferential use of MGS over KCL.

Animal well-being issues are addressed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through a variety of agencies and in various formats. Most farmers are good stewards of their animals and will raise them according to societal demands as supported by market choices. Management standards that are perceived to improve upon current practices are being demanded of farmers by buyers of animal products, including corporate restaurant chains and groceries. Professional organisations, USDA, and university representatives, help to address well-being issues and help to create and evaluate standards. The USDA provides leadership in several cooperative programs involving activists and industry, coordinates certification programs, and provides liaisons to multi-state university research committees. A USDA Animal Well-Being Work Group facilitates communications among agency personnel. The USDA developed the Animal Welfare Issues Compendium, a national animal well-being symposium, and cooperates with industry, activists and universities on projects. The USDA provides grant funds for projects that are encouraged to include a component on animal well-being. Special grant funds from Congress have resulted in educational and research projects that complement existing USDA national research and educational initiatives. Regulatory commitments by USDA include the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

Capture-mark-recapture (CMR) repeated at intervals is a commonly used method of population estimation of mammals. Most guidelines for the use of wild mammals recommend adequate measures to ensure a captured animal has food and water available, as needed, until it is released. Small mammals are often highlighted as needing special care, but recommendations are either less clear or absent for medium- and large-sized mammals. We therefore examined the short-term welfare implications of CMR trapping of medium-sized mammals, using the marsupial, brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) as a case study. Possums were caught in cage traps baited with circa 30 g of food and set for three consecutive days at monthly intervals. Timing devices on the traps measured when traps were sprung. Possums were confined in traps for, on average, 89% of each night they were trapped, plus a further 2-6 h between sunrise and the actual time of release from the traps. They lost 3-8% of their bodyweight on average, depending on the number of captures in a trapping session. A recently developed framework for humaneness assessment, based on five welfare domains, gave an overall welfare impact of mild-moderate for cage trapping of possums. The short-term solutions to these welfare impacts would be, at a minimum, to provide trapped possums with adequate additional food and water, and minimise their time spent in the traps. Guidelines for the use of wild animals in research and management could also be more prescriptive regarding the provision of food and water in studies of medium-sized mammals that involve repeated capture.

Several established models in human and veterinary medicine exist to evaluate an individual health or disease status. Many of these seem unsuitable for further epidemiological research aimed at discovering underlying influential factors. As a case example for score development and choice, the present study analyses different approaches to scoring the foot health of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) living in European facilities. Sum scores with varying degree of detail, and without or with a weighting method, were compared using descriptive statistics, ie kurtosis, skewness, Shannon entropy, total redundancy, their maximum and their actual ranges. With increasing score complexity, a higher level of differentiation was reached. In parallel, the distribution of score frequencies in the population shifted systematically: with the least complex scoring model the pattern indicated a severely unhealthy population with an opposite skew to a hypothetically healthy population, whereas the most complex scoring model indicated a mildly affected population with a skew corresponding to that expected for a healthy population. We propose the latter, in the form of the Particularised Severity Score (ParSev), which accounts for every nail and pad individually and weights the sub-scores by squaring, as the most relevant score for further investigations, either in assessing changes within an elephant population over time, or correlating foot health in epidemiological studies to potentially influencing factors. Our results emphasise the relevance of choosing appropriate scoring models for welfare-associated evaluations, due to implications for the applicability as well as the perceived welfare status of the test population.

The adoption of slaughter and pre-slaughter techniques to improve animal welfare and meat quality and safety is dependent on providing appropriate information, application and enforcement as well as information ownership by local people. The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and Beijing Chaoyang Anhua Animal Product Safety Research Institute (APSRI) have been running a humane slaughter programme in China for more than three years. The aim of the programme is to improve the welfare of animals slaughtered in China through a three-pronged approach: i) train core-plant mid-level managers to be humane slaughter trainers; ii) provide guidance on legislation and codes of practice; and iii) develop and implement pre-slaughter and slaughter animal welfare curricula for undergraduate veterinarians. The production of in-country training material is based on a training-needs analysis conducted prior to the programme. Four Chinese trainers have completed the training and become national level trainers. In the last three years they have trained more than 5,000 staff from 800 slaughterhouses. Technical standards for slaughtering pigs, based on those of the OIE, have been adopted in China and the veterinary curriculum development is progressing. The programme has introduced many positive changes to the Chinese slaughter industry and the signs are positive for good progress.