This study investigated the temperature of pigs’ blood as it flowed from the sticking wound at exsanguination using infra-red thermometry and how it might reflect changes in core body temperature. A total of 417 pigs were monitored over a three-day period, which included a subset of 206 pigs for which additional information concerning transport conditions and ambient temperature was also known. The range of blood temperatures recorded was large (35.6-43.2°C) with a significant number of the animals found to have blood temperatures above the pigs’ normal temperature (39 ± l°C). Within the subset of pigs, average blood temperature of all the pigs in a pen at slaughter appeared to be related to pen temperatures and position on the lorry and was sensitive enough to detect changes in environmental ambient conditions.

Stereotypies are frequently associated with sub-optimal captive environments and are used as welfare indicators. However, susceptibility to stereotypy can vary across individuals of the same group. As such, identifying which individuals are more susceptible to this behaviour may be helpful in managing this issue. We have investigated which sex-age class of semi-captive capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp) is more susceptible to stereotypic behaviours and evaluated whether or not they are also more affected by the social factors that typically influence and increase allostatic load. To accomplish this, we used instantaneous sampling to collect data on a group of capuchins kept on an island in an urban park in São Paulo, Brazil. We found that sub-adult males were the only sex-age class to display stereotypic behaviours and they all displayed pacing. Furthermore, 33% of sub-adult males also exhibited a second stereotypic behaviour associated with their pacing. Compared to the other sex-age classes, sub-adult males had a higher participation in social conflicts and experienced higher social isolation. Sub-adult males also demonstrated a lower level of positive social interactions. All of these factors typically increase allostatic load. We suggest that distal causation of the observed pacing behaviour would be the ecological/evolutionary need of sub-adult males to disperse from their natal group and that the proximal causation would relate to the high allostatic load from social sources. We recommend that managers of zoos and other facilities monitor changes in the social composition of captive groups and evaluate individuals’ age so that necessary alterations may be made, where appropriate, to reduce allostatic load and generate better welfare at individual and group levels.

Human approach tests are generally accepted as valid measures of the human-animal relationship and hence are widely included in on-farm welfare assessment protocols. Most measures of avoidance response to human approach in production animals have been developed and tested under experimental conditions rather than on commercial farms, thereby making the results less relevant for operational on-farm animal welfare assessment. By contrast, the current study was conducted on calves in their home pens. On 110 Norwegian dairy farms, 548 group-housed calves (aged 22-288 days) were tested individually for their behavioural response to an unfamiliar human approach by a single test person. To conduct the test, the respective calf manager administered concentrates to the manger, followed by the test person who approached each animal in turn in a standardised manner. The avoidance response of the individual calf was categorised as 0 to 5 (maximal to no avoidance) in reaction to an attempted approach and head touch by the test person. The statistical analyses showed that heifer calves were more avoidant compared to bull calves, as were younger bulls compared to older bulls, and that overall avoidance increased in calves that were not tested first.

This paper highlights the essential need for appropriate statistical design and randomisation in laboratory animal studies. Using an example of a 21 day weight gain study in mice, we show that without the use of an appropriate statistical design and randomisation, incorrect conclusions may have been drawn. We used an experimental design that allowed comparisons to be made between five treatments that were free from systematic error. Two alternative designs that are practically attractive, yet had no statistical basis, are also described in this paper and the potentially incorrect conclusions highlighted. The use of appropriate statistical design is ethical because it results in clear, unambiguous conclusions. Conclusions that may be biased or ambiguous will require verification by further research and this, in the long term, is contrary to the reduction element of the Three Rs.

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.

Pens for farmed mink (Neogale vison) commonly include separate nesting areas to provide privacy and warmth in the perinatal period. However, standard bedding materials may not be sufficient to allow intrinsically motivated nest-building behaviours in dams. Further, these materials may not produce optimal nest structures for the rearing of kits. In the present study, we provided extra, relatively high-quality nest-building materials and a chewable sisal rope enrichment for mink dams in the perinatal period (a group enriched at whelping; EW). The effects of these enrichments on various measures of welfare and maternal behaviour were compared to those of mink dams in standard housing (SH) and mink dams whose kits were enriched later in development (EK). EW dams performed less stereotypic behaviour and built higher quality nests than dams of other housing conditions, although dams’ basal faecal cortisol metabolite levels (FCM) were not affected. The stress responsiveness of these dams’ offspring was later assessed by sampling FCM before and after a handling event, however, this event did not appear to induce a measurable stress response and thus no conclusions could be drawn regarding effects of perinatal enrichment on HPA-axis development. Overall, provision of higher quality nest-building materials and a chewable rope enrichment benefited dam stereotypic behaviour and nest building in the perinatal period. We present suggestions for future studies to further investigate whether perinatal enrichment can impact maternal care and offspring HPA-axis development in mink.

The capture of wild-living animals can provide valuable information that is critical in developing and implementing effective conservation actions. These capture procedures, however, often require direct handling of individuals by researchers, and conservationists should constantly seek to improve capture methods so that the impacts on animal welfare are minimised. The ngwayir (western ringtail possum; Pseudocheirus occidentalis) is a critically endangered arboreal marsupial in need of effective conservation. It is, however, not amenable to conventional trapping, leading to the use of methods such as nest robbing and tranquilisation using dart guns or pole syringes, which involve potentially serious animal welfare risks and longer exposure of animals to humans as compared to conventional trapping. In pursuit of an improved capture method, we investigated opportunistically whether placing traps above the ground would increase the capture success rate of the species, using wire cage traps baited with universal bait and fruit. Between 2010 and 2019, we deployed trapping grids in Locke Nature Reserve and adjacent campsites near Busselton, WA, Australia, with traps placed on the ground for 1,985 trap nights and traps placed on horizontal tree branches, fallen trees or fences, 1–2 m above ground for 694 trap nights. With the above ground traps we trapped 82 ngwayirs out of 694 trap nights, 27 in autumn and 55 in spring. We also captured eleven common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula; 1.6% trap success rate), 12 King’s skinks (Egernia kingii; 1.7%) and five black rats (Rattus rattus; 0.7%). Trapping success rate was higher in elevated traps (up to 18.3%) compared to traps on the ground (0.5%) and using fruit as bait increased the trap success rate. These results suggest that using elevated traps baited with fruit is a practical, effective method to capture the ngwayir.

Multiple benefits of freight rail activity have been shown for commercial agribusiness, yet the effects of freight rail-related noise and vibration on domestic livestock health and welfare has so far received little research attention. This scoping review examines peer-reviewed and grey literature addressing associations between freight rail noise, vibration and impacts on domestic livestock. Six databases (Scopus, Science Direct, SAGE, TRID, SPARK, ARRB) were searched for relevant literature published from 1980–2019. PRISMA search procedures were used to identify 28 publications relevant to domestic livestock, as well as noise or vibration impact of rail applicable to the freight rail context. Included publications addressed a range of livestock and related species, covering descriptive, review, and experimental findings on noise and vibration impacts. Five publications addressed vibration effects, and 23 addressed noise effects. Effects of noise and vibration on different species indicated that adverse effects vary depending on exposure intensity. The literature indicates that specific thresholds for noise and vibration exposure should be considered when managing freight rail impacts on commercial agribusiness involving avian and mammalian species. Freight rail noise and vibration likely exceeds thresholds for discomfort and harm for avian and mammalian species. Future research should consider case studies that specifically focus on integrating freight rail noise and vibration data to derive species-specific guides for animal health and welfare purposes.

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.

Major advancements in ecology and biodiversity conservation have been made thanks to methods for marking and individually tracking animals. Marking animals is both widely used and controversial due to the potential consequences for animal welfare, which are often incompletely evaluated prior to implementation. Two outstanding knowledge gaps concerning the welfare consequences of individual marking are their short-term behavioural impacts and the relative impacts from marking versus the handling of animals while carrying out procedures. We addressed these knowledge gaps through an experimental study of alpine newts (Ichthyosaura alpestris) in which we varied handling and marking procedures. Examining individual responses to handling, toe clipping and visible implant elastomer (VIE) injection over 21 days showed that handling and marking elicited increased newt activity and hesitancy to feed compared to animals that did not get handled or marked. These effects were apparent even when animals were handled only (not marked), and marking did not further increase the magnitude of responses. Increases in newt activity and feeding hesitancy were transient; they were not observed in the weeks following handling and marking. While previous studies emphasise the welfare impacts of marking procedures themselves, these findings highlight that handling alone can elicit behavioural changes with possible costs to welfare. Yet, the transient nature of behavioural responses suggests that immediate costs of handling may be subsequently compensated for in the short term.

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.