Digital Commons Network^™

Human-Dog Interactions & Municipal Policy, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

In 2009, a nationwide survey in Bosnia asking people about the threats in their local communities found that some communities were concerned about roaming dogs (rather than mine fields, crime or some other social ill). More specifically, the complaints mentioned dog attacks on people and domestic livestock. A Humane Community Development project in seven municipalities in Bosnia in 2013 proved very successful. The project has been very successful with reports of not only a significant reduction in roaming dogs and related problems but also greater citizen engagement with one another leading to improved civic cooperation both within and between the …

Is Animal-Based Biomedical Research Being Used In Its Original Context?, Constança Carvalho, Daniel Alves, Andrew Knight, Luís Vicente

Validation of Animal Experimentation Collection

No abstract provided.

Critically Evaluating Animal Research, Andrew Knight

Validation of Animal Experimentation Collection

No abstract provided.

Genetic Modification Of Animals: Scientific And Ethical Issues, Jarrod Bailey

Genetic Engineering and Cloning Collection

No abstract provided.

Animal Experimentation: Working Towards A Paradigm Change, Kathrin Herrmann (Ed.), Kimberley Jayne (Ed.)

eBooks

Animal experimentation has been one of the most controversial areas of animal use, mainly due to the intentional harms inflicted upon animals for the sake of hoped-for benefits in humans. Despite this rationale for continued animal experimentation, shortcomings of this practice have become increasingly more apparent and well-documented. However, these limitations are not yet widely known or appreciated, and there is a danger that they may simply be ignored. The 51 experts who have contributed to Animal Experimentation: Working Towards a Paradigm Change critically review current animal use in science, present new and innovative non-animal approaches to address urgent scientific …

Corridors & Crossings: Advancing Connectivity Conservation, Elizabeth Fairbank, Aaron Laur

WellBeing News

The movement of species and the flow of ecological processes are being interrupted by human development. Natural areas are losing vital connections once used by wildlife to migrate, disperse, mate, feed, and thrive. The Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC) fosters networks of communities and institutions to identify the threats to ecological connectivity and prioritize science, policy, and management actions across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments.

Ecological Connectivity: A Report On Transportation Infrastructure Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

In 2019, the first African conference on linear infrastructure was held in South Africa. The Center for Large Landscape Conservation produced a report for this the conference on investments in linear infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa showing proposed linear infrastructure and its likely impact on conservation.

Role Of Zoos & Aquaria In The 21st Century, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Zoos and aquaria have gone through a number of changes over the last 150 years. They began as expressions of colonial reach and power (pre-1900) but then developed into institutions of civic pride before morphing into conservation centers in the last fgifty years of the 20th century. They are now heavily involved in public education. With the world's wildlife on the edge of catastrophe, zoos and aquaria must now use their public reach as effectively as possible to influence global policy on wildlife protection and conservation.

Why Do Kids Become Less Attached To Pets As They Get Older?, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

Children become less involved with their pets when they enter adolescence.

Publication Reform To Safeguard Wildlife From Researcher Harm, Kate A. Field, Paul C. Paquet, Kyle A. Artelle, Gilbert Proulx, Ryan K. Brook, Chris T. Darimont

Professional Science Research Ethics Collection

Despite abundant focus on responsible care of laboratory animals, we argue that inattention to the maltreatment of wildlife constitutes an ethical blind spot in contemporary animal research. We begin by reviewing significant shortcomings in legal and institutional oversight, arguing for the relatively rapid and transformational potential of editorial oversight at journals in preventing harm to vertebrates studied in the field and outside the direct supervision of institutions. Straightforward changes to animal care policies in journals, which our analysis of 206 journals suggests are either absent (34%), weak, incoherent, or neglected by researchers, could provide a practical, effective, and rapidly imposed …

Roads, Transport Corridors, Infrastructure And Wildlife, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

New road construction is projected to add 25 million kilometers of paved roads by 2050 (enough to encircle the earth 600 times). At least 3,700 major hydropower projects are planned or underway not to mention new mining, fossil-fuel, and other extractive projects. Africa is proposing numerous development corridors across the continent while South America’s Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure is similar. Roads and transportation corridors have a devastating impact on wildlife and wild places.

Urban Wildlife, John Hadidian

WellBeing News

Cities are emerging as important “novel ecosystems” to which many species of urban wildlife are adapting and within which others already are thriving and finding sanctuary. Cities can be havens for rare and endangered species of animals and serve as focal areas for the emergence of new forms as adaptation to the requirements of urban life drives species evolution.

Wildlife Declines And Mammalian Biomass, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Only 4% of the global biomass of terrestrial mammals currently is wild. The remaining biomass is either human (36%) or domestic mammals ((60%). Given the large declines in wildlife numbers in the past fifty years, it is imperative that the world rethinks its approach to "sustainable" (?) use of wildlife.

Recent Research Shows How To Get People To Cut Back On Meat, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

We could save millions of animals by eating one additional meatless meal a week.

Should Self-Driving Cars Spare People Over Pets?, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

Is valuing human life over animal life a culturally universal rule?

Media Coverage Of Pet Therapy Research Often Gets It Wrong, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

What a study of therapy dogs on kids with cancer really found.

Crispr-Mediated Gene Editing: Scientific And Ethical Issues, Jarrod Bailey

Genetics Collection

There remains substantial evidence to warrant great concern over the poor efficiency and specificity of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-mediated genetic modification (GM), despite relatively minor improvements compared to other GM methods. These issues cause persistent, adverse, ethical, and scientific consequences for GM animals, which may never be sufficiently resolvable.

Canine Dystocia In 50 Uk First-Opinion Emergency Care Veterinary Practices: Clinical Management And Outcomes, Dan G. O'Neill, Aoife M. O'Sullivan, Erin A. Manson, David B. Church, Paul Mcgreevy, Amanda K. Boag, Dave C. Brodbelt

Natology Collection

Canine dystocia is a relatively common veterinary presentation. First opinion emergency care clinical data from 50 Vets Now clinics across the UK were used to explore dystocia management and outcomes in bitches. Caesarean section (CS) was performed on 341/701 (48.6 per cent (95 per cent CI 44.9 to 52.4)) of dystocia cases. The bulldog (OR 7.60, 95 per cent CI 1.51 to 38.26, P=0.014), Border terrier (OR 4.89, 95 per cent CI 0.92 to 25.97, P=0.063) and golden retriever (OR 4.07, 95 per cent CI 0.97 to 17.07, P=0.055) had the highest odds of CS among dystocic bitches compared with …

Salmonid Species Diversity Predicts Salmon Consumption By Terrestrial Wildlife, Christina N. Service, Andrew N. Bateman, Megan S. Adams, Kyle A. Artelle, Thomas E. Reimchen, Paul C. Paquet, Chris T. Darimont

Habitat and Trophic Ecology Collection

1. Resource waves—spatial variation in resource phenology that extends feeding opportunities for mobile consumers—can affect the behaviour and productivity of recipient populations. Interspecific diversity among Pacific salmon species (Oncorhynchus spp.) creates staggered spawning events across space and time, thereby prolonging availability to terrestrial wildlife.

2. We sought to understand how such variation might influence consumption by terrestrial predators compared with resource abundance and intra- and interspecific competition.

3. Using stable isotope analysis, we investigated how the proportion of salmon in the annual diet of male black bears (Ursus americanus; n = 405) varies with species diversity and density of spawning …

Recent Efforts To Elucidate The Scientific Validity Of Animal-Based Drug Tests By The Pharmaceutical Industry, Pro-Testing Lobby Groups, And Animal Welfare Organisations, Jarrod Bailey

Validation of Animal Experimentation Collection

Background: Even after several decades of human drug development, there remains an absence of published, substantial, comprehensive data to validate the use of animals in preclinical drug testing, and to point to their predictive nature with regard to human safety/toxicity and efficacy. Two recent papers, authored by pharmaceutical industry scientists, added to the few substantive publications that exist. In this brief article, we discuss both these papers, as well as our own series of three papers on the subject, and also various views and criticisms of lobby groups that advocate the animal testing of new drugs.

Main text: We argue …

Human-Baboon Conflict Mitigation, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

The chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) is one of the largest of all monkeys and is a relatively common sight in the Cape Province in South Africa. The baboons have learned that food and people are closely linked. Individual baboons have even learned to open car doors and raid refrigerators in Cape Town. This conflict is widespread in South Africa but this is a description of how the Greyton community is resolving this conflict.

Well-Being For People, Animals And Environment, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Improving the long-term well-being of people should, with suitable foresight and wisdom, also involve improving the well-being of animals and the environment, and vice-versa. There should be ways to improve the well-being of all three elements of the PAE (people, animals, and the environment) triad by paying more attention to all of them and focusing on the intersections when looking at strategies to achieve well-being goals. Typically, most well-being (happiness) projects focus mainly on anthropocentric outcomes and impacts. However, we will include animals and the environment as equal partners in order to maximize the well-being of all life both locally …

Bridging The Divide Between Animal Protection And Traditional Conservation Biology, William S. Lynn, John Hadidian

WellBeing News

It was some time before wildlife conservation came to be recognized as a science but its focus was mainly on the regulation of game species through hunting seasons. The modern development of Conservation Biology, following the environmental revolution of the 1970s, focused on the preservation of species, with little to no focus placed on individual animals. This led conservationists and animal welfare advocates to regard each other with suspicion and distrust. That division is now being challenged with the rise of alternative paradigms of conservation, one of which is called Compassionate Conservation that takes the well-being of wild lives as …

Farm Animal Cognition—Linking Behavior, Welfare And Ethics, Christian Nawroth, Jan Langbein, Marjorie Coulon, Vivian Gabor, Susan Oesterwind, Judith Benz-Schwarzburg, Eberhard Von Borell

Social Cognition Collection

Farm animal welfare is a major concern for society and food production. To more accurately evaluate animal farming in general and to avoid exposing farm animals to poor welfare situations, it is necessary to understand not only their behavioral but also their cognitive needs and capacities. Thus, general knowledge of how farm animals perceive and interact with their environment is of major importance for a range of stakeholders, from citizens to politicians to cognitive ethologists to philosophers. This review aims to outline the current state of farm animal cognition research and focuses on ungulate livestock species, such as cattle, horses, …

Welfare Challenges Influence The Complexity Of Movement: Fractal Analysis Of Behaviour In Zebrafish, Anthony G. Deakin, Joseph W. Spencer, Andrew R. Cossins, Iain S. Young, Lynne U. Sneddon

Experimental Research and Animal Welfare Collection

The ability to assess welfare is an important refinement that will ensure the good condition of animals used in experimentation. The present study investigated the impact of invasive procedures on the patterns of movement of zebrafish (Danio rerio). Recordings were made before and after fin clipping, PIT tagging and a standard pain test and these were compared with control and sham handled zebrafish. The fractal dimension (FD) from the 3D trajectories was calculated to determine the effect of these treatments on the complexity of movement patterns. While the FD of zebrafish trajectories did not differ over time in either the …

Canine Endogenous Oxytocin Responses To Dog-Walking And Affiliative Human–Dog Interactions, Lauren Powell, Kate M. Edwards, Adrian Bauman, Adam J. Guastella, Bradley Drayton, Emmanuel Stamatakis, Paul Mcgreevy

Human-Animal Interactions Collection

Several studies suggest human–dog interactions elicit a positive effect on canine oxytocin concentrations. However, empirical investigations are scant and the joint influence of human–dog interaction and physical activity remains unexplored. The aims of the current study were to (a) examine the canine endogenous oxytocin response to owner-led dog-walking and affiliative human–dog interactions and (b) investigate the moderating effect of the owner-reported strength of the human–dog bond on such responses. Twenty-six dogs took part in a random order cross-over trial, involving dog-walking and human–dog interactions. Urinary samples were collected before and after each condition. The data were analyzed using linear mixed …

Perceptual Lateralization Of Vocal Stimuli In Goats, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Communication Skills Collection

Functional asymmetries, for example, the preferential involvement of 1 brain hemisphere to process stimuli, may increase brain efficiency and the capacity to carry out tasks simultaneously. We investigated which hemisphere was primarily involved in processing acoustic stimuli in goats using a head-orienting paradigm. Three playbacks using goat vocalizations recorded in different contexts: food anticipation (positive), isolation (negative), food frustration (negative), as well as 1 playback involving dog barks (negative) were presented on the left and right sides of the test subjects simultaneously. The head-orienting response (left or right) and latency to resume feeding were recorded. The direction of the head-orienting …

Perceptual Lateralization Of Vocal Stimuli In Goats, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Social Cognition Collection

Functional asymmetries, for example, the preferential involvement of 1 brain hemisphere to process stimuli, may increase brain efficiency and the capacity to carry out tasks simultaneously. We investigated which hemisphere was primarily involved in processing acoustic stimuli in goats using a head-orienting paradigm. Three playbacks using goat vocalizations recorded in different contexts: food anticipation (positive), isolation (negative), food frustration (negative), as well as 1 playback involving dog barks (negative) were presented on the left and right sides of the test subjects simultaneously. The head-orienting response (left or right) and latency to resume feeding were recorded. The direction of the head-orienting …

Decrease In Population And Increase In Welfare Of Community Cats In A Twenty-Three Year Trap-Neuter-Return Program In Key Largo, Fl: The Orcat Program, Matt Parker, Julie Levy, Rachael Kreisler, Heather Cornell

Management - TNR

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a long-term (23-year) trap-neuter-return program on the population size of community cats in the Ocean Reef Community and to describe the demographic composition and outcome of enrolled cats. A retrospective study was performed using both cat census data collected between 1999 and 2013 as well as individual medical records for cats whose first visit occurred between 3/31/1995 and 12/31/2017. Medical record entries were reviewed to determine program inputs, cat outcomes, retroviral disease prevalence, and average age of first visit, sterilization, and death through 6/11/2018. Change over time was analyzed …

Decrease In Population And Increase In Welfare Of Community Cats In A Twenty-Three Year Trap-Neuter-Return Program In Key Largo, Fl: The Orcat Program, Rachael Kreisler, Heather Cornell, Julie Levy

Management - TNR

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a long-term (23-year) trap-neuter-return program on the population size of community cats in the Ocean Reef Community and to describe the demographic composition and outcome of enrolled cats. A retrospective study was performed using both cat census data collected between 1999 and 2013 as well as individual medical records for cats whose first visit occurred between 3/31/1995 and 12/31/2017. Medical record entries were reviewed to determine program inputs, cat outcomes, retroviral disease prevalence, and average age of first visit, sterilization, and death through 6/11/2018. Change over time was analyzed …