Digital Commons Network^™

The Behavioural Response Of Migrating Humpback Whales To A Full Seismic Airgun Array, Rebecca A. Dunlop, Michael J. Noad, Robert D. Mccauley, Eric Kniest, Robert Slade, David Paton, Douglas H. Cato

Anthropogenics and Population Decline Collection

Despite concerns on the effects of noise from seismic survey airguns on marine organisms, there remains uncertainty as to the biological significance of any response. This study quantifies and interprets the response of migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to a 3130 in³ (51.3l) commercial airgun array. We compare the behavioural responses to active trials (array operational; n = 34 whale groups), with responses to control trials (source vessel towing the array while silent; n = 33) and baseline studies of normal behaviour in the absence of the vessel (n = 85). No abnormal behaviours were recorded …

Evaluation Of Animal-Based Indicators To Be Used In A Welfare Assessment Protocol For Sheep, Susan E. Richmond, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Ina Beltran De Heredia, Roberto Ruiz, Elisabetta Canali, Cathy M. Dwyer

Farm Animal Welfare Collection

Sheep are managed under a variety of different environments (continually outdoors, partially outdoors with seasonal or diurnal variation, continuously indoors) and for different purposes, which makes assessing welfare challenging. This diversity means that resource-based indicators are not particularly useful and, thus, a welfare assessment scheme for sheep, focusing on animal-based indicators, was developed. We focus specifically on ewes, as the most numerous group of sheep present on farm, although many of the indicators may also have relevance to adult male sheep. Using the Welfare Quality® framework of four Principles and 12 Criteria, we considered the validity, reliability, and feasibility of …

Does The Stress Inherent To Laboratory Life And Experimentation On Animals Adversely Affect Research Data?, Jarrod Bailey

Validation of Animal Experimentation Collection

Stress and distress in laboratory animals is often inherent and unavoidable. The effect of these factors on the reliability and relevance of experimental data is not sufficiently appreciated. Greater awareness, debate and discussion of this issue are urgently required.

The Mental Homologies Of Mammals. Towards An Understanding Of Another Mammalsworld View, Marthe Kiley-Worthington

Theory of Mind Collection

Mammals’ mental homologies include that they look after their young, suckle and protect them; they acquire information about the world by learning. They have five types of sensory receptors and a brain to analyze the information and they feel: that is they are sentient. Mental homologies have been largely ignored by behavioural scientists since Darwin because of certain historical beliefs. This however has not been the case for people who have had to do with non-human mammals who have long recognized their mental similarities to humans. As a result, behavioural science has sponsored some inappropriate research (examples are given). The …

“Everyday” Knowledge And A New Paradigm Of Animal Research, David Fraser, Jeffrey M. Spooner, Catherine A. Schuppli

Validation of Animal Experimentation Collection

Commentary on Marino and Allen (2017) The Psychology of Cows

Addressing The Challenges Of Conducting Observational Studies In Sheep Abattoirs, Elyssa Payne, Melissa Starling, Paul Mcgreevy

in Situ Research Models Collection

The competing needs of maintaining productivity within abattoirs, and maintaining high standards of animal welfare, provide fertile grounds for applied research in animal behavior. However, there are challenges involved in capturing useful behavioral data from the supply chain (from paddock to processing plant). The challenges identified in this report are based on a review of the scientific literature as well as field study observations. This article describes those challenges as they relate to collecting behavioral data on livestock-herding dogs, humans and livestock as they interact in abattoirs, and provides insights and recommendations for others embarking on animal studies in confined …

26 Things You Probably Didn’T Know About Our Love For Pets, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

A controversial new book explains how pets make us human.

Why Do People Think Animals Make Good Therapists?, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

New study helps explain why the "animal-assisted therapy" meme has gone viral.

Legislating Components Of A Humane City: The Economic Impacts Of The Austin, Texas "No Kill" Resolution (City Of Austin Resolution 20091105-040), Sloane Hawes, Devrim Ikizler, Katy Loughney, Philip Tedeschi, Kevin Morris

Animal Law and Legislation Collection

This report investigates and measures the economic impacts of the City of Austin Resolution 20091105-040, commonly referred to as the “No Kill” resolution, utilizing standard impact assessment methodology. Resolution 20091105-040 resulted in the implementation of a series of recommendations that included achieving and maintaining a 90% Live Release Rate for all companion animals housed at the City of Austin’s municipal animal shelter.

In addition to exploring the specific economic impacts of Resolution 20091105- 040, this report also outlines, but does not quantify, the potential broader impacts of the Resolution on human, animal, and environmental health. These areas of impact include: …

Mismeasured Mortality: Correcting Estimates Of Wolf Poaching In The United States, Adrian Treves, Kyle A. Artelle, Chris T. Darimont, David R. Parsons

Wildlife Population Management Collection

Measuring rates and causes of mortalities is important in animal ecology and management. Observing the fates of known individuals is a common method of estimating life history variables, including mortality patterns. It has long been assumed that data lost when known animals disappear were unbiased. We test and reject this assumption under conditions common to most, if not all, studies using marked animals. We illustrate the bias for 4 endangered wolf populations in the United States by reanalyzing data and assumptions about the known and unknown fates of marked wolves to calculate the degree to which risks of different causes …

Surveys Of The Street And Private Dog Population: Jamnagar, Gujarat India, Tamara Kartal, Amit Chaudhari

Stray and Feral Animal Populations Collection

Humane Society International (HSI) conducted two dog population surveys in all 4 Zones of Jamnagar (human population of 609,613). One was a street dog survey and the other was a survey of the private (pet) dog population.

Wound Healing In Rabbit Corneas After Flapless Refractive Lenticule Extraction With A 345 Nm Ultraviolet Femtosecond Laser, Christian M. Hammer, Corinna Petsch, Jörg Klenke, Katrin Skerl, Christian Wüllner, Christof Donitzky, Friedrich Paulsen, Michael Scholz, Theo Seiler, Friedrich E. Kruse, Johannes Menzel-Severing

Biomedicine and Animal Models in Research Collection

Purpose

To characterize corneal wound healing in a rabbit model after flapless refractive lenticule extraction with a 345 nm ultraviolet femtosecond laser.

Setting

Departments of Ophthalmology and Anatomy II, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and Wavelight GmbH, Erlangen, Germany.

Design

Methods

Flapless refractive lenticule extraction was performed in 1 eye each of 20 New Zealand white rabbits (−5.0 diopters). Groups of 4 animals were euthanized after 48 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 3 months, respectively. Corneal samples were prepared for histology and fluorescence microscopy. To assess corneal cell death, proliferation, and myofibroblastic transdifferentiation, terminal uridine deoxynucleotidyl nick end-labeling (TUNEL) …

The Inconvenient Truth About Thinking Chickens, Lori Marino

Animal Sentience

Original Abstract: Domestic chickens are members of an order, Aves, which has been the focus of a revolution in our understanding of neuroanatomical, cognitive, and social complexity. Some birds are now known to be on a par with many mammals in their intelligence, emotional sophistication, and social interaction. Yet views of chickens have largely remained unrevised in light of this new evidence. In this paper, I examine the data on cognition, emotions, personality, and sociality in chickens, exploring such areas as self-awareness, cognitive bias, social learning and self-control, and comparing their abilities with other birds and other vertebrates, particularly …

Sex Differences In The Herding Styles Of Working Sheepdogs And Their Handlers, Erin Kydd, Paul Mcgreevy

Livestock and Working Dogs Collection

Working sheepdog trials test the attributes of dogs as well as the dogmanship and stockmanship skills of handlers. They generally include standard elements such as outrun, lift, fetch, drive, shed, pen and single to test all facets of the work that dogs perform on a farm. While both male and female handlers participate, these trials are traditionally dominated by male handlers. Both male and female dogs compete on equal terms within the same events. Drawing data from files (n = 60) downloaded from YouTube, the current study explores whether behaviours of dogs and their handlers during sheepdog trials differ between …

Considering Aspects Of The 3rs Principles Within Experimental Animal Biology, Lynne U. Sneddon, Lewis G. Halsey, Nic R. Bury

Biomedical Research and Alternative Methods Collection

The 3Rs – Replacement, Reduction and Refinement – are embedded into the legislation and guidelines governing the ethics of animal use in experiments. Here, we consider the advantages of adopting key aspects of the 3Rs into experimental biology, represented mainly by the fields of animal behaviour, neurobiology, physiology, toxicology and biomechanics. Replacing protected animals with less sentient forms or species, cells, tissues or computer modelling approaches has been broadly successful. However, many studies investigate specific models that exhibit a particular adaptation, or a species that is a target for conservation, such that their replacement is inappropriate. Regardless of the species …

Report On Owned Dog Population Survey In Cebu City, Philippines, Kazami Joanne Amano, Tamara Kartal

Demography and Statistics for Companion Animal Populations Collection

Many Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines have been dealing with rabies for a long time. In the Philippines alone, there are about 200 human deaths reported annually. The vast majority of which are caused by dog bites (Deray, 2015). Domestic dogs have been reported as the source of infection of more than 95% of human rabies cases worldwide (Cleaveland, et al., 2006). It is therefore a good strategy to focus on the source in order to eliminate rabies. The recommendation of the World Health Organization is to reach at least 70% vaccination coverage of the existing domestic dog population …

Online Hunting Forums Identify Achievement As Prominent Among Multiple Satisfactions, Alena M. Ebeling-Schuld, Chris T. Darimont

Big-Game and Trophy Hunting Collection

Understanding hunter satisfactions can lead to improved wildlife management policy and practice. Whereas previous work has suggested that hunters often seek multiple satisfactions (achievement, affiliation, appreciation), little is known about how satisfactions might vary with target species. Additionally, past research has mostly gathered data using interviews and surveys, which might limit scope as well as introduce strategic bias for potentially provocative subjects such as hunting. To address these gaps, we analyzed data from online hunting forums, which provide an open-access source of peer-to-peer discussion that is geographically and taxonomically broad. We used directed qualitative content analysis to analyze hunting narratives …

Letter, Jarrod Bailey

Opposition to Animal Research Collection

In a recent publication in Lab Animal,1 a nonhuman primate (NHP) researcher at the California National Primate Research Center, USA, argued for the continued importance of experiments on macaques for better understanding HIV and AIDS, and for tackling the virus and the disease with therapies and vaccines. Though the stance of the author is far from surprising, given his background and current employer (an organisation which houses around 5000 monkeys for research), the paper, even as comprehensive as it is, is not sufficiently critical of NHP experiments and overlooks a number of their deficiencies and established problems with them. Given …

People -- Marine Mammal Interactions, Andrew Butterworth, Mark P. Simmonds

Our relationships with marine mammals are complex. We have used them as resources, and in some places this remains the case; viewed them as competitors and culled them (again ongoing in some localities); been so captivated and intrigued by them that we have taken them into captivity for our entertainment; and developed a lucrative eco-tourism activity focused on them in many nations. When we first envisaged this special topic, we had two overarching aims:

Firstly, we hoped to generate critical evaluation of some of our relationships with these animals.

Secondly, we hoped to attract knowledgeable commentators and experts who might …

International Consensus Principles For Ethical Wildlife Control, Sara Dubois, Nicole Fenwick, Erin A. Ryan, Liv Baker, Sandra E. Baker, Ngaio J. Beausoleil, Scott Carter, Barbara Cartwright, Federico Costa, Chris Draper, John Griffin, Adam Grogan, Gregg Howald, Bidda Jones, Kate E. Littin, Amanda T. Lombard, David J. Mellor, Daniel Ramp, Catherine A. Schuppli, David Fraser

Ethics and Conservation Biology Collection

Human–wildlife conflicts are commonly addressed by excluding, relocating, or lethally controlling animals with the goal of preserving public health and safety, protecting property, or conserving other valued wildlife. However, declining wildlife populations, a lack of efficacy of control methods in achieving desired outcomes, and changes in how people value animals have triggered widespread acknowledgment of the need for ethical and evidence-based approaches to managing such conflicts. We explored international perspectives on and experiences with human–wildlife conflicts to develop principles for ethical wildlife control. A diverse panel of 20 experts convened at a 2-day workshop and developed the principles through a …

Cephalopod Complex Cognition, Jennifer Mather

Cognitive Ethology Collection

Cephalopods, especially octopuses, offer a different model for the development of complex cognitive operations. They are phylogenetically distant from the mammals and birds that we normally think of as ‘intelligent’ and without the pervasive social interactions and long lives that we associate with this capacity. Additionally, they have a distributed nervous system — central brain, peripheral coordination of arm actions and a completely separate skin appearance system based on muscle-controlled chromatophores. Recent research has begun to show how these apparently separate systems are coordinated. Learning and cognition are used toward prey, in antipredator actions and in courtship. These examples show …

Report On Owned Dog Population Survey In Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines, Kazami Joanne Amano, Tamara Kartal, Amit Chaudhari

Demography and Statistics for Companion Animal Populations Collection

The Philippines has consistently been one of the top countries with an existing rabies problem. There is an average of 200 human rabies deaths reported annually, the majority of which are caused by dog bites (Deray, 2015). Globally, more than 95% of human rabies cases have been reported to have domestic dogs as their sources of infection (Cleaveland, et al., 2006). Therefore, it is paramount to address the rabies problem by focusing on the source. It has been established that communities achieve at least 70% vaccination coverage of the dog population to eliminate canine rabies (WHO, 2015) and maintain the …

Advances In Neuroscience Imply That Harmful Experiments In Dogs Are Unethical, Jarrod Bailey, Shiranee Pereira

Professional Science Research Ethics Collection

Functional MRI (fMRI) of fully awake and unrestrained dog 'volunteers' has been proven an effective tool to understand the neural circuitry and functioning of the canine brain. Although every dog owner would vouch that dogs are perceptive, cognitive, intuitive and capable of positive emotions/empathy, as indeed substantiated by ethological studies for some time, neurological investigations now corroborate this. These studies show that there exists a striking similarity between dogs and humans in the functioning of the caudate nucleus (associated with pleasure and emotion), and dogs experience positive emotions, empathic-like responses and demonstrate human bonding which, some scientists claim, may be …

The European Politics Of Animal Experimentation: From Victorian Britain To ‘Stop Vivisection’, Pierre-Luc Germain, Luca Chiapperino, Giuseppe Testa

Attitudes Toward Animal Research Collection

This paper identifies a common political struggle behind debates on the validity and permissibility of animal experimentation, through an analysis of two recent European case studies: the Italian implementation of the European Directive 2010/63/EC regulating the use of animals in science, and the recent European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) 'Stop Vivisection'. Drawing from a historical parallel with Victorian antivivisectionism, we highlight important threads in our case studies that mark the often neglected specificities of debates on animal experimentation. From the representation of the sadistic scientist in the XIX century, to his/her claimed capture by vested interests and evasion of public …

Absence Of Typical Haversian System From The Compact Bone Of Some Reptile And Bird Species, Yasser Ahmed, Mohamed Abdelsabourv Khalaf, Fatma Khalil

Histology Collection

Background and Objective: Mammalian compact bone is composed mostly of Haversian system. Although there are many studies describing the typical Haversian system in mammals, there are few studies conducted on bones from non-mammalian species. The objective of the current study was to investigate the existence of the typical Haversian system in compact bones from reptiles and birds.

Materials and Methods: Femora were collected from geckos, Nile monitors, sparrows, ducks and geese. Samples were then, fixed in 10% paraformaldehyde and embedded in paraffin. Paraffin sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin or Von Kossa and then examined using light microscopy.

Results: …

Exploring The Differences Between Pet And Non-Pet Owners: Implications For Human-Animal Interaction Research And Policy, Jessica Saunders, Layla Parast, Susan H. Babey, Jeremy V. Miles

Human-Companion Animal Relationships Collection

There is conflicting evidence about whether living with pets results in better mental and physical health outcomes, with the majority of the empirical research evidence being inconclusive due to methodological limitations. We briefly review the research evidence, including the hypothesized mechanisms through which pet ownership may influence health outcomes. This study examines how pet and non-pet owners differ across a variety of sociodemographic and health measures, which has implications for the proper interpretation of a large number of correlational studies that attempt to draw causal attributions. We use a large, population-based survey from California administered in 2003 (n = 42,044) …

African Penguins Follow The Gaze Direction Of Conspecifics, Christian Nawroth, Egle Trincas, Livio Favaro

Social Cognition Collection

Gaze following is widespread among animals. However, the corresponding ultimate functions may vary substantially. Thus, it is important to study previously understudied (or less studied) species to develop a better understanding of the ecological contexts that foster certain cognitive traits. Penguins (Family Spheniscidae), despite their wide interspecies ecological variation, have previously not been considered for cross-species comparisons. Penguin behaviour and communication have been investigated over the last decades, but less is known on how groups are structured, social hierarchies are established, and coordination for hunting and predator avoidance may occur. In this article, we investigated how African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) …

Stress Profile Influences Learning Approach In A Marine Fish, Vincent Raoult, Larissa Trompf, Jane E. Williamson, Culum Brown

Personality Collection

The spatial learning skills of high and low stress juvenile mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) were tested in a dichotomous choice apparatus. Groups of fish were formed based on background blood cortisol levels and required to learn the location of a food reward hidden in one of two compartments. Low stress fish characterised by low background levels of the stress hormone cortisol had higher activity levels and entered both rewarded and unrewarded rooms frequently. Within the first week of exposure, however, their preference for the rewarded room increased, indicative of learning. Fish that had high background levels of cortisol, in …

Intrapopulation Diversity In Isotopic Niche Over Landscapes: Spatial Patterns Inform Conservation Of Bear–Salmon Systems, Megan S. Adams, Christina N. Service, Andrew Bateman, Mathieu Bourbonnais, Kyle A. Artelle, Trisalyn Nelson, Paul C. Paquet, Taal Levi, Chris T. Darimont

Population Distribution and Habitat Collection

Intrapopulation variability in resource acquisition (i.e., niche variation) influences population dynamics, with important implications for conservation planning. Spatial analyses of niche variation within and among populations can provide relevant information about ecological associations and their subsequent management. We used stable isotope analysis and kernel-weighted regression to examine spatial patterns in a keystone consumer–resource interaction: salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) consumption by grizzly and black bears (Ursus arctos horribilis, n = 886; and Ursus americanus, n = 557) from 1995 to 2014 in British Columbia (BC), Canada. In a region on the central coast of BC (22,000 km² ), grizzly bears consumed …

Skeptics And “The White Stuff” : Promotion Of Cows’ Milk And Other Nonhuman Animal Products In The Skeptic Community As Normative Whiteness, Corey Lee Wrenn

Dietary Choice and Foods of Animal Origin Collection

This article discusses a dairy advertising campaign featuring skeptic Derren Brown. I explore the various health claims made in the ads as well as a report Brown featured on his website that claimed consumption of cow’s milk is linked to longevity. I discuss how dairy consumption is largely linked to race and ethnicity. It is a practice enjoyed primarily by European whites as most nonwhites are lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerance is a normal biological process associated with weaning, but it is medicalized and made deviant because it is not part of the white experience. I also mention comments made by …