Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Human Relationships With Domestic And Other Animals: One Health, One Welfare, One Biology, Ariel M. Tarazona, Maria C. Ceballos, Donald M. Broom

Human-Animal Relationships Collection

Excessive human population growth, uncontrolled use of natural resources, including deforestation, mining, wasteful systems, biodiversity reduction by agriculture, and damaging climate change affect the existence of all animals, including humans. This discussion is now urgent and people are rethinking their links with the animals we use for clothing, food, work, companionship, entertainment, and research. The concepts of one health, one welfare, and one biology are discussed as a background to driving global change. Nothing should be exploited without considering the ethics of the action and the consequences. This review concerns domesticated animals, including those used for human consumption of meat, …

Reported Acquisition Practices Of Australian Dog Owners, Simone A. Blackman, Bethany J. Wilson, Alistair R. Reed, Paul D. Mcgreevy

Rescue and Surrender of Companion Animals Collection

In Australia, the UK and the US dog ownership is prevalent with an estimated 40% of Australian households, 25% of UK households, and 50% of US households owning a dog. Once acquired, a dog usually becomes a family companion so, unlike a faulty product, it can rarely be returned or resold without some emotional impact on both the acquirer and the dog. Regarding the reality of dog relinquishment, there is a growing need for cross-disciplinary research that considers how dog owners are making their acquisition choices and, if prioritising different attributes, leads to more optimal acquisition choices. This research collected …

The Demography And Practice Of Australians Caring For Native Wildlife And The Psychological, Physical And Financial Effects Of Rescue, Rehabilitation And Release Of Wildlife On The Welfare Of Carers, Bruce Englefield, Steve Candy, Melissa J. Starling, Paul Mcgreevy

Human-Animal Bonds Collection

The rescue, rehabilitation and release of injured and orphaned Australian wildlife is managed by over 20,000 carers, mostly voluntarily. These volunteers experience mental, physical and financial challenges that have not been researched adequately. This study collated the responses (n = 316) to a survey conducted among Australian wildlife carers who actively foster orphaned joeys for hand-raising and injured adult mammals for rehabilitation and release. It confirmed 86% of rehabilitators are female, 70% are over the age of 46 years and their prime motivation is an affinity with animals. The average time spent in the sector is 11.5 years, and the …

Behavioural Risks In Female Dogs With Minimal Lifetime Exposure To Gonadal Hormones, Melissa J. Starling, Anne Fawcett, Bethany Wilson, James Serpell, Paul Mcgreevy

Physiology Collection

Spaying of female dogs is a widespread practice, performed primarily for population control. While the consequences of early spaying for health are still being debated, the consequences for behaviour are believed to be negligible. The current study focused on the reported behaviour of 8981 female dogs spayed before 520 weeks (ten years) of life for reasons other than behavioural management, and calculated their percentage lifetime exposure to gonadal hormones (PLGH) as a proportion of their age at the time of being reported to the online Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). We found that 23 behaviours differed between entire …

Companion Dog Acquisition And Mental Well-Being: A Community-Based Three-Arm Controlled Study, Lauren Powell, Kate M. Edwards, Paul D. Mcgreevy, Adrian Bauman, Anthony L. Podberscek, Brendon Neilly, Catherine Sherrington, Emmanuel Stamatakis

Human-Animal Relationships Collection

Background

Dog ownership is suggested to improve mental well-being, although empirical evidence among community dog owners is limited. This study examined changes in human mental well-being following dog acquisition, including four measures: loneliness, positive and negative affect, and psychological distress.

Methods

We conducted an eight-month controlled study involving three groups (n = 71): 17 acquired a dog within 1 month of baseline (dog acquisition); 29 delayed dog acquisition until study completion (lagged control); and 25 had no intentions of acquiring a dog (community control). All participants completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale (possible scores 0–60), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule …

Ethics And Care: For Animals, Not Just Mammals, Jennifer A. Mather

Speciesism and Breed Discrimination Collection

In the last few decades, we have made great strides in recognizing ethics and providing care for animals, but the focus has been mainly on mammals. This stems from a bias of attention not only in research but predominantly in non-scientists’ attention (to ‘popular’ animals), resulting partly from discussion about and depiction of animals in publications addressed to the public. This is somewhat due to political pressure, and can result in uneven conservation efforts and biases in targets for welfare concerns. As a result, there has been a huge backlash again, with concerns about pain sensitivity and welfare in fish, …

Don’T Demean “Invasives”: Conservation And Wrongful Species Discrimination, C. E. Abbate, Bob Fischer

Philosophy Faculty Research

It is common for conservationists to refer to non-native species that have undesirable impacts on humans as “invasive”. We argue that the classification of any species as “invasive” constitutes wrongful discrimination. Moreover, we argue that its being wrong to categorize a species as invasive is perfectly compatible with it being morally permissible to kill animals—assuming that conservationists “kill equally”. It simply is not compatible with the double standard that conservationists tend to employ in their decisions about who lives and who dies.

Assessing Undergraduate Student And Faculty Views On Animal Research: What Do They Know, Whom Do They Trust, And How Much Do They Care?, Eric P. Sandgren, Robert Streiffer, Jennifer Dykema, Nadia Assad, Jackson Moberg

Attitudes Toward Animal Research Collection

Research using animals is controversial. To develop sound public outreach and policy about this issue, we need information about both the underlying science and people’s attitudes and knowledge. To identify attitudes toward this subject at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we developed and administered a survey to undergraduate students and faculty. The survey asked respondents about the importance of, their confidence in their knowledge about, and who they trusted to provide information on animal research. Findings indicated attitudes varied by academic discipline, especially among faculty. Faculty in the biological sciences, particularly those who had participated in an animal research project, reported …

A Global Spatial Analysis Reveals Where Marine Aquaculture Can Benefit Nature And People, Seth J. Theuerkauf, James A. Morris Jr, Tiffany J. Waters, Lisa C. Wickliffe, Heidi K. Alleway

Aquaculture and Fisheries Collection

Aquaculture of bivalve shellfish and seaweed represents a global opportunity to simultaneously advance coastal ecosystem recovery and provide substantive benefits to humanity. To identify marine ecoregions with the greatest potential for development of shellfish and seaweed aquaculture to meet this opportunity, we conducted a global spatial analysis using key environmental (e.g., nutrient pollution status), socioeconomic (e.g., governance quality), and human health factors (e.g., wastewater treatment prevalence). We identify a substantial opportunity for strategic sector development, with the highest opportunity marine ecoregions for shellfish aquaculture centered on Oceania, North America, and portions of Asia, and the highest opportunity for seaweed aquaculture …

A Belmont Report For Animals?, Hope Ferdowsian, L. Syd M. Johnson, Jane Johnson, Andrew Fenton, Adam Shriver, John Gluck

Professional Science Research Ethics Collection

Human and animal research both operate within established standards. In the United States, criticism of the human research environment and recorded abuses of human research subjects served as the impetus for the establishment of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, and the resulting Belmont Report. The Belmont Report established key ethical principles to which human research should adhere: respect for autonomy, obligations to beneficence and justice, and special protections for vulnerable individuals and populations. While current guidelines appropriately aim to protect the individual interests of human participants in research, no similar, comprehensive, …

Where To Forage When Afraid: Does Perceived Risk Impair Use Of The Foodscape?, Samantha P.H. Dwinnell, Hall Sawyer, Jill E. Randall, Jeffery L. Beck, Jennifer S. Forbey, Gary L. Fralick, Kevin L. Monteith

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The availability and quality of forage on the landscape constitute the foodscape within which animals make behavioral decisions to acquire food. Novel changes to the foodscape, such as human disturbance, can alter behavioral decisions that favor avoidance of perceived risk over food acquisition. Although behavioral changes and population declines often coincide with the introduction of human disturbance, the link(s) between behavior and population trajectory are difficult to elucidate. To identify a pathway by which human disturbance may affect ungulate populations, we tested the Behaviorally Mediated Forage‐Loss Hypothesis, wherein behavioral avoidance is predicted to reduce use of available forage adjacent to …

A Delicate Balance: The Effects Of Habitat Type On Frog Communities: A Three-Pronged Study Examining The Effects Of Differing Habitat Characteristics On Anuran Diversity At El Centro De Investigación Sumak Kawsay In Situ, Ecuador, Zane Libke

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

We conducted 60 hours of visual encounter surveys and 3 hours of calling surveys on 6 different habitat types near Sumak Kawsay in situ Reserva (SKIS) near Mera, Pastaza, Ecuador. We defined habitat types defined by two variables: type of forest and proximity to water. The aim of the study was to determine what effect each variable has on anuran community composition. We compared the effectiveness of the two survey methods as well. High anuran community dissimilarity was found between each habitat type surveyed, indicating that both forest type and proximity to water are important factors that shape species richness …

The Effect Of Stray Dogs On Urban Arusha Residents And Existing Preventative Measures, Brooke Magliabatista

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The study at hand encompasses interviews and observations conducted in three areas of Urban Arusha. The areas of choice are Njiro Complex, Sinoni, and Kaloleni areas, in addition to interviews with individuals situated at Clocktower, input from a veterinary practitioner and information gathered from the organization Mbwa Wa Africa situated next to the Arusha National Park. The study took place from Nov. 7-Nov 26, 2019. The interviews include random sampling of local populations and encompassed pre-formed survey questions for each level of person interviewed. The question being addressed ask: what is the dynamic between Arusha residents and stray dogs, and …

From Traps To Snapshots: Examining The Ecology Of Feral Predators And Native Small Mammals In Southeastern Australia Through Case Studies Of Two Faunal Sampling Methods, Katherine Karson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and feral cat (Felis catus) are introduced mesopredators that significantly threaten native small mammal species in Australia. For decades, environmental managers have attempted to mitigate the effects of these introduced species. However, ecosystems are highly complex, making it difficult to assess the impacts of feral predators on communities of native fauna independent of other disturbances such as fire regime and habitat fragmentation. Cost-effective ecological monitoring programs are imperative for evaluating threats to native species and informing environmental decisions. New technology has become increasingly present in wildlife monitoring, and camera trapping has provided an alternative to …

Leopards Are Good To Think With: Spotting The Zanzibar Leopard In Jozani Forest, Andrew Weier

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this project, the modern narrative of the Zanzibar leopard was studied in Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park. Game cameras were installed and various locations around the national park to try and gather primary evidence that supported the existence of a leopard population in the forest. In addition, local community members were interviewed about recent leopard related activities. No biological evidence was gathered that supported the existence of the Zanzibar leopard and information collected from interviews indicated a potential shift in which other organisms are considered leopards. Recommendations were made for future research to be able to better understand the complex …

Activity, Distribution, And Density Of Brown Rats (Rattus Norvegicus) On Misali Island, Pemba Island, Tanzania, Raegan Hasselbring

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project investigated the activity, distribution, and density of brown rats (R. norvegicus) on Misali Island, Pemba. These factors were studied through field observations conducted over a 21-day observation period. Brown rats were highest in density around areas of human activity, attracted to the detritus, an ample food source. Although highest in density in these areas, a greater total population of brown rats was distributed in the coastal forest due to its proportion of area on the overall island. In the forest, the rats were most active along the coastal sections for unknown and unexplored reasons – possibly due to …

Cambios En El Cronograma De Temporadas Reproductivas De Pingüinos De Magallanes (Spheniscus Magellanicus): Relaciones Entre Eventos Fenológicos Y Variables Climáticas, Grace Neumiller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Estudios a largo plazo han demostrado que hay fluctuaciones a lo largo de la fenología de la vida silvestre a causa de los cambios climáticos (Black, 2016). Los pingüinos de Magallanes (Spheniscus magellanicus) exhiben cambios en el cronograma de los eventos fenológicos de sus temporadas reproductivas a causa de variables oceanográficas y climáticas de su ambiente. A partir de fotos de cámaras trampas, este trabajo describe y analice algunos eventos en la fenología de los pingüinos de Magallanes en Isla Martillo, Canal Beagle, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina: el inicio de la temporada reproductiva, el periodo de muda de pichones, y …

Mann, Joan E. (Fa 1321), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1321. Campbellsville College student folk studies project titled “Local Tales” which includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of local tales from Jefferson, Marion, Nelson, and Washington counties in Kentucky. Sheets may include a brief description of traditional tale and informant’s name, age, and location of birth.

Harbison, Kay (Fa 1322), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1322. Campbellsville College student folk studies project titled “Country Stores, Mad Dogs, and Legends of Hickory College Community” which includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of local tales in the Hickory College area of Metcalfe County, Kentucky. Sheets may include a brief description of a traditional tale or legend and informant’s name, age and county of birth.

Effects Of Creep Feeding And Its Interactions With Other Factors On The Performance Of Meat Goat Kids And Dams When Managed On Pasture, Emily G. Hayes, Raquel V. Lourençon, Richard Browning Jr.

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Creep feeding and its possible interactions with other influential factors (genetics, litter type, and sex) for weaning traits were studied in meat goat kids and their dams. Kids across 3 yr were creep fed (254 kids; 5 pens) or not creep fed (255 kids; 5 pens) from 30 to 90 d of age. Creep-fed kids had higher (P ≤ 0.05) preweaning average daily weight gain and weaning weights (113.1 ± 13.0 g/d; 15.0 ± 0.8 kg) than kids not creep fed (99.8 ± 13.1 g/d; 14.0 ± 0.8 kg). However, financial returns were not higher (P > 0.05) for …

Adaptation Of The Systematic Review Framework To The Assessment Of Toxicological Test Methods: Challenges And Lessons Learned With The Zebrafish Embryotoxicity Test, Martin L. Stephens, Sevcan Gül Akgün-Ölmez, Sebastian Hoffman, Rob De Vries, Burkhard Flick, Thomas Hartung, Manoj Lalu, Alexandra Maertens, Hilda Witters, Robert Wright, Katya Tsaioun

Toxicology and Animal Models in Research Collection

Systematic review methodology is a means of addressing specific questions through structured, consistent, and transparent examinations of the relevant scientific evidence. This methodology has been used to advantage in clinical medicine, and is being adapted for use in other disciplines. Although some applications to toxicology have been explored, especially for hazard identification, the present preparatory study is, to our knowledge, the first attempt to adapt it to the assessment of toxicological test methods. As our test case, we chose the zebrafish embryotoxicity test (ZET) for developmental toxicity and its mammalian counterpart, the standard mammalian prenatal development toxicity study, focusing the …

Animal Research, Accountability, Openness And Public Engagement: Report From An International Expert Forum, Elisabeth H. Ormandy, Daniel M. Weary, Katarina Cvek, Mark Fisher, Kathrin Herrmann, Pru Hobson-West, Michael Mcdonald, William Milsom, Margaret Rose, Andrew Rowan, Joanne Zurlo, Marina A.G. Von Keyserlingk

Oversight of Animal Experimentation Collection

In November 2013, a group of international experts in animal research policy (n = 11) gathered in Vancouver, Canada, to discuss openness and accountability in animal research. The primary objective was to bring together participants from various jurisdictions (United States, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom) to share practices regarding the governance of animals used in research, testing and education, with emphasis on the governance process followed, the methods of community engagement, and the balance of openness versus confidentiality. During the forum, participants came to a broad consensus on the need for: (a) evidence-based metrics to …

An Epidemiological Study Of Diabetes Mellitus In Dogs Attending First Opinion Practice In The Uk, Madeleine Mattin, Dan G. O'Neill, David B. Church, Paul D. Mcgreevy, Peter C. Thomson, Dave C. Brodbelt

Epidemiology Collection

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of canine diabetes mellitus (DM) in primarycare clinics in England, to identify risk factors associated with DM and to describe the survival of affected dogs.

Methods: Cases of DM were identified within the electronic patient records of 89 small-animal practices. A nested case-control study identified risk factors for the diagnosis of DM using logistic regression models. Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyse variables associated with survival.

Results: Four-hundred and thirty-nine canine DM cases were identified, giving an apparent prevalence of 0.34% (95% confidence interval 0.31 - 0.37%). Neutered males were at an increased …

A Moral Panic Over Cats, William S. Lynn, Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila, Joann Lindenmayer, John Hadidian, Arian D. Wallach, Barbara J. King

Stray and Feral Animal Populations Collection

Some conservationists believe that free-ranging cats pose an enormous risk to biodiversity and public health and therefore should be eliminated from the landscape by any means necessary. They further claim that those who question the science or ethics behind their arguments are science deniers (merchants of doubt) seeking to mislead the public. As much as we share a commitment to conservation of biodiversity and wild nature, we believe these ideas are wrong and fuel an unwarranted moral panic over cats. Those who question the ecological or epidemiological status of cats are not science deniers, and it is a false analogy …

An Exploration Of Attitudes Toward Dogs Among College Students In Bangalore, India, Shelly Volsche, Miriam Mohan, Peter B. Gray, Madhavi Rangaswamy

Anthropology Faculty Research

Conversations in the field of anthrozoology include treatment and distinction of food animals, animals as workers versus pests, and most recently, emerging pet trends including the practice of pet parenting. This paper explores attitudes toward pet dogs in the shared social space of urban India. The data include 375 pen-and-paper surveys from students at CHRIST (Deemed to be University) in Bangalore, India. Reflecting upon Serpell’s biaxial concept of dogs as a relationship of affect and utility, the paper considers the growing trend of pet dog keeping in urban spaces and the increased use of affiliative words to describe these relationships. …

Is Animal Suffering Really All That Matters? The Move From Suffering To Vegetarianism, Carlo Alvaro

Publications and Research

The animal liberation movement, among other goals, seeks an end to the use of animals for food. Philosophers who write against animal exploitation agree on the goal but differ in their approaches: Deontologists argue that rearing animals for food infringes animals’ inherent right to life. Utilitarians claim that discontinuing the use of animals for food will result in the maximization of utility. Virtue-oriented theorists argue that using animals for food is an unvirtuous practice. Despite their different approaches, arguments for vegetarianism or veganism have a common step. They move from the notion of suffering to the conclusion of vegetarianism or …

Contribution Of Animal Models To Contemporary Understanding Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Constança Carvalho, Mariana Vieira Crespo, Luísa Ferreira Bastos, Andrew Knight, Luís Vincente

Biomedicine and Animal Models in Research Collection

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a poorly understood neurodevelopmental disorder of multifactorial origin. Animal-based research has been used to investigate ADHD etiology, pathogenesis and treatment, but the efficacy of this research for patients has not yet been systematically evaluated. Such evaluation is important given the resource consumption and ethical concerns incurred by animal use.

We used the citation tracking facility within Web of Science to locate citations of original research papers on animal models related to ADHD published prior to 2010 identified in PubMed by relevant search terms. Human medical papers citing those animal studies were carefully analyzed by …

Goats Distinguish Between Positive And Negative Emotion-Linked Vocalisations, Luigi Baciadonna, Elodie Briefer, Livio Favaro, A. G. Mcelligott

Bioacoustics Collection

Background: Evidence from humans suggests that the expression of emotions can regulate social interactions and promote coordination within a group. Despite its evolutionary importance, social communication of emotions in non-human animals is still not well understood. Here, we combine behavioural and physiological measures, to determine if animals can distinguish between vocalisations linked to different emotional valences (positive and negative). Using a playback paradigm, goats were habituated to listen to a conspecific call associated with positive or negative valence (habituation phase) and were subsequently exposed to a variant of the same call type (contact call) associated with the opposite valence (dishabituation …

Herzog & Rowan, Isaz 2019 Meeting Presentation, Harold Herzog, Andrew N. Rowan

Demographics and Populations

The presentation covers differences in relative pet dog (dogs per 1,000 people) and cat populations in different states in the United States and in different countries around the world.

Automated Monitoring Of Behaviour In Zebrafish After Invasive Procedures, Anthony G. Deakin, Jonathan Buckley, Hamzah S. Alzu'bi, Andrew R. Cossins, Joseph W. Spencer, Waleed Al'nuaimy, Iain S. Young, Jack S. Thomson, Lynne U. Sneddon

Validation of Animal Experimentation Collection

Fish are used in a variety of experimental contexts often in high numbers. To maintain their welfare and ensure valid results during invasive procedures it is vital that we can detect subtle changes in behaviour that may allow us to intervene to provide pain-relief. Therefore, an automated method, the Fish Behaviour Index (FBI), was devised and used for testing the impact of laboratory procedures and efficacy of analgesic drugs in the model species, the zebrafish. Cameras with tracking software were used to visually track and quantify female zebrafish behaviour in real time after a number of laboratory procedures including fin …