Animal Studies Commons^™

The Creation Of Transgenic Animal “Models” For Human Genetic Disease, Bernard Rollin

Biomedicine and Animal Models in Research Collection

Transgenic animals will be created to study human genetic disease as soon as the technological capability exists to do so. Extant laws permit such animals to be created. The mindset of the research community makes it inevitable. It is also clear that such diseases can cause enormous amounts of pain and suffering. Responsible researchers need to explore all possible avenues for controlling such pain and suffering. Thus far the research community has not engaged this issue vis a vis animals. The development of methodologies for controlling pain and suffering is likely to be exportable to numerous areas of animal research, …

What Do Foxes Do At Night?, Peter Mawson, John Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Foxes are often labelled as ruthless killers of lambs, kid goats and poultry. However, studies of the incidence of predation on lambs and kids have shown that foxes generally kill less than 3 per cent of lambs and 3 to 5 per cent of kids,

Are foxes, therefore, killers of lambs and kid goats, or just timid scavengers?

This article provides an insight into the behaviour of foxes in lambing and kidding paddocks at the Department of Agriculture's Avondale Research Station, Beverley, and near Moora, during 1987 and 1988.

Counting As The Chimpanzee Views It, Sarah T. Boysen

Numeracy Collection

No abstract provided.

The Ethical Judgment Of Animal Research, Shelley L. Galvin, Harold A. Herzog

Experimentation Collection

One hundred sixty subjects acted as members of a hypothetical Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and evaluated five proposals in which animals were to be used for research or educational purposes. They were asked to approve or reject the proposals and to indicate what factors were important in reaching their ethical decisions. Gender and differences in personal moral philosophy were related to approval decisions. The reasons given for the decisions fell into three main categories: metacognitive statements, factors related to the animal, and factors related to the design of the experiment.

Consumption Of Solid Food By Suckling Pigs: Individual Variation And Relation To Weight Gain, Edmond A. Pajor, David Fraser, Donald L. Kramer

Feeding Behavior Collection

Individual daily consumption of supplementary solid food ('creep feed') was measured from Day 10 to weaning at Day 28 for 39 piglets in four litters, and its relationship to body weight and weight gain up to Day 42 was investigated. Individual consumption was measured by combining the weight of the feed removed from the dispensers (monitored electronically) and a video image of piglet activity at the feeder. Creep feed consumption varied greatly, both between and within litters. On average, pigs began feeding on Day 12 (range Day 10-28), intake was relatively low (usually < 5 g day ^‒1) until Day 20 but increased …

Social Deprivation Of Infant Rhesus Monkeys Alters The Chemoarchitecture Of The Brain: I. Subcortical Regions, Lee J. Martin, Dawn M. Spicer, Mark H. Lewis, John P. Gluck, Linda C. Cork

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) reared during the first year of life without social contact develop persistent stereotyped movements, self-directed behaviors, and psychosocial abnormalities, but neurobiological mechanisms underlying the behaviors of socially deprived (SD) monkeys are unknown. Monkeys were reared in total social deprivation for the first 9 months of life; control monkeys were reared socially (SR) with mothers and peers. Subjects were killed at 19-24 yr of age. Because the behaviors of SD monkeys are reminiscent of changes in striatal or amygdalar function, we used immunocytochemistry for substance P (SP), leutine-enkephalin (LENK), somatostatin, calbindin, and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) to evaluate …

Preference By Sows For A Partially Enclosed Farrowing Crate, P. A. Phillips, D. Fraser, B. K. Thompson

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

A preference testing apparatus was designed to give sows continuous access to three farrowing crates with different degrees of visual enclosure. A ‘fully enclosed' crate had solid black panels on the sides and top of the crate, a ‘solid-sided’ crate had the side panels only and an ‘open crate’ had no solid panels over the crate's tubular framework. The crates radiated from a central area sufficient for sows to enter or leave any crate freely. Video recording was used to determine sow position from 3 days before to 6 days after farrowing. The results indicated that younger sows (second or …

Massachusetts Public Opinion Study On Spaying And Neutering Pets, Dorr Research Corporation

Demography and Statistics for Companion Animal Populations Collection

This report contains the findings from a study of pet owners in Massachusetts conducted for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals during the period of October 21-27, 1991. The objectives of the research focused on the issue of spaying/neutering pets and focused on the following topics:

• Some background data on owners and pets
• Attitudes and behavior relating to spaying/neutering pets
• Motivators and deterrents in decisions of whether to spay/neuter

Enhanced Attraction To Blood By Pigs With Inadequate Dietary Protein Supplementation, David Fraser, D. E. Bernon, R. O. Ball

Nutrition Collection

In two experiments, 60 individually penned growing pigs were exposed daily to two sections of cotton cord, one of which had been soaked with pigs' blood and subsequently dried, while the other was plain. The animals' preference for chewing-on the blood-impregnated cord was quantified by direct observation. When fed a standard "control" diet of corn, barley, and soybean meal with mineral and vitamin supplements, the pigs had a clear but modest preference for chewing the blood-impregnated cord. Omission of the protein supplement (soybean meal) from the diet for 4 wk led to a major increase in attraction to blood and …

Arkansas Cooperative Beef Bull Performance Test 1991, M. W. Eaton, A. E. Brown Jr., J. A. Hornsby, R. W. Parham, J. D. Shockey, W. C. Loe

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Performance testing of beef bulls was initiated to improve productivity of Arkansas beef cattle through breeding. This cooperative testing program provides cattlemen with reliable information for identifying animals with superior breeding value for the traits of production measured in the test. By using the information as a basis for herd sire selection, a breeder can greatly increase the chances of obtaining a bull that will sire rapid-gaining, more efficient, highquality calves. Such calves can increase profits for both the breeder and the feeder. This testing program provides information that is useful to financial institutes in arranging their lending programs and …

Use Morality As Basis For Animal Treatment, Kenneth J. Shapiro

Experimentation Collection

No abstract provided.

The Hsus: Helping Animals

Close Up Reports

No abstract provided.

Kin Recognition In Vertebrates: What Do We Really Know About Adaptive Value?, Andrew R. Blaustein, Marc Bekoff, John A. Byers, Thomas J. Daniels

Sentience Collection

The ability of an animal to discriminate between kin and non-kin (kin recognition) has been the subject of numerous recent investigations. Grafen (Anim. Behav., 1990, 39, 42-54) recently reported that the evidence in support of kin recognition is weak and the data illustrating a preference for kin to associate in the laboratory may be more consistently explained as species recognition. It is suggested here, however, that in many cases it may be impossible to distinguish between species recognition and kin recognition, but in some cases, kin recognition seems apparent. It is also emphasized that very little is known about the …

Effect Of Straw On The Behaviour Of Growing Pigs, David Fraser, P. A. Phillips, B. K. Thompson, T. Tennessen

Social Behavior Collection

The effects of straw on the behaviour of young growing pigs were studied in two experiments. In Experiment 1, group of three pigs, aged about 7 weeks, were housed in raised decks with or without straw bedding. Time-lapse video recording showed no major differences between treatments in the amount or daily pattern of overall activity and feeding. Detailed observations showed that bedding reduced the incidence of rooting and chewing on pen-mates, but had little effect on other social activities such as mounting and aggressive biting. Experiment 2 compared groups of eight growing pigs aged about 10 weeks, housed in floor …

Saving The Dolphins

Close Up Reports

Victories and a new threat

Discovery Of Selected Water Dispensers By Newborn Pigs, P. A. Phillips, D. Fraser

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

Newborn pigs in 86 litters were offered drinking water from four types of dispenser to determine how quickly each design would be discovered. On average piglets discovered water within about 24 h from an exposed water surface (bowl or cup), whereas discovery time was delayed to more than 72 h with nipple or push-lever dispensers. A prototype dispenser with a wide bowl and continuous bubbling action reduced (P < 0.05) average discovery time to about 14 h.

Puppy Mills Exposed

Close Up Reports

Thousands of dogs, unloved, starving, ill-housed; thousands of puppies, shipped like so much merchandise at too young an age; thousands of consumers, unknowingly buying sick dogs: these are the grim truths of the puppy-mill trade.

Reported Animal Rabies In Arkansas: 1982-1990, Gary A. Heidt, David A. Saugey, Laura Chandler, Karen D. Stone

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Reported animal rabies in Arkansas is reviewed for the years 1982-1990; providing an update from 1950-1981 (Heidt, 1982). Total cases ranged from 39 in 1990 to 168 in 1986, with a mean of 123.1. Wildlife accounted for 93.4% of the total cases. A total of 16 kinds of mammals has been implicated in reported rabies (individual species of foxes and skunks have been combined). The four taxa accounting for the highest incidence are: skunks (82.6%); bats (10.1%, all seven species combined); cattle (2.8%); and dogs (1.5%). Skunks, the most prominent species, ranged from 71.8% in 1990 to 90.2% in 1987. …

Animals In Biomedical Research: The Undermining Effect Of The Rhetoric Of The Besieged, John P. Gluck, Steven R. Kubacki

Experimentation Collection

It is correctly asserted that the intensity of the current debate over the use of animals in biomedical research is unprecedented. The extent of expressed animosity and distrust has stunned many researchers. In response, researchers have tended to take a strategic defensive posture, which involves the assertation of several abstract positions that serve to obstruct resolution of the debate. Those abstractions include the notions that the animal protection movement is trivial and purely anti-intellectual in scope, that all science is good (and some especially so), and the belief that an ethical consensus can never really be reached between the parties.

Posterior Maxillary Fangs Of The Flathead Snake, Tantilla Gracillis (Serpentes: Colubridae), Using Scanning Electron Microscopy, Stanley E. Trauth

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Range Extension Of The Endangered Gray Bat, Myotis Grisescens, Into The Arkansas River Valley, Thomas A. Nelson, David A. Saugey, Lee E. Carolan

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Bacteremia Associated With Mortality In An Arkansas Alligator, James J. Daly, Sam W. Barkley, Peggy Benton

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Hyperinfestation Of Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus Dolomieui) By The Trematode Clinostomum Marginatum, James J. Daly, Bruce Deyoung, Terryl L. Hostetler

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Observations On A Resident Population Of Myotis Lucifugus, In Jackson County, Arkansas, M. Doug Fletcher, J. D. Wilhide, R. B. Mcallister

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Identifying Colibri Hummingbirds Occurring In Arkansas Using Indirect Measurements, Douglas A. James

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Reflective Ethology, Applied Philosophy, And The Moral Status Of Animals, Marc Bekoff, Dale Jamieson

Experimental Research and Animal Welfare Collection

Currently there is an unprecedented interest in ethological studies of nonhuman animals. Much of this interest is motivated by a desire to learn more about animals themselves. For scientists assuming this stance, a secondary goal is to use this knowledge to assess the place of humans in the natural order of things, stressing continuity or discontinuity depending on one's views. Others, however, study animals primarily to apply this knowledge to human behavior. We argue that behavioral research demands the rigorous application of methods that are minimally harmful to the animals being studied. We argue for a moderate, but rigorous and …

Gender, Sex Role Orientation, And Attitudes Toward Animals, Harold A. Herzog Jr., Nancy S. Betchart, Robert B. Pittman

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

To examine the relationship among gender, sex role orientation, and attitudes toward the treatment of animals, 144 male and 222 female college students were administered the Bem Sex Role Inventory, a Likert-scale questionnaire designed to assess attitudes toward animal welfare issues, and a measure of perceived comfort touching animals of a variety of species. There were significant gender differences on all of the animal-related measures with the exception of self-reported comfort touching positively perceived animals. Gender and the expressive (feminine) dimension of sex role orientation accounted for a significant proportion of the variation in attitudes toward animal welfare issues and …

Inferences About Guessing And Knowing By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), Daniel J. Povinelli, Kurt E. Nelson, Sarah T. Boysen

Sentience Collection

The visual perspective-taking ability of 4 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) was investigated. The subjects chose between information about the location of hidden food provided by 2 experimenters who randomly alternated between two roles (the guesser and the knower). The knower baited 1 of 4 obscured cups so that the subjects could watch the process but could not see which of the cups contained the reward. The guesser waited outside the room until the food was hidden. Finally, the knower pointed to the correct cup while the guesser pointed to an incorrect one. The chimpanzees quickly learned to respond to the knower. …

National Wildlife Refuges - A Cruel Hoax

Close Up Reports

No abstract provided.

Crisis In The Oceans

Close Up Reports

No abstract provided.