Digital Commons Network^™

Physiological Constraints On Contest Behaviour, Mark Briffa, Lynne U. Sneddon

Sentience Collection

1. Contests may involve injurious fighting, other types of direct physical aggression and communication. They occur over ownership access to mates and other resources that may increase an individual’s attractiveness and its chance of survival. Traits that enhance resource holding potential may be the result of sexual selection, natural selection or a combination of both.
2. Agonistic behaviours are expected to be demanding to perform and costly in terms of changes in physiological state. The ability to meet the physiological costs may determine contest outcomes and constrain the intensity of agonistic activities.
3. The energetic costs have been investigated in a broad range …

The Influence Of Early Experience On, And Inheritance Of, Cerebral Lateralization, Culum Brown, Jac Western, Victoria A. Braithwaite

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Cerebral lateralization refers to the lateralized partitioning of cognitive function in either hemisphere of the brain. Using a standard detour test, we investigated lateralized behaviour in wild-caught, female poeciliid fish, Brachyraphis (=Brachyrhaphis) episcopi, from high- and low-predation areas. Wild fish were bred and their offspring reared under controlled laboratory conditions. These laboratory-reared fish were screened in the same laterality assays as their parents. We observed differences between wild-caught females and their laboratory-reared female offspring in the pattern of lateralization (tendency to use one hemisphere over the other to process information). Conversely, the strength of lateralization (consistency of hemispherical bias) was …

Ethical Issues In Geriatric Feline Medicine, Bernard E. Rollin

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Most veterinarians hold a ‘pediatric’ rather than ‘garage mechanic’ view of their function. In recent years, sophisticated medical modalities have allowed veterinarians to keep animals alive, and increased value of companion animals in society has increased demand for such treatment. But whereas humans can choose to trade current suffering for extended life, animals seem to lack the cognitive apparatus required to do so. Thus, veterinarians must guard against keeping a suffering animal alive for too long. Clients may be emotionally tied to the animal and blind to its suffering. Part of the veterinarian’s role, therefore, is to lead the client …

The Veterinary Profession’S Duty Of Care In Response To Disasters And Food Animal Emergencies, Kenneth E. Nusbaum, Bernard E. Rollin, James S. Wohl

Professional Veterinary Ethics Collection

No abstract provided.

Acute Stress Induced By The Preslaughter Use Of Electric Prodders Causes Tougher Beef Meat, R. D. Warner, D. M. Ferguson, J. J. Cottrell, B. W. Knee

Slaughter and Slaughtering Practices Collection

Adrenergic activation and hormone release preslaughter is an inevitable outcome of the systems used to move cattle to slaughter. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effects of acute preslaughter stress in beef cattle on postmortem muscle metabolism and the meat quality, including consumer-assessed eating quality. Eighty-four cattle were used on three separate days, with ‘mobs’ of four cattle allocated to either a ‘control’ (no electric goads used preslaughter) or a ‘stress’ (six prods given with an electric goad over 5–10 min) treatment at 15 min preslaughter. Cattle undergoing the ‘stress’ treatment had higher plasma lactate at slaughter. …

Observing Panda Play: Implications For Zoo Programming And Conservation Efforts, Sarah M. Bexell, Olga S. Jarrett, Luo Lan, Hu Yan, Estelle A. Sandhaus, Zhang Zhihe, Terry L. Maple

Zoos and Aquariums Collection

This study explores the effects of visitor observation of giant panda play on visitor concern for endangered species and satisfaction with seeing giant pandas. A total of 335 visitors to three institutions that house giant pandas participated in the study. These institutions are: the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, and the Chengdu Zoo, in China; and Zoo Atlanta in the U.S. After viewing the giant pandas, visitors were interviewed on whether they ever observed a panda play session, whether they observed panda play on the day of the visit, whether they wanted additional information on panda protection, and …

Influence Of Free-Stall Base On Tarsal Joint Lesions And Hygiene In Dairy Cows, W. K. Fulwider, T. Grandin, D. J. Garrick, T. E. Engle, W. D. Lamm, N. L. Dalsted, B. E. Rollin

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

The objective was to quantify the incidence of tarsal lesions and level of hygiene by stall bed type. Cows were scored on 100 dairies from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa, and New York in the fall and winter. Thirty-eight dairies used rubber-filled mattresses (RFM), 27 had sand beds, 29 had waterbeds, and 6 used compost packs (CPk). Stocking density, stall dimensions, bedding amount, bedding frequency, and type of bedding were recorded. One pen of early-lactation multiparous cows on each dairy was scored based on injury of the tarsal joints at the lateral and medial surfaces and tuber calcis at the dorsal, …

Animal Research: A Moral Science, Bernard E. Rollin

Experimentation Collection

No abstract provided.

Cetacean Brains: How Aquatic Are They?, Lori Marino

Anatomy Collection

The adaptation of cetaceans to a fully aquatic lifestyle represents one of the most dramatic transformations in mammalian evolutionary history. Two of the most salient features of modern cetaceans are their fully aquatic lifestyle and their large brains. This review article will offer an overview of comparative neuroanatomical research on aquatic mammals, including analyses of odontocete cetacean, sirenian, pinniped, and fossil archaeocete brains. In particular, the question of whether a relationship exists between being fully aquatic and having a large brain is addressed. It has been hypothesized that the large, well‐developed cetacean brain is a direct product of adaptation to …

Cetaceans Have Complex Brains For Complex Cognition, Lori Marino, Richard C. Connor, R. Ewan Fordyce, Louis M. Herman, Patrick R. Hof, Louis Lefebvre, David Lusseau, Brenda Mccowan, Esther A. Nimchinsky, Adam A. Pack, Luke Rendell, Joy S. Reidenberg, Diana Reiss, Mark D. Uhen, Estel Van Der Gucht, Hal Whitehead

Anatomy Collection

We believe that the time is ripe to present an integrated view of cetacean brains, behavior, and evolution based on the wealth of accumulated and recent data on these topics. Our conclusions support the more generally accepted view that the large brain of cetaceans evolved to support complex cognitive abilities.

Animal Welfare Perspectives On Recreational Angling, Steven J. Cooke, Lynne U. Sneddon

Animal Welfare Collection

Fish captured by recreational anglers are often released either voluntarily or because of harvest regulations in a process called ‘‘catch-and-release’’. Catch-and-release angling is thought to be beneficial for the conservation of fish stocks based on the premise that most of the fish that are released survive. However, expanding interest in animal welfare has promoted debate regarding the ethics of catch-and-release angling. There is a growing recognition that fish can consciously experience nociception and that they have some capacity to experience pain and fear. Indeed, empirical anatomical, physiological, and behavioural evidence supports the notion that fish could experience these two forms …

Fish Behaviour And Welfare, Lynne U. Sneddon

Ethology Collection

Fish are farmed intensively in aquaculture which is an economic necessity to provide large quantities for the food industry yet many species’ normal behaviours may be impaired by the nature of intensive aquaculture. Recommendations have suggested that for optimum welfare, animals should be able to express their natural suite of behaviours. Confining large migratory species such as salmonids to relatively small tanks or cages means they are unable to perform the extensive migrations performed by their wild counterparts so are these fish frustrated? When considering why salmonids migrate, their motivation is to find food yet if they are well fed …

Wcro Spring 2007

West Coast Regional Office

• HSUS helps rescue OR cattle
• Canned hunts get canned in Oregon
• Buddy recovers from beating
• Coast Guard comes to rescue
• Running a-fowl of cruelty laws
• Legislators praised for positive record on animals
• West Coast states honorees
• Legislative Update
• CA, OR, WA aim to protect calves, pigs
• How humane is your society?
• Ranking of WCRO cities
• Hawaii: anything but paradise for animals (Eric Sakach)

The Question Of Animal Selves: Implications For Sociological Knowledge And Practice, Leslie Irvine

Anthropomorphism and Anthropocentrism Collection

The question of whether sociologists should investigate the subjective experience of non-human others arises regularly in discussions of research on animals. Recent criticism of this research agenda as speculative and therefore unproductive is examined and found wanting. Ample evidence indicates that animals have the capacity to see themselves as objects, which meets sociological criteria for selfhood. Resistance to this possibility highlights the discipline’s entrenched anthropocentrism rather than lack of evidence. Sociological study of the moral status of animals, based on the presence of the self, is warranted because our treatment of animals is connected with numerous “mainstream” sociological issues. As …

Individual Acoustic Variation In Fallow Deer (Dama Dama) Common And Harsh Groans: A Source-Filter Theory Perspective, Elisabetta Vannoni, Alan G. Mcelligott

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Mammals are able to distinguish conspecifics based on vocal cues, and the acoustic structure of mammal vocalizations is directly affected by the anatomy and action of the vocal apparatus. However, most studies investigating individual patterns in acoustic signals do not consider a vocal production-based perspective. In this study, we used the source-filter model of vocal production as a basis for investigating the acoustic variability of fallow deer groans. Using this approach, we quantified the potential of each acoustic component to carry information about individual identity. We also investigated if cues to individual identity carry over among the two groan types …

Carcass Composition And Meat Quality Of Three Different Iberian × Duroc Genotype Pigs, Rosario Ramírez, Ramon Cava

Slaughter and Slaughtering Practices Collection

Carcass composition and meat quality of Longissimus dorsi (LD) and Biceps femoris (BF) muscles from three different Iberian × Duroc genotype pigs were studied: GEN1: ♂ Iberian × ♀ Duroc1; GEN2: ♂ Duroc1 × ♀ Iberian; GEN3: ♂ Duroc2 × ♀ Iberian. Duroc1 (DU1) were selected for the manufacture of dry-cured meat products while Duroc2 (DU2) were pigs selected for meat production, with high percentages of meat cuts and low carcass fat. Genotype had a significant effect on the differences found while sex had not. GEN2 showed the highest weights at days 180 and 238 of weaning and the highest …

Plasticity In Animal Personality Traits: Does Prior Experience Alter The Degree Of Boldness?, Ashley J. Frost, Alexandra Winrow-Giffen, Paul J. Ashley, Lynne U. Sneddon

Ethology Collection

Theoreticians predict that animal ‘personality’ traits may be maladaptive if fixed throughout different contexts, so the present study aimed to test whether these traits are fixed or plastic. Rainbow trout (Onchorhyncus mykiss) were given emboldening or negative experiences in the forms of watching bold or shy individuals responding to novelty or winning or losing fights to examine whether prior experience affected boldness. Bold individuals that lost fights or watched shy demonstrators became more shy by increasing their latency to approach a novel object, whereas shy observers that watched bold demonstrators remained cautious and did not modify their responses to novelty. …

Comparison Of Treatment Effects Between Animal Experiments And Clinical Trials: Systematic Review, Pablo Perel, Ian Roberts, Emily Sena, Philipa Wheble, Catherine Briscoe, Peter Sandercock, Malcolm Macleod, Luciano E. Mignini, Pradeep Jayaram, Khalid S. Khan

Validation of Animal Experimentation Collection

Objective To examine concordance between treatment effects in animal experiments and clinical trials.

Study design Systematic review.

Data sources Medline, Embase, SIGLE, NTIS, Science Citation Index, CAB, BIOSIS.

Study selection Animal studies for interventions with unambiguous evidence of a treatment effect (benefit or harm) in clinical trials: head injury, antifibrinolytics in haemorrhage, thrombolysis in acute ischaemic stroke, tirilazad in acute ischaemic stroke, antenatal corticosteroids to prevent neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, and bisphosphonates to treat osteoporosis.

Review methods Data were extracted on study design, allocation concealment, number of randomised animals, type of model, intervention, and outcome.

Results Corticosteroids did not show …

An Hsus Report: Human Health Implications Of U.S. Live Bird Markets In The Spread Of Avian Influenza, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

After millions of years of existing as a harmless infection of aquatic birds, some strains of avian flu have developed the ability to mutate into highly pathogenic forms that may not only be deadly for birds, but potentially more dangerous for humans as well. Experts from the World Health Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations have joined leading scientists in implicating industrialized poultry production for providing fertile ground for the transformation of benign bird flu into highly pathogenic strains.

Live bird markets can be the conduit by which waterfowl …

Animal Advocacy In The Age Of Information, Ché Green

State of the Animals 2007

Information management involves the collection, creation, storage, distribution, and utilization of data for a specific and defined purpose. It is not simply a database or an intranet and, in fact, does not necessarily involve technology at all, although technology can be instrumental in helping to facilitate the process. Information management systems are critically important both within individual organizations and between groups with similar purposes, such as those working for animal protection. In general, the scope of this chapter pertains to shared information, with some emphasis on data that are relevant to the entire animal protection movement rather than proprietary or …

The Case Against Dog Breed Discrimination By Homeowners’ Insurance Companies, Larry Cunningham

State of the Animals 2007

Breed discrimination by insurance companies is on the rise in the United States. Insurers are refusing to write homeowners’ policies for people who own breeds that the insurance industry considers to be dangerous. Their decisions are based solely on the breed of the animal, not the individual characteristics of the particular dog. Dog bites are certainly a public health concern. However, the insurance industry’s approach to the problem is based on faulty assumptions and improper use of dog-bite statistics. The insurance industry has prejudged entire breeds of dogs as being “too risky,” instead of taking a more reasonable dog-by-dog approach …

Canada’S Commercial Seal Hunt, Rebecca Aldsworth, Stephen Harris

State of the Animals 2007

Like efforts to end the commercial hunting of whales, the campaign to stop the slaughter of seals in Canada has become a major focus for animal and environment protection groups and governments the world over. For decades the face of the harp seal pup has been a symbol—to many, the symbol—of environment and animal advocacy. But as much as the campaign to save the seals has become an icon for those who would protect wildlife, the campaign to continue the hunt has become a focus for those who would block the progress of the animal protection and environmental movements.

Teaching Children To Be Kind In An Unkind World, Catherine Ann Fabio

State of the Animals 2007

Caring attitudes and behaviors are rooted in a person’s capacity for empathy. Research (Kestenbaum, Farber, and Sroufe 1989; Brazelton and Greenspan 2000; Hoffman 2000) shows that quality of care and security of attachment affect children's later capacity for cognitive development, emotional regulation, and behavioral control. Nurturing caregiving in a safe environment allows for continued development of neural pathways, which in turn, allows for mastery of increasingly sophisticated cognitive skills necessary for emotion regulation, and social perspective taking (Selman 1980), prerequisites to empathic behavior (Bryant 1985). True empathy requires that an individual possess the capacity to discriminate another person’s affect, see …

Farm Animal Welfare: In Legislatures, Corporate Boardrooms, And Private Kitchens, Andrea Gavinelli, Miyun Park

State of the Animals 2007

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, globally, approximately 56 billion land animals—including nearly 48 billion broiler chickens— are slaughtered for human consumption in a single year (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2004), in addition to an untold number of aquatic animals. The numbers of individual animals raised and killed by the meat, egg, and dairy industries far surpass the number of animals with whom human beings have any other relationship—whether they be those seen as fabric, target practice, test tubes, companions, or sideshow spectacles.

Their Bugs Are Worse Than Their Bite: Emerging Infectious Disease And The Human-Animal Interface, Michael Greger

State of the Animals 2007

In the twenty-five years since that announcement, what we now know as AIDS has killed 20 million people (National AIDS Trust 2005). Where did the AIDS virus— and other emerging diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Ebola, mad cow— come from?

The Demographics Of The U.S. Equine Population, Emily R. Kilby

State of the Animals 2007

In this demographic examination of America’s equine population, the numbers clearly show upward trends in all things equestrian over the past fifty years. Will that trajectory continue, adding year after year to the current ten million population, or will loss of open spaces turn the tide as it limits horse housing and riding room? Will ownership patterns undergo fundamental changes when population density, land costs, and escalating environmental controls eliminate the “backyard”- keeping concept and make suburban boarding stables untenable? Will horse production expenses rise in the face of land pressures to the point that equestrian involvement, now a highly …

The Steady State Economy, Habitat Stability, And The Humane Treatment Of Wild Animals, Brian Czech

State of the Animals 2007

Economic growth is not intended to kill, torture, or harass animals, and in that respect is not as detestable as various other forms of inhumanity. Yet economic growth is surely the greatest of all forms of inhumanity in terms of the gross amount of wild animal suffering that results. Therefore, for those concerned with the humane treatment of wild animals, perhaps nothing is so important to address as the policy and process of economic growth.

Free-Roaming Dogs In Developing Countries: The Benefits Of Capture, Neuter, And Return Programs, Jennifer Jackman, Andrew N. Rowan

State of the Animals 2007

This chapter provides an overview of animal welfare and public health problems associated with free-roaming dog populations and strategies to resolve these problems. Placing CNR programs in the context of earlier dog and rabies control methods, the chapter explores CNR’s potential to overcome some of the shortcomings of earlier approaches and to improve animal welfare, reduce dog population growth, and prevent the spread of rabies and other canine-transmitted diseases. Constraints and current debates on current implementation of CNR programs are also examined.

The Role Of Economics In Achieving Welfare Gains For Animals, Jennifer Fearing, Gaverick Matheny

State of the Animals 2007

The demand for animal products and services is a powerful economic force in society, and multibillion-dollar industries are organized around this demand. These industries often face increased costs by improving animal welfare and are quick to use economic arguments against proposed welfare reforms (see sidebar on page 169). These arguments, while often specious, can influence consumers, voters, and policy makers. Citizens are less likely to support animal welfare reforms they’ve been told will double their shopping bill or impoverish family farmers.

Animal welfare advocates cannot respond to these economic arguments with moral rhetoric alone. Instead, non-governmental observers (NGOs) must challenge …

The Human/Animal Interface: Emergence And Resurgence Of Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Michael Greger

Transgenesis Collection

Emerging infectious diseases, most of which are considered zoonotic in origin, continue to exact a significant toll on society. The origins of major human infectious diseases are reviewed and the factors underlying disease emergence explored. Anthropogenic changes, largely in land use and agriculture, are implicated in the apparent increased frequency of emergence and reemergence of zoonoses in recent decades. Special emphasis is placed on the pathogen with likely the greatest zoonotic potential, influenzavirus A.