Digital Commons Network^™

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, …

The Vegetarian’S Dilemma: Do Fish Qualify As Meat?, Harold Herzog

Herzog - Dietary Issues

A sizable percentage of people who self-describe as vegetarians do eat fish. In some instances, these pescatarians deny that fish are "meat."

Do Pet Owners Have Lower Suicide Rates?, Harold Herzog

Herzog - Companion Animals and Health

Available research indicates that having a pet does not have a protective effect on suicide rates, but suicide is a rare event, and the sample sizes in the few studies were small.

Do Purebreds (But Not Mutts) Reduce Dog Owner Death Rates?, Harold Herzog

Herzog - Companion Animals and Health

A major Swedish study of dog ownership and human mortality rates found that owners of a purebred, but not a mixed-breed dog, had lower mortality rates than non-owners.

Greyton Human-Baboon Conflict, Kathleen Rowan

Tales of WellBeing

The Greyton community in South Africa has developed a non‑violent, community‑led strategy for mitigating conflict with local chacma baboons, centered around proactive monitoring and herding to prevent habituation to human food sources. Their approach showcases an effective model of coexistence by addressing underlying drivers of conflict—namely baboons’ adaptation to anthropogenic food—through humane and behavior‑based interventions

Global Animal Protection, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Currently, there may be 50,000 or more animal protection organizations around the world with total annual income amounting to $6-8 billion. The animal protection movement has experienced significant growth in the 21st Century.

The Third International Humane Dog Population Management Conference, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

The third International Conference on humane dog management, organized by the International Coalition on Companion Animal Management (ICAM) was held in Mombasa, Kenya in September 2019. There were a range of excellent presentations including one from Sri Lanka on dog management and rabies vaccination in Negombo and another reviewing progress on rabies control globally.

Cape Town Animal Conference, South Africa, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

The second Cape Animal Conference was held at the University of Cape Town in September, 2019. The conference theme focused on animal law development in the country but there was a broad mix of topics covered during the two days of the event.

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, …

"Moo And Me" By Marina Evans, Illustrated By Judy Mare, Andrew Rowan

Tales of WellBeing

Moo and Me by Marina Evans, illustrated by Judy Mare, tells the true story of a young girl’s deep friendship with a dairy calf, highlighting animals’ sentience and capacity for connection. Alongside its heartwarming narrative, the book includes interactive activities that inspire children to practice empathy, care, and respect for animals.

Does Your Dog Really Want A Trip To The Beauty Parlor?, Kathy S. Stolley Ph.D.

Herzog - Companion Animal Issues

Pet spas (especially for dogs) are a $6 billion business in America. Why humans subject their pets to curling, coloring and other treatments is discussed and analyzed.

Mangy Curs And Stoned Horses: Animal Control In The District Of Columbia From The Beginnings To About 1940, Hayden M. Wetzel

eBooks

Mangy Curs describes: the efforts of the DC government to corral stray animals (farm animals and pets) from streets and parks (police and the pound service); issues of cruelty to animals in public places (Humane Society); sheltering strays, mostly dogs and cats (Animal Rescue League, others); and collection of dead animals from the streets (contractors, city crew). It is the only study on this subject ever written.

The text runs about 260 pages (with illustrations) and a further 100 pages of appendixes (complete list of DC laws/regulations/ court decisions regarding animals, 40 pages of statistics, plus anecdotes and miscellaneous side …

Do Emotional Support Animals Need Emotional Support?, Lori Marino

Herzog - Companion Animals and Health

A widening range of animals are claimed to provide emotional support. However, non-domestic species such as monkeys, lizards and peacocks probably are stressed by being in the cramped confines of an airport or an airplane.

Animal Welfare And The Un’S Sustainable Development Goals (Sdgs), Beth Allgood

WellBeing News

In 2005, the UN agreed on a set of seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that included goals for Life in Water (SDG 15) and Life on Land (SDG 15). While these two goals provide an opening to address animal conservation and welfare, the International Fund for Animal Welfare has argued that the inclusion of animal welfare and conservation is vital for the successful achievement of the SDGs.

Third African Animal Welfare Conference, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

One of the major themes at the Third Africa Animal Welfare Conference in Addis Ababa in 2019 was the status of donkeys in Africa and the critical support they provide to poor families on the continent. But Chinese demand for ejaio (a gelatin preparation made from donkey hides) is threatening populations of donkeys across Africa.

Third African Animal Welfare Conference, September 2-4, 2019, Kathleen Rowan

WellBeing News

The Third African Animal Welfare Conference took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the beginning of September 2019. There were over 200 attendees drawn from all regions of Africa and from eight non-African countries. Apart from South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and a few East African countries, animal advocacy presence in African countries has been very limited until recently.

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 …

The Strange Link Between Pet Ownership And Cancer In Women, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

Why should owning cats and birds be linked to cancer in women but not in men?

Against All Odds, Coco's Story, Estelle Raballand

Tales of WellBeing

Coco, a chimpanzee orphaned by the illegal pet trade in Guinea and left severely disabled after years of neglect and violence, has survived against extraordinary odds thanks to the care and dedication of the Chimpanzee Conservation Center. His story highlights both the resilience of individual animals and the urgent need for sanctuaries and conservation efforts to protect the critically endangered West African chimpanzee.

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 …

Did Breast-Feeding Play A Role In The Evolution Of Pets?, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

Like the dolphin who adopted a baby whale, humans have often breast-fed pets.

Is A Love Of Dogs Mostly A Matter Of Where You Live?, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

A new study finds huge differences between nations in preferences for pets.

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 …

Attitudes To Wildlife, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Studies of USA public attitudes to wildlife span over forty years beginning with Kellert's 1976 report and attitudes typology. A recent report documents continuing declines in Utilitarian and Traditionalist values with a corresponding increase in Mutualism (live in harmony/coexistence with wildlife).

Wildlife Trade – A Global Wake-Up Call, Mark Jones

WellBeing News

In 2019, government representatives from more than 150 countries convened in Geneva for 18th Conference of the Parties for CITES. But trade in wild animals is not reversing the decline in wild animal numbers. The world needs to wake up to the fact that we cannot trade our way out of the extinction crisis. If we are to prevent further declines and secure a future for wild animals, we cannot go on treating them as mere tradable commodities.

Developing Partnerships To End Dog And Cat “Homelessness”, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Pet food and other pet products are a thriving business across the world but there are still millions of dogs and cats living on the streets without regular access to food and veterinary care. It will take time and money to end pet "homelessness" but the trends are moving in that direction.

Bella The Pig, The Inspiration For A Farm Animal Sanctuary, Nicky Vernon

Tales of WellBeing

Bella the Pig's rescue from neglect and her remarkable recovery inspired devoted caretakers to found a dedicated farm‑animal sanctuary, transforming her story into a beacon of hope and compassion. Her journey not only restored her well‑being but also catalyzed a broader mission to rescue, rehabilitate, and reimagine how we treat farmed animals.