Digital Commons Network^™

Should Self-Driving Cars Spare People Over Pets?, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

Is valuing human life over animal life a culturally universal rule?

Media Coverage Of Pet Therapy Research Often Gets It Wrong, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

What a study of therapy dogs on kids with cancer really found.

Recent Efforts To Elucidate The Scientific Validity Of Animal-Based Drug Tests By The Pharmaceutical Industry, Pro-Testing Lobby Groups, And Animal Welfare Organisations, Jarrod Bailey

Validation of Animal Experimentation Collection

Background: Even after several decades of human drug development, there remains an absence of published, substantial, comprehensive data to validate the use of animals in preclinical drug testing, and to point to their predictive nature with regard to human safety/toxicity and efficacy. Two recent papers, authored by pharmaceutical industry scientists, added to the few substantive publications that exist. In this brief article, we discuss both these papers, as well as our own series of three papers on the subject, and also various views and criticisms of lobby groups that advocate the animal testing of new drugs.

Main text: We argue …

Canine Dystocia In 50 Uk First-Opinion Emergency Care Veterinary Practices: Clinical Management And Outcomes, Dan G. O'Neill, Aoife M. O'Sullivan, Erin A. Manson, David B. Church, Paul Mcgreevy, Amanda K. Boag, Dave C. Brodbelt

Natology Collection

Canine dystocia is a relatively common veterinary presentation. First opinion emergency care clinical data from 50 Vets Now clinics across the UK were used to explore dystocia management and outcomes in bitches. Caesarean section (CS) was performed on 341/701 (48.6 per cent (95 per cent CI 44.9 to 52.4)) of dystocia cases. The bulldog (OR 7.60, 95 per cent CI 1.51 to 38.26, P=0.014), Border terrier (OR 4.89, 95 per cent CI 0.92 to 25.97, P=0.063) and golden retriever (OR 4.07, 95 per cent CI 0.97 to 17.07, P=0.055) had the highest odds of CS among dystocic bitches compared with …

Crispr-Mediated Gene Editing: Scientific And Ethical Issues, Jarrod Bailey

Genetics Collection

There remains substantial evidence to warrant great concern over the poor efficiency and specificity of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-mediated genetic modification (GM), despite relatively minor improvements compared to other GM methods. These issues cause persistent, adverse, ethical, and scientific consequences for GM animals, which may never be sufficiently resolvable.

Salmonid Species Diversity Predicts Salmon Consumption By Terrestrial Wildlife, Christina N. Service, Andrew N. Bateman, Megan S. Adams, Kyle A. Artelle, Thomas E. Reimchen, Paul C. Paquet, Chris T. Darimont

Habitat and Trophic Ecology Collection

1. Resource waves—spatial variation in resource phenology that extends feeding opportunities for mobile consumers—can affect the behaviour and productivity of recipient populations. Interspecific diversity among Pacific salmon species (Oncorhynchus spp.) creates staggered spawning events across space and time, thereby prolonging availability to terrestrial wildlife.

2. We sought to understand how such variation might influence consumption by terrestrial predators compared with resource abundance and intra- and interspecific competition.

3. Using stable isotope analysis, we investigated how the proportion of salmon in the annual diet of male black bears (Ursus americanus; n = 405) varies with species diversity and density of spawning …

Well-Being For People, Animals And Environment, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Improving the long-term well-being of people should, with suitable foresight and wisdom, also involve improving the well-being of animals and the environment, and vice-versa. There should be ways to improve the well-being of all three elements of the PAE (people, animals, and the environment) triad by paying more attention to all of them and focusing on the intersections when looking at strategies to achieve well-being goals. Typically, most well-being (happiness) projects focus mainly on anthropocentric outcomes and impacts. However, we will include animals and the environment as equal partners in order to maximize the well-being of all life both locally …

Human-Baboon Conflict Mitigation, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

The chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) is one of the largest of all monkeys and is a relatively common sight in the Cape Province in South Africa. The baboons have learned that food and people are closely linked. Individual baboons have even learned to open car doors and raid refrigerators in Cape Town. This conflict is widespread in South Africa but this is a description of how the Greyton community is resolving this conflict.

Bridging The Divide Between Animal Protection And Traditional Conservation Biology, William S. Lynn, John Hadidian

WellBeing News

It was some time before wildlife conservation came to be recognized as a science but its focus was mainly on the regulation of game species through hunting seasons. The modern development of Conservation Biology, following the environmental revolution of the 1970s, focused on the preservation of species, with little to no focus placed on individual animals. This led conservationists and animal welfare advocates to regard each other with suspicion and distrust. That division is now being challenged with the rise of alternative paradigms of conservation, one of which is called Compassionate Conservation that takes the well-being of wild lives as …

Farm Animal Cognition—Linking Behavior, Welfare And Ethics, Christian Nawroth, Jan Langbein, Marjorie Coulon, Vivian Gabor, Susan Oesterwind, Judith Benz-Schwarzburg, Eberhard Von Borell

Social Cognition Collection

Farm animal welfare is a major concern for society and food production. To more accurately evaluate animal farming in general and to avoid exposing farm animals to poor welfare situations, it is necessary to understand not only their behavioral but also their cognitive needs and capacities. Thus, general knowledge of how farm animals perceive and interact with their environment is of major importance for a range of stakeholders, from citizens to politicians to cognitive ethologists to philosophers. This review aims to outline the current state of farm animal cognition research and focuses on ungulate livestock species, such as cattle, horses, …

Welfare Challenges Influence The Complexity Of Movement: Fractal Analysis Of Behaviour In Zebrafish, Anthony G. Deakin, Joseph W. Spencer, Andrew R. Cossins, Iain S. Young, Lynne U. Sneddon

Experimental Research and Animal Welfare Collection

The ability to assess welfare is an important refinement that will ensure the good condition of animals used in experimentation. The present study investigated the impact of invasive procedures on the patterns of movement of zebrafish (Danio rerio). Recordings were made before and after fin clipping, PIT tagging and a standard pain test and these were compared with control and sham handled zebrafish. The fractal dimension (FD) from the 3D trajectories was calculated to determine the effect of these treatments on the complexity of movement patterns. While the FD of zebrafish trajectories did not differ over time in either the …

Decrease In Population And Increase In Welfare Of Community Cats In A Twenty-Three Year Trap-Neuter-Return Program In Key Largo, Fl: The Orcat Program, Rachael Kreisler, Heather Cornell, Julie Levy

Management - TNR

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a long-term (23-year) trap-neuter-return program on the population size of community cats in the Ocean Reef Community and to describe the demographic composition and outcome of enrolled cats. A retrospective study was performed using both cat census data collected between 1999 and 2013 as well as individual medical records for cats whose first visit occurred between 3/31/1995 and 12/31/2017. Medical record entries were reviewed to determine program inputs, cat outcomes, retroviral disease prevalence, and average age of first visit, sterilization, and death through 6/11/2018. Change over time was analyzed …

Perceptual Lateralization Of Vocal Stimuli In Goats, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Communication Skills Collection

Functional asymmetries, for example, the preferential involvement of 1 brain hemisphere to process stimuli, may increase brain efficiency and the capacity to carry out tasks simultaneously. We investigated which hemisphere was primarily involved in processing acoustic stimuli in goats using a head-orienting paradigm. Three playbacks using goat vocalizations recorded in different contexts: food anticipation (positive), isolation (negative), food frustration (negative), as well as 1 playback involving dog barks (negative) were presented on the left and right sides of the test subjects simultaneously. The head-orienting response (left or right) and latency to resume feeding were recorded. The direction of the head-orienting …

Perceptual Lateralization Of Vocal Stimuli In Goats, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Social Cognition Collection

Functional asymmetries, for example, the preferential involvement of 1 brain hemisphere to process stimuli, may increase brain efficiency and the capacity to carry out tasks simultaneously. We investigated which hemisphere was primarily involved in processing acoustic stimuli in goats using a head-orienting paradigm. Three playbacks using goat vocalizations recorded in different contexts: food anticipation (positive), isolation (negative), food frustration (negative), as well as 1 playback involving dog barks (negative) were presented on the left and right sides of the test subjects simultaneously. The head-orienting response (left or right) and latency to resume feeding were recorded. The direction of the head-orienting …

Canine Endogenous Oxytocin Responses To Dog-Walking And Affiliative Human–Dog Interactions, Lauren Powell, Kate M. Edwards, Adrian Bauman, Adam J. Guastella, Bradley Drayton, Emmanuel Stamatakis, Paul Mcgreevy

Human-Animal Interactions Collection

Several studies suggest human–dog interactions elicit a positive effect on canine oxytocin concentrations. However, empirical investigations are scant and the joint influence of human–dog interaction and physical activity remains unexplored. The aims of the current study were to (a) examine the canine endogenous oxytocin response to owner-led dog-walking and affiliative human–dog interactions and (b) investigate the moderating effect of the owner-reported strength of the human–dog bond on such responses. Twenty-six dogs took part in a random order cross-over trial, involving dog-walking and human–dog interactions. Urinary samples were collected before and after each condition. The data were analyzed using linear mixed …

Global Dog Campaign, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

There are approximately 700 million dogs in the world today. Around 300 million are street dogs, and the others are mostly either pets or household guard dogs. The interactions communities have with street dogs is changing leading to better welfare for the dogs and also for people (lower incidence of canine zoonosis, fewer dog bites and fewer dog nuisance problems in well-managed municipalities).

Humane Education-Vaccinate Against Violence, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Humane education – teaching children to be kind to animals and not be cruel – is one of the foundations of the global animal protection movement. Today, we have a growing literature and considerable data on the link between animal abuse and abuse of humans but very little direct evidence that teaching and supporting humane education has had any impact on improving human-to-human interactions.

History And Impact Of The Johns Hopkins Center For Alternatives To Animal Testing: Developments For Humans And Animals In Safety Testing And Risk Assessment., Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health has had a significant impact on the development of methods to reduce the use of animals in laboratories. This presentation reviews the history of the Center and evaluates its impact.

What To Call Plant-Based Meat Alternatives: A Labeling Study, Jo Anderson

Diet

This study examined existing and novel names for plant-based meat alternatives. It provides data about U.S. meat consumers’ relative preferences for the different labels, and whether demographics play a significant role. These findings can be used by advocates and manufacturers to increase the appeal of plant-based options and target their appeals more effectively.

A Global Reassessment Of Solitary-Sociable Dolphins, Laetitia Nunny, Mark P. Simmonds

Personality Collection

Dolphins are typically regarded as highly social animals. However, some individuals live apart from their own species and may come to socialize with people through a recognized series of stages which are presented and expanded on in this paper. The term “solitary-sociable dolphins” has been used to describe these animals and such individuals have been identified from several different species and reported in many parts of the world. In many instances, the interactions with people that may follow their original isolation, and which typically become more intense over time, have created situations where the welfare of the animal has been …

Foundation Of Wellbeing International, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

WellBeing International (WBI) was founded on the basis that improving the long-term well-being of people should, with suitable foresight and wisdom, also involve improving the well-being of animals and the environment, and vice-versa. We believe there are ways to improve the well-being of all three elements of the PAE (people, animals, and the environment) triad by paying more attention to all three elements and focusing on the intersections when looking at strategies to achieve well-being goals.

Interspecies Sustainability To Ensure Animal Protection: Lessons From The Thoroughbred Racing Industry, Iris Bergmann

Horse racing and competitions

There is a disconnect between dominant conceptions of sustainability and the protection of animals arising from the anthropocentric orientation of most conceptualisations of sustainability, including sustainable development. Critiques of this disconnect are primarily based in the context of industrial animal agriculture and a general model of a species-inclusive conception of sustainability has yet to emerge. The original contribution of this article is two-fold: First, it develops a theoretical framework for interspecies sustainability. Second, it applies this to a case study of the thoroughbred racing industry. Interviews were conducted with thoroughbred industry and animal advocacy informants in the US, Australia and …

Shelters Reflect But Cannot Solve Underlying Problems With Relinquished And Stray Animals—A Retrospective Study Of Dogs And Cats Entering And Leaving Shelters In Denmark From 2004 To 2017, Peter Sandøe, Janne Bh Jensen, Frank Jensen, Søren S. Nielsen

Animal sheltering

Data covering about 90% of the estimated intake of dogs and cats to Danish shelters from 2004 to 2017 were used to study the effects of tight control of dogs and of efforts to increase shelter services for unwanted or stray cats. During the period, there was a low and decreasing intake of dogs, while the annual proportion of euthanised dogs increased from 6% to 10%. The number of cats entering shelters increased by about 250%, while the annual proportion of euthanised cats increased from 15% to about 29%. At the same time, there seemed to be a decrease in …

Back To School: An Updated Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of A Long-Term Trap-Neuter-Return Program On A University’S Free-Roaming Cat Population, Peter Wolf, Daniel Spehar

Management - TNR

A growing body of evidence indicates that trap-neuter-return (TNR) is not only effective at reducing community cat numbers, but that such reductions are sustainable over extended periods. Recently, a series of peer-reviewed articles documenting long-term declines in community cat populations associated with TNR have been published. The present study adds to this pool of evidence by updating and reexamining results reported from the campus of the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2003 by Levy et al. From 1991 to 2019, a total of 204 cats were enrolled in a volunteer-run TNR program on the university grounds; 10 cats (5%) …

Integrated Return-To-Field And Targeted Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return Programs Result In Reductions Of Feline Intake And Euthanasia At Six Municipal Animal Shelters

Management - TNR

For decades, animal shelters in the U.S. have sought to reduce the number of cats that are impounded and euthanized. Since the 1990s, low-cost sterilization campaigns aimed at owned cats have achieved varying levels of success in meeting these objectives. Over a similar time period, the use of trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR), as a humane alternative to the lethal management of stray and feral cats, has proliferated. Because of the limited scope of many TNVR programs, the impacts of such efforts on shelter metrics have often proven difficult to measure. In the past decade, two new variants of TNVR, return-to-field (RTF) and …

What Can We Learn From The Fur-Free Fight?, Lewis Bollard

General – Farm Animal Issues

It seems like a good time to be a fur-bearing animal. In 2016, Giorgio Armani succumbed to years of protest and took his iconic brand fur-free. Gucci, Versace, Prada, Michael Kors, Burberry, and a half dozen other major labels followed suit. So did politicians. Since 2017, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, and Serbia have either passed or implemented fur farming bans. This year, Los Angeles and San Francisco passed fur sales bans, as did the California Assembly (the ban is now in the state senate), while New York state and city lawmakers proposed bans. Fur production and …

A Case Of Letting The Cat Out Of The Bag - Why Trap-Neuter-Return Is Not An Ethical Solution For Stray Cat (Felis Catus) Management., Heather M. Crawford, Michael C. Calver, Patricia A. Fleming

Management - TNR

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs, in which stray cats are captured, neutered and returned to the environment are advocated as a humane, ethical alternative to euthanasia. We review the TNR literature in light of current debate over whether or not there should be further TNR trials in Australia. We revisit the problems arising from stray cats living in association with human habitation and estimate how many stray cats would have to be processed through a scientifically-guided TNR program to avoid high euthanasia rates. We also identify10 ethical and welfare challenges that have to be addressed: we consider the quality of life for …

Attitudes And Practices Of Australian Veterinary Professionals And Students Towards Early Age Desexing Of Cats, Crawford M. Heather, Michael C. Calver

Management - TNR

Surgical desexing of cats is typically carried out after six months of age (Mature Age Desexing, MAD); between 4–6 months (Traditional Age Desexing, TAD); or before four months (EarlyAge Desexing, EAD). We complemented existing surveys of veterinarians’ acceptance of EAD with online and face-to-face surveys, to ascertain the preferred desexing ages for cats and rationale of 957 Australian veterinarians, veterinary nurses, veterinary science students, and veterinary nursing students. A complementary survey of 299 veterinary practice websites across Australia documented any information provided about desexing cats. The most common reason for preferred desexing ages was reducing stray cat populations (30%); 78% …

Ethics, Care, Animals, Mammals, Jennifer A. Mather Ph.D.

General - Animal Welfare

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, …

Preparing For Life After Birth: Introducing The Concepts Of Intrauterine And Extrauterine Sensory Entrainment In Mammalian Young, David J. Mellor

General - Animal Welfare

Presented is an updated understanding of the development of sensory systems in a wide range of terrestrial mammals, the prenatal exposure of those systems to salient stimuli, and the mechanisms by which that exposure can embed particular sensory capabilities that prepare newborns to respond appropriately to similar stimuli they may encounter after birth. Taken together, these are the constituents of the phenomenon of “trans-natal sensory continuity” where the embedded sensory capabilities are considered to have been “learnt” and, when accessed subsequently, they are said to have been “remembered”. An alternative explanation of trans-natal sensory continuity is provided here in order …