Animal Sciences Commons^™

Aquaculture--Now, Factory Fish Farming, Michael W. Fox

Aquaculture Collection

"Aquaculture 1983" was the title of a 5-day symposium and industry exhibit held in Washington, D.C., on january 9- 13,1983, sponsored by World Mariculture Society, Catfish Farmers of America, Fish Culture Section of the American Fisheries Society, U.S. Trout Farmers Association, Shellfish Institute of North America, and National Shellfisheries Association. While ecologists, economists, futurologists, and others have touted the virtues and potentials of intensive fish and shellfish farm- · ing, this growing industry in the U.S. may become blighted by the same problems that have come to afflict agribusiness' "factory farming" of crops, livestock, and poultry.

Too Much Of A Good Thing: Protein And A Dog's Diet, Dana H. Murphy

Pets Collection

Where the analysis done by Kronfeld on stress in dogs goes awry is in its implication that this conversion of protein reserves occurs during a mild or transient period of emotional turmoil. In point of fact, catabolism of proteins only begins after an extended duration of severe stress, as a consequence of an extreme condition like a long sled race or a bad infection. Therefore, a mildly stressed animal probably needs carbohydrates (and perhaps fats) far more than supplemental protein, since the former can be quickly and easily converted into bodily fuel. And in the case of the stress induced …

Genetic Adaptation And Welfare, J. Van Rooijen

Genetics Collection

Beilharz says: "The evolutionary processes, if they are not obstructed or misdirected, must lead to such a degree of adaptation that welfare will have to be taken for granted, just as we can do no better than to take for granted the welfare of any wild animal in its natural habitat." From this statement, one might conclude all we have to do is wait, and the animals will eventually adapt to intensive systems. Concerning animals put into new kinds of environments, he states that, if individuals do not have the capacity to adjust phenotypically, "adaptation of the population will require …

Selecting A Spay/Neuter Program For Animal Control In The City Of Charlotte, Diane Quisenberry, Mary Elizabeth Clapp

Hunting Collection

The City of Charlotte, NC, in attempting to determine the best kind of program for reducing its increasing populations of unwanted dogs and cats, examined a full range of possible options for limiting these populations. Five measures for population control were considered: spay/neuter surgery, euthanasia, physical restraint, mechanical contraception, and chemical contraception. It was concluded that a spay/neuter program that incorporated educational and legislative components would be the most effective means of large-scale population control, although other methods like euthanasia would still have to be used. Based on a survey of a number of cities with spay/neuter programs in place, …

Review Of Literature On Use Of T-61 As An Euthanasic Agent, Laura Dalia Barocio

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

The tools of evaluating the degree of distress in animals being killed include electroencephalography (EEG), electrocardiography (ECG), and measurement of blood pressure and respiration. Sound clinical and behavioral observations should also not be abandoned in the evaIuation process.

There are many methods which may be employed to reach the same end results, but the ideal method should satisfy several criteria: 1. It should be painless; 2. It should cause unconsciousness instantaneously and death within minutes; 3. It should not cause undue anxiety, alarm, fear, panic, behavior, struggling, vocalization, muscle spasms or clinical signs of automatic activation (e.g., convulsions) before unconsciousness; …

Prostaglandin F2a Induced Nest Building Behavior In The Non-Pregnant Sow, And Some Welfare Considerations, Judith K. Blackshaw

Agribusiness Collection

Nest building behavior, induced with intramuscular injections of prostaglandin F2_a (PGF2_a), was studied in non-pregnant sows. Acute effects, which included salivation, scratching, vomiting, defaecation and ataxia, were also recorded. Sows (Large White x Landrace) were housed in two different environments; six sows in bare pens and six sows in pens provided with bedding material. In all cases except one (bare pen) nest building sequences of differing intensities were recorded. Welfare suggestions include questioning the justification of using a drug (PGF2_a) in pig husbandry, which has unpleasant acute effects, and the suggestion that the provision of …

Whaling Ban Threatened

Close Up Reports

Nations vow to defy vote to protect great whales from extinction

Optimal Foraging Theory And The Psychology Of Learning, Alan Kamil

Avian Cognition Papers

The development of optimization theory has made important contributions to the study of animal behavior. But the optimization approach needs to be integrated with other methods of ethology and psychology. For example, the ability to learn is an important component of efficient foraging behavior in many species, and the psychology of animal learning could contribute substantially to testing and extending the predictions of optimal foraging theory.

Utilization Of The Intact Male For Red Meat Production: A Review, S. C. Seideman, H. R. Cross, R. R. Oltjen, B. D. Schanbacher

Contraception and Sterilization

Castration has long been a traditional practice in the United States. Research studies indicate that intact males grow more rapidly, utilize feed more efficiently and produce a higher-yielding carcass with less fat and more edible product. The disadvantages of the intact male include aggressive behavior (bull and boar); undesirable odors and flavors (boar and ram); lower quality grade (bull); lower meat tenderness (bull and ram) and undesirable meat color (bull and ram). Research is needed to develop antemortem and(or) postmortem handling procedures that offset the disadvantages of the intact male so that the meat and livestock industry can take advantage …

U.S. Declares War On Coyotes

Close Up Reports

Department of Interior reinstitutes cruel killing methods

Is Your Pet Safe From Laboratory Experimentation?

Close Up Reports

Researchers still claim need for shelter animals as test subjects

Genetic Adaptation In Relation To Animal Welfare, R. G. Beilharz

Genetics Collection

In this essay I outline the processes of adaptation of animals and of animal populations and discuss their relevance to the problem of animal welfare. Because "animal welfare" has many different aspects including philosophical, ethical, and biological, it is important to examine some of the fundamental issues that underly the concept. Hence, in this essay, I comment on how people come to "know," how information accumulates, and how what we know influences our actions. I also discuss the biological information that is relevant to animal welfare. It is my hope that, when this topic has been placed within a broader …

The Problem Of Pain: What Do Animals Really Feel?, Dana H. Murphy

Sentience Collection

Much of the contention and confusion that seem inevitably to arise whenever the subject of pain in animals comes up appear to stem principally from problems with the word "pain" itself. When used to describe responses in humans, "pain" can mean any subset of an incredibly broad spectrum of sensations and emotions, ranging from the instantaneous, galvanizing effect of a dentist drill hitting the nerve in a molar, to more airy notions such as the "pain" of rejection or "painfully" embarrassing situations. Humans even use concepts as abstruse as the German term, weltschmerz, or "world pain," which denotes a vaguely …

Hsus Veal Campaign Takes Off

Close Up Reports

Milk-fed calves the focus of national public-education campaign

Behavioral Variability In Captive Slow Lorises, Nycticebus Coucang (Lorisidae, Primates), Shan Dustin Duncan

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This is a quantitative analysis of individual and sex-related variability in selected activities of captive slow lorises (Nyctivebus coucang).

Spatial Learning As An Adaptation In Hummingbirds, Susan Cole, F. Reed Hainsworth, Alan Kamil, Terre Mercier, Larry L. Wolf

Avian Cognition Papers

An ecological approach based on food distribution suggests that hummingbirds should more easily learn to visit a flower in a new location than to learn to return to a flower in a position just visited, for a food reward. Experimental results support this hypothesis as well as the general view that differences in learning within and among species represent adaptations.

Hsus Uncovers Cruel Puppy Mills

Close Up Reports

Investigator exposes hidden misery on mass breeding farms

Hsus Helps Bust Cruel Dogfights

Close Up Reports

Thirty-eight arrested in raids in Georgia and Ohio

Shade Management In Subtropical Environment For Milk Yield And Composition In Holstein And Jersey Cows, R. J. Collier, R. M. Eley, A. K. Sharma, R. M. Pereira, D. E. Buffington

Management and Monitoring of Farm Animals Collection

Forty-eight cows were assigned randomly to shade (15 Holsteins, 8 Jerseys) or no shade (16 Holsteins, 9 Jerseys) for 102 days beginning 12 June 1977 to examine effects of solar heat load on milk yield and composition. Rectal temperatures, respiration rates, and rumen contractions/min were monitored between 1200 and 1700 h on 20 randomly selected days. Morning and evening milk weights were recorded daily. Once weekly, morning and evening milk samples were collected from each cow and analyzed for fat, protein, acidity, freezing point depression, and somatic cell number. Black Globe temperature, rectal temperature, and respiration rate were elevated in …

Fight For Alternatives Gathers Momentum

Close Up Reports

Commitments to help lab animals are extracted from industry and government

Breeding And Use Of Nonhuman Primates In The Usa, Joe R. Held

Experimentation Collection

Several species of nonhuman primates, each possessing specific characteristics of particular value, are used by the United States biomedical community in a wide variety of health-related activities. These animals are man's closest relatives and are indispensable in the effort to understand and control human health problems.

The destruction of primate habitats and embargoes on export of primates from source countries have decreased the supply of these animals. Continuation of many ongoing and new activities contributing to the improvement of human health is threatened by inadequate and erratic supply of these resources. In the U.S., a program has been developed to …

Social And Cognitive Capabilities Of Nonhuman Primates: Lessons From The Wild To Captivity, William C. Mcgrew

Sentience Collection

All anthropoid primates in nature lead highly sociable lives. In infancy and childhood this is characterized by stability and familiarity for both sexes; in adulthood either one or the other sex changes groups. The natal group provides a social network of matrilineal kinship; after sexual maturity incest avoidance and exogamy are the rule. Important differences exist across species and between the sexes in mating strategies. In most species, males emigrate, but in others females do so. Male sexual behavior is based on competition between peers; females exercise choice in selecting sexual partners. Normal development of sexual behavior and maternal caretaking …

A Function Of The Subelytral Chamber Of Tenebrionid Beetles, Con Slobodchikoff, Kim Wisman

Entomology Collection

1. The subelytral chamber is an air space between the elytra and the dorsum of the abdomen of some Tenebrionid beetles. Postulated functions for the subelytral chamber have been a reduction of transpiratory water loss and a thermal buffer for heat flow from the elytra to the abdomen.

2. We show that there is a significant correlation between water loss and the depth of the subelytral chamber.

3. This implies that the chamber may be a structure that permits the rapid expansion of the abdomen, providing the beetles with a mechanism by which they can quickly drink large quantities of …

Ethology And Laboratory Animal Welfare, James A. Cohen

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

No abstract provided.

Stress: What Is It And How Can It Be Quantified?, T. H. Friend

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

An animal may be considered to be in a state of stress if abnormal behavior or extreme adjustments in its behavior or physiology are necessary in order to cope with adverse aspects of its environment. Methods used to determine if an animal is stressed can be either behavioral or physiological. Behavioral methods may be highly erroneous due to their subjective nature since alterations in behavior do not necessarily prove that an animal is stressed. There is no single measure of stress that can be used in all situations at this time. Every measure must be critically evaluated to ensure that …

Problems With Kosher Slaughter, Temple Grandin

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

Ritual slaughter to produce kosher meat is rooted in the teachings and writings of the Talmud. However, the preslaughter handling features of modern systems, particularly the shackling and hoisting of large steers, contravene the basic message of humaneness included in the teachings. The throat-cutting of a live, conscious animal is relatively pain-free, provided that certain precautions are followed, but U.S. kosher plants need to install newly developed conveyor-restrainer systems to eliminate the abuses of shackling and hoisting. Conveyor-restrainer systems for large and small animals are discussed.

The Psychological Relations Hip Between Dairy Cows And Dairy Cowmen And Its Implications For Animal Welfare, Martin F. Seabrook

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Stress On Livestock And Meat Quality Prior To And During Slaughter, Temple Grandin

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

The effects of stress on cattle, pigs and sheep prior to slaughter are reviewed. Long-term preslaughter stress, such as fighting, cold weather, fasting and transit, which occurs 12 to 48 hours prior to slaughter depletes muscle glycogen, resulting in meat which has a higher pH, darker color, and is drier. Short-term acute stress, such as excitement or fighting immediately prior to slaughter, produced lactic acid from the breakdown of glycogen. This results in meat which has a lower pH, lighter color, reduced water binding capacity, and is possibly tougher. Psychological stressors, such as excitement and fighting, will often have a …

Roadside Zoos Are Not Zoos

Close Up Reports

HSUS launches campaign against more than 1,000 menageries of misery

Meetings And Announcements

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

1. Meeting Report - Animals in Research
2. Announcement - Abstract exchange
3. New APHIS administrator
4. Newsletter on the Human-Companion Animal Bond
5. Veterinarians for Animal Protection
6. New editor for Equine Study Group
7. Bibliography of Animal Ethology