Animal Sciences Commons^™

Impact Of Reducing Ammonia Concentration By Ozone Technology And Its Potential Improvement On Broiler Performance, Odilpio Quintana Ortega

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The employment of ozone in livestock production as a means of mitigating ammonia is used for enhancing air quality within animal confinement facilities, such as swine or poultry barns. Ammonia is a byproduct of animal excrement. Elevated ammonia concentrations can adversely affect the well-being of both animals and humans. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effects of Ozone Technology Machine Unit (OTMU) utilization in poultry barns regarding ammonia concentration and its potential benefit in terms of broilers performance and welfare. In recent years, there has been a significant boom in technological advances. New devices that help mitigate …

Who Is The Good Boy/Girl? Perspectives Of French Handlers In Aai On The Selection Of Their Dogs, Alice Mignot, Gérard Leboucher, Véronique J. Servais, Karelle De Luca

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) are well implemented in various health care settings; however, there is little data on the characteristics of the mediation dogs and their selection, which can influence the well-being of both the dogs and the beneficiaries. This study aims to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of French mediation dogs and the context in which they are selected to guide future research working on behavioral criteria for mediation dogs and help provide a basis for better selection of dogs in the field. To this end, we interviewed 111 French handlers in AAI, who work with at least …

Students’ Knowledge Of And Attitudes Toward Dairy Production: A Survey Methodology Report, Heather Akin, Babatope Akinyemi, Julia Mcquillan, Tami Brown-Brandl

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

This report presents findings from a pilot survey conducted among undergraduate and graduate students (N = 410) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln about students’ perspectives on technology usage, consumption, and sustainability in dairy production systems. An interdisciplinary research team developed the survey instrument and report. The main purpose of this pilot study was to create and administer survey items to support further research on experiential education and outreach opportunities related to robotics in small-scale dairy production and rural economic development. Descriptive findings indicated that most students had some familiarity with dairy production and the nutritional aspects of dairy products …

Further Investigation Of Lead Exposure As A Potential Threatening Process For A Scavenging Marsupial Species, D. J. Hutchinson, E. M. Jones, J. M. Pay, J. R. Clarke, Michael T. Lohr, J. O. Hampton

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

There is a growing recognition of the harmful effects of lead exposure on avian and mammalian scavengers. This can lead to both lethal and non-lethal effects which may negatively impact wildlife populations. Our objective was to assess medium-term lead exposure in wild Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii). Frozen liver samples (n = 41), opportunistically collected in 2017–2022, were analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine liver lead concentrations. These results were then used to calculate the proportion of animals with elevated lead levels ( > 5 mg/kg dry weight) and examine the role of explanatory variables that may have …

A Review Of Animal Welfare And Current Enrichment Methods For Captive Marine Mammals, Ashleigh I. Richardson

University Honors Theses

Animal care and conservation facilities such as zoos, aquaria, and marine mammal parks often utilize a variety of enrichments to deter stereotypic behaviors and improve overall animal welfare. Facilities that go through the intense accreditation process of one or more accreditation organizations must uphold the animal care standards and education requirements that these organizations call for. These care standards typically include regulations regarding animal training and enrichment, though the extent to which these regulations go into detail often vary from species to species and between organizations. The goal of this review was to assess the current standard of animal enrichment …

Nm-Rs Au Naturale: Investigations Into Simulating A Natural Environment, Jenna Pantophlet

Theses and Dissertations

Naked Mole-rats (NM-Rs) have been studied in laboratories for decades due to their unique behavior and physiology. However, due to the scope and complexity of the NM-R’s natural subterranean tunneling system, it has been difficult to replicate in the laboratory environment. From a researcher’s perspective, optimal housing is cost- and space-efficient and easily cleaned. On the other hand, optimal animal welfare and husbandry encourages the most biologically relevant enclosure to evoke the fullest range of an animal's behavioral repertoire. While there is an abundance of works centered on the biomedical potential of these odd rodents (Buffenstein et al, 2012; Delaney …

Sentience In Decapod Crustaceans: A General Framework And Review Of The Evidence, Andrew Crump, Heather Browning, Alex Schnell, Charlotte Burn, Jonathan Birch

Animal Sentience

We outline a framework for evaluating scientific evidence of sentience, focusing on pain experience. It includes eight neural and cognitive-behavioural criteria, with confidence levels for each criterion reflecting the reliability and quality of the evidence. We outline the rationale for each criterion and apply our framework to a controversial sentience candidate: decapod crustaceans. We have either high or very high confidence that true crabs (infraorder Brachyura) satisfy five criteria, amounting to strong evidence of sentience. Moreover, we have high confidence that both anomuran crabs (infraorder Anomura) and astacid lobsters/crayfish (infraorder Astacidea) meet three criteria—substantial evidence of sentience. The case is, …

Legal Recognition Of Animal Sentience: The Case For Cautious Optimism, Jane Kotzmann

Animal Sentience

Rowan et al.’s target article provides a valuable indication of the work that was required to reach the point where animals are recognised as sentient in various laws. To ensure this work was not in vain, the language of sentience needs to be used as a moral currency to demand further cultural change involving greater human respect for animals.

Revisiting Donald Griffin, Founder Of Cognitive Ethology, Carolyn A. Ristau

Animal Sentience

Donald Griffin’s writings, beginning with The Question of Animal Awareness (1976), strove to persuade scientists to study the possibility of animal sentience, the basis of Rowan et al.’s efforts to promote animal well-being. Facing great hostility (but also some acceptance) for his ideas, Griffin initially avoided animal welfare advocacy, fearing it would further undermine his efforts to gain recognition of animal sentience. In later years, however, he began to ponder the ethical implications of animal sentience, intending to study wild elephants’ communication and social behavior to better understand their experienced life and apply it to improving conservation methods. As he …

Wyoming’S Wild Horse Ranch: History And Description Of A Socio-Ecological Experiment, Alex Sas-Jaworsky, John Derek Scasta

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The growing population of free-roaming horses (Equus ferus caballus) on western public rangelands has necessitated that federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service, develop novel approaches to curb growth including reproduction management. However, bureaucracy has hindered effective research and application of horse management on public lands and examples on private lands may present new solutions. Here we present the history and current population management strategy for the Wild Horse Ranch (WHR) located in southeastern Wyoming, USA, as an example of an ongoing private entity managing horses. Prior to 1985, this ~6,000-ha …

The State Of Animal- Assisted Interventions In France: Is The Iahaio Model Relevant?, Alice Mignot, Gérard Leboucher, Véronique Servais, Karelle De Luca

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Animal- assisted interventions (AAI) became more generalized in health care settings and their development in Europe is increasing. In France, the practice has grown in the absence of official recognition and regulation. In this context, we aim to identify the main characteristics of the French practice of AAI that can influence the establishment of a local regulation. Second, we aim to question the relevance of the model proposed by the International Association of Human- Animal Interaction Organizations (IAHAIO) distinguishing animal- assisted therapies (AAT) and (AAA) animal- assisted activities from the French practice of AAI. We interviewed 111 French handlers in …

Judgement Bias In Miniature Donkeys: Conditioning Factors And Personality Links, Maria Pinto, Francisco Javier Navas González, Camie Heleski, Amy Mclean

Animal and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

Expectation-related bias may configure individuals’ perception of their surrounding environment and of the elements present in it. This study aimed to determine the repercussions of environmental (weather elements) or subject-inherent factors (sex, age, or personality features) on judgment bias. A cognitive bias test was performed in eight Miniature jennies and four jacks. Test comprised habituation, training and testing phases during which subjects were trained on how to complete the test and scored based on their latency to approach an ambiguous stimulus. A questionnaire evaluating eleven personality features was parallelly completed by three caretakers, five operators and two care assistants to …

Best Management Practices For Trapping Furbearers In The United States, H. Bryant White, Gordon R. Batcheller, Edward K. Boggess, Clifford L. Brown, Joseph W. Butfiloski, Thomas A. Decker, John D. Erb, Michael W. Fall, David A. Hamilton, Tim L. Hiller, George F. Hubert Jr., Matthew J. Lovallo, John F. Olson, Nathan M. Roberts

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Humans have used wild furbearers for various purposes for thousands of years. Today, furbearers are sustainably used by the public for their pelts, leather, bones, glands, meat, or other purposes. In North America, contemporary harvest of furbearers has evolved along with trap technologies and societal concerns, and is now highly regulated and more closely coupled with harvest analysis and population monitoring. Traps and regulated trapping programs provide personal or cultural rewards that can also support conservation, and can assist with advancing ecological knowledge through research, protecting endangered species, restoring populations or habitats, protecting personal property, and enhancing public health and …

Welfare Performance Of Three Foothold Traps For Capturing North American River Otters Lontra Canadensis, Matthew J. Lovallo, H. B. White, J. D. Erb, M. S. Peek, Thomas J. Deliberto

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Foothold traps are effective tools for the live capture and restraint of wildlife for management and research. Successful river otter Lontra canadensis restoration programs throughout North America used them extensively. Restoration programs used a variety of methods and models of foothold traps, but comprehensive efforts to describe and quantify injuries associated with river otter captures have been limited. We evaluated injuries of river otters caught in three commercially available models of foothold traps including the number 11 double long-spring with standard jaws, the number 11 double long-spring with double jaws, and the number 2 coil-spring trap. Based on examinations of …

Animal Sentience: History, Science, And Politics, Andrew N. Rowan, Joyce M. D'Silva, Ian J.H. Duncan, Nicholas Palmer

Animal Sentience

This target article has three parts. The first briefly reviews the thinking about nonhuman animals’ sentience in the Western canon: what we might know about their capacity for feeling, leading up to Bentham’s famous question “can they suffer?” The second part sketches the modern development of animal welfare science and the role that animal-sentience considerations have played therein. The third part describes the launching, by Compassion in World Farming, of efforts to incorporate animal sentience language into public policy and regulations concerning human treatment of animals.

Technical Staffs' Knowledge And Attitudes Survey Regarding Tail Docking On Dairy Farms Of Turkey, Çağri Çağlar Si̇nmez, İsmai̇l Ülger, Gökhan Aslim, Ali̇ Yi̇ği̇t, Mahmut Kali̇ber

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The study examined the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudinal drivers of technical staff and breeders regarding tail docking and the incidence of docking on large-scale dairy farms (≥100 cattle) in Turkey. Survey responses were analyzed using the Mann?Whitney U test to determine attitudinal differences between respondents who self-reported docking tails or not docking their cattle. Using face-toface interviews of 210 respondents at 206 Turkish dairy farms was carried out. Tail docking procedures were practiced on 27.1% of the surveyed farms. At the time of the tail docking, 57.9% of cattle were less than 12 months of age. The most frequent tail …

Brain Complexity, Sentience And Welfare, Donald M. Broom

Animal Sentience

Neither sentience nor moral standing is confined to animals with large or human-like brains. Invertebrates deserve moral consideration. Definition of terms clarifies the relationship between sentience and welfare. All animals have welfare but humans give more protection to sentient animals. Humans should be less human-centred.

Bias And Misrepresentation Of Science Undermines Productive Discourse On Animal Welfare Policy: A Case Study, Kelly Jaakkola, Jason N. Bruck, Richard C. Connor, Stephen H. Montgomery, Stephanie L. King

Faculty Publications

Reliable scientific knowledge is crucial for informing legislative, regulatory, and policy decisions in a variety of areas. To that end, scientific reviews of topical issues can be invaluable tools for informing productive discourse and decision-making, assuming these reviews represent the target body of scientific knowledge as completely, accurately, and objectively as possible. Unfortunately, not all reviews live up to this standard. As a case in point, Marino et al.’s review regarding the welfare of killer whales in captivity contains methodological flaws and misrepresentations of the scientific literature, including problematic referencing, overinterpretation of the data, misleading word choice, and biased argumentation. …

Technology And Responsibility: A Discussion Of Underexamined Risks And Concerns In Precision Livestock Farming, Ian Werkheiser

Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Implications

Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) promises to replicate at scale, the care usually provided by farmers who know their animals.

This suite of current and developing technologies has the potential to address many problems facing modern farms.

Many underexamined concerns still exist around PLF, some of which are common to many new technologies, and others of which are more specific to these technologies being implemented on farms with humans and nonhuman animals.

Though these concerns are not a sufficient reason to abandon PLF, they ought to be considered more carefully by everyone working on developing, implementing, or legislating these technologies.

Asian Elephant Rescue, Rehabilitation And Rewilding, Liv Baker, Rebecca Winkler

Animal Sentience

Thailand has fewer than 10,000 elephants left. More of them are living in captivity to serve the tourist industry under grim conditions than are living free in what is left of their wild habitat. Conservation efforts need to be focused on all surviving members of the species, captive and free, but they need to take into account the inextricable entanglement of human and nonhuman animal lives in Thailand today. There is an opportunity for rescuing, rehabilitating and reintroducing captive elephants to the wild with the help of the traditional expertise of a mahout culture that has been elephant-keeping for centuries. …

Research On The Determination Of Heat And Water Vapor Emissions Of Anatolian Waterbuffaloes Under Indoor Environmental Conditions, İsrafi̇l Kocaman, Hüseyi̇n Cömert Kurç

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

This study was carried out to determine the amount of total heat, sensible heat, latent heat, and water vapor emitted by Anatolian water buffaloes in a closed barn located in the Thrace region of Turkey. At the research farm, a group was formed by randomly selecting water buffaloes based on their genetic similarities and lactation numbers. The buffalo group formed was housed in a closedtype barn. The inside and outside air temperatures, relative humidity, and milk yield values of the buffaloes were recorded for 1 year. According to the results of this research, the Anatolian water buffaloes emitted 653 kcal/h …

Influence Of Social Rank On Certain Stress Response Variables And Behavioralcharacteristics Of Adult Rams, Eli̇f Ergül Eki̇z, Hülya Yalçintan, Alper Yilmaz, İbrahi̇m Akyazi, Evren Eraslan, Bülent Eki̇z

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Dominance rank within a group can affect the stress level of an animal. However, there is no consensus on whether the dominant or subordinate animals are physiologically more stressed. It was aimed herein to determine the effect of social rank on the stress level and expression of some behaviors of adult Hemsin, Chios, and Karakul rams. According to their dominance index (DI) values, the rams were classified as low-ranked (DI < 0.33; n = 13), medium-ranked (DI: 0.33-0.66; n = 13), and high-ranked (DI > 0.66; n = 13) individuals. The low-ranked rams had lower body weight, body length, chest depth, chest circumference, cannon bone circumference, and tail width than the medium- and high-ranked rams. …

Using A Co2 Surgical Laser For Piglet Castration To Reduce Pain And Inflammation, And To Improve Wound Healing, A. V. Viscardi, C. A. Cull, M. D. Kleinhenz, S. Montgomery, A. Curtis, K. Lechtenberg, J. F. Coetzee

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

The objectives of this preliminary study were to determine the ability of a CO₂surgical laser to 1) reduce pain, 2) reduce inflammation, and 3) improve wound healing of piglets undergoing surgical castration. Two-day old male Yorkshire × Landrace piglets were used and randomly assigned to one of three treatments (n= 10 piglets/treatment group): surgical castration with the CO₂laser, surgical castration with a scalpel, or sham (uncastrated control). Piglets were video recorded in their pens for 1 h pre-procedure and from 0-2, 6-8, and at 24 h post-procedure for behavior scoring. Surgical site images were …

Sheep Welfare During Transport And Slaughter In Bulgaria - Impact Of Welfare On Slaughter Carcass And Meat Quality: A Review, Nikolay Todorov Ivanov

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The present work aimed to review the state of sheep welfare in Bulgaria during transportation and slaughter and to evaluate its relationship with slaughter carcass and meat quality. Over the last few years, animal welfare has become increasingly important. Normative documents related to welfare during rearing, transport, and slaughter of animals have been developed and promulgated. A major percentage of these animals are reared for meat production, but attempts to minimize stress and pain during transport and slaughter should be made. Stress reduction and pain control improve animal welfare and also impact carcass and meat quality. This overview demonstrates that …

How Consumers' Consciousness And Perception Levels Affect Purchase Intention Of Organicchicken Meat In Turkey, Bi̇lge Acar Bolat, Ferhan Kaygisiz, Di̇ren Bulut

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of consumers' consciousness levels through their perception levels on purchase intention towards organic chicken meat. While consciousness levels of organic chicken meat were handled in terms of animal welfare awareness and health, perception levels were dealt with in terms of food safety, price, and benefit. Structural equation modeling was used to find out which factors have a significant effect on purchase intention. As a result of the analysis, it was found that consumers' animal welfare awareness had a positive effect on food safety perception and health consciousness had a …

Animal Boredom: Is A Scientific Study Of The Subjective Experiences Of Animals Possible?, Françoise Wemelsfelder

Françoise Wemelsfelder, PhD

The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between different meta-scientific frameworks and the science of animal welfare. Animal Boredom 117 During the past few years, I have become more and more convinced that the great difficulty science has in studying subjective experience in its objects, might be related to the denial of any role to subjective experience in the observer as an interpretational guide. Can a quality in the world around us be observed, when this same quality is deliberately excluded from the process of observing?

As a practical example for the discussion described above, the phenomenon …

Report Of A Meeting On Contemporary Topics In Zebrafish Husbandry And Care, Nikki Osborne, Gregory Paull, Adam Grierson, Karen Dunford, Elisabeth M. Busch-Nentwich, Lynne U. Sneddon, Natalie Wren, Joe Higgins, Penny Hawkins

Lynne Sneddon, PhD

A meeting on Contemporary Topics in Zebrafish Husbandry and Care was held in the United Kingdom in 2014, with the aim of providing a discussion forum for researchers, animal technologists, and veterinarians from academia and industry to share good practice and exchange ideas. Presentation topics included protocols for optimal larval rearing, implementing the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement) in large-scale colony management, and environmental enrichment. The audience also participated in a survey of current practice relating to practical husbandry, cryopreservation, and the provision of enrichment.

Demographics Regarding Belief In Non-Human Animal Sentience And Emotional Empathy With Animals: A Pilot Study Among Attendees Of An Animal Welfare Symposium, Amelia Cornish, Bethany Wilson, David Raubenheimer, Paul Mcgreevy

Paul McGreevy, PhD

Attitudes to animals are linked to beliefs about their ability to experience pain and suffering, their cognition, and their sentience. Education and awareness-raising play a pivotal role in increasing society’s consideration of non-human animal welfare. The current pilot study explores the attitudes towards animal welfare among a unique population of people who attended an animal welfare symposium at the University of Sydney. It involved administration of a validated questionnaire that assessed attitudes to animals; specifically exploring participants’ (n = 41) beliefs about the sentience of animals and their emotional empathy with animals. The resultant data revealed significant associations between participants’ …

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

Christian Nawroth, PhD

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, …

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, …