Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Rewilding And Domestication: Clarifying Terminology, Catia Correia-Caeiro

Animal Sentience

Baker & Winkler (B&W) describe the state of Asian elephant conservation, raising unique issues, and proposing a direction based on rewilding. The long history and socio-biology of elephants and humans has some parallels with the domestication of dogs (and other species). However, markers of domestication seem absent from elephants. The proper use of terms such as “wild” and “domestic” is crucial in defining the best conservation strategies, and, more important, in attending to the welfare needs of individuals, which can differ between wild and domestic animals. B&W’s target article represents an important starting point for discussion around elephant conservation, but …

Finding The Green-Eyed Monster In The Brain Of A Dog, Peter Singer

Animal Sentience

That dogs show behavior suggestive of jealousy has long been known and has been demonstrated under controlled conditions. Cook et al. have now shown arousal in the amygdala when dogs see a caregiver feeding another dog. This finding has ethical significance in two respects. First, the consideration shown by the investigators for the welfare of their experimental subjects sets an example for other researchers using animals. Second, the greater understanding of the emotional lives of animals should lead to more concern for their needs.

What Is It Like To Be A Jealous Dog?, Emanuela Prato Previde, Paola Valsecchi

Animal Sentience

Jealousy is a good candidate for comparative studies due to its clear adaptive value in protecting social bonds and affective relationships. Dogs are suitable subjects for investigating the evolution of jealousy, thanks to their rather sophisticated socio-cognitive abilities — which in some cases parallel those reported for human infants — and thanks to their long-lasting relationship with humans. The work of Cook and colleagues (2018) addresses the issue of jealousy in dogs through the lens of neuroscience, examining the relationship between the amygdala and jealousy. Their experiment has a number of methodological flaws that prevent distinguishing jealousy from other internal …

Only The Human Brain Has The Cognitive Capacity For Jealousy, Donatella Marazziti

Animal Sentience

Jealousy is exclusively a human phenomenon because nonhuman animals lack the brain structures regulating the higher processes underlying jealousy.

Researchers, Not Dogs, Lack Control In An Experiment On Jealousy, Jennifer Vonk

Animal Sentience

Cook and colleagues (2018) have developed a clever method to measure fMRI in awake dogs in response to a number of interesting stimuli. As a result, they are able to determine neural correlates of observable behavior. They report that dogs may experience something akin to jealousy because they show greater amygdala activation in response to food being given to a fake dog versus food being placed in a bucket. However, several critical controls are missing which prevent the authors from being able to speak of jealousy.

Can A Dog Be Jealous?, Yaoguang Jiang, Annamarie W. Huttunen, Michael L. Platt

Animal Sentience

Whether humans alone experience complex emotions like jealousy or envy remains hotly debated, partly because of the difficulty of measuring them without a verbal report. Cook, Berns and colleagues use functional brain imaging to identify in dogs neural responses very similar to those evoked by jealousy in humans. When dogs see their caregiver reward a facsimile dog, their amygdala is activated and the strength of this response predicts aggressive behavior — just as jealousy leads to aggression in humans. The authors conclude that dogs feel something very similar to human jealousy. This novel and creative study tackles one of the …

What Would We Like To Know By Imaging The Brains Of Dogs?, Ralph Adolphs

Animal Sentience

Using fMRI to study emotions in animals is important, fascinating, and fraught with methodological and conceptual problems. Cook et al. are doing it, and there is no question that they and others will be doing it better and better as time goes on. Where will this lead us? What could fMRI in principle tell us about the minds of nonhuman animals?

Fake Or Not: Two Prerequisites For Jealousy, Juliane Bräuer, Federica Amici

Animal Sentience

Cook and colleagues (2018) use a novel approach to test jealousy in dogs. Although such a non-invasive approach is more than welcome in comparative research, several methodological shortcomings limit the impact of this study. We briefly outline two main problems. (1) There is no evidence that the fake dogs in the study were perceived as real, and thus as social rivals, which would be a prerequisite for jealousy. (2) It is questionable whether dogs generally show the cognitive prerequisites for jealousy, such as attentiveness toward a social rival, the ability to understand intentions, and a sense of fairness. We suggest …

Positive Emotions And Quality Of Life In Dogs, Patrizia Piotti

Animal Sentience

Positive affect is fundamental to ensuring good animal welfare. Discrete and dimensional theories of emotion have recently been used to explore the relation between cognition and affect and to develop cognitive measures of positive affect. Human quality-of-life assessment focuses on positive affect, which is difficult to measure objectively in dogs. Expanding on Kujala’s (2017) discussion of positive emotions and cognitive measures of affect, I suggest how these are relevant to assessing canine quality of life.

Dogs Consciously Experience Emotions: The Question Is, Which?, Ralph Adolphs

Animal Sentience

I discuss three themes related to Kujala’s target article. First, the wealth of emerging data on cognitive studies in dogs will surely show that dogs have a very rich repertoire of cognitive processes, for most of which we find homologues in humans. Second, understanding the internal states that mediate social behaviors, such as emotions, requires us to consider both a dog’s behaviors with other dogs, and the emergence of new behavioral patterns in interaction with humans. Third, all of this will certainly narrow the range of justifications for denying that dogs have subjective experiences of emotions.

Animal And Human Emotion: Concepts And Methodologies, Cátia Correia Caeiro

Animal Sentience

The human-dog relationship is particularly interesting for the study of emotions. The underlying concepts need to be made explicit and methods need to be adapted to the characteristics of the species studied as well as the shortcomings of the human experimenter’s perception.

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

Jennifer Jackman, Ph.D.

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.

Environmental Impacts Of One Puppy Mill Among Many: A Case History, John A. Gill

Puppy Mills Collection

In recent decades, the animal welfare aspects of irresponsibly-managed commercial dog-breeding businesses have attracted national attention, prompting legislative and regulatory actions. However, the environmental impacts of such businesses, also known as puppy mills, have received far less attention. Most puppy mills are secretive; therefore, it is hard to get documented information about their environmental impacts. Although the former Whispering Oaks Kennels near Parkersburg, W.Va., also kept secrets, reliable environmental information regarding its operation became available because in the summer of 2008, Wood County cited the facility for violating the State’s water pollution and solid waste statutes. This report is based …

Environmental Impacts Of Puppy Mills, The Humane Society Of The United States

PUPPY MILL REPORTS

A puppy mill is “a dog breeding operation in which the health of the dogs is disregarded in order to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits.” Avenson v. Zegart, 577 F. Supp. 958, Dist. Court, Minnesota (1984). State and federal inspection reports reveal that a common method employed to maximize profits includes irresponsible waste management practices that are harmful to the environment. Impacts may be caused by improper disposal of feces, urine and carcasses.

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.

Dogs And Dog Control In Developing Countries, J. F. Reese

State of the Animals 2005

The relationship between a community and its dogs is not always entirely positive, and many cultures identify similar problems associated with having dogs in their midst. For example, in South Africa, the Soweto community identified the problems caused by dogs as road accidents, barking and fighting, biting children and killing livestock, and uncontrolled fecal contamination (Beck 2000). Such problems exist in many cultures, throughout the developed and developing worlds.

It is against this background of a wide range of man-dog relationships that dogs in the developing world must be seen and understood. Knowledge about and understanding of the complexity of …

Solving The Pet Overpopulation Problem

Close Up Reports

Because of the short pregnancies and large litters of dogs and cats, one individual female with all her female offspring reproducing similarly can be the source of over 4,000 new lives within seven years. Some of these animals will find homes complete with laps to sit on and fireplaces to enjoy, but millions of other perfectly healthy dogs and cats won't be so lucky. The overabundance of these potential pets tends to cheapen the intrinsic value of each individual animal in the eyes of the general public. The swelling problem causes some people to use cruel methods of disposing of …

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, …

Feral Dogs Of The Galapágos Islands: Impact And Control, Bruce D. Barnett, Robert L. Rudd

Ecology Collection

Organisms introduced onto insular ecosystems, after they have become established, frequently increase to destructive numbers. Several species of mammals introduced onto the Galapagos Islands illustrate this ecological axiom. For example, domestic dogs intentionally introduced now exist as three major types: domestic, free--ranging or pariah, and feral. Problems derived from their presence are most apparent on the islands of Santa Cruz and lsabela. Feral and pariah dogs are both scavengers and predators. While other introduced mammals (chiefly feral cattle and pigs) have served as prey, in recent years severe depredations on the unique endemic Ga/apagan fauna have been caused by the …

Stray-Dog Control In Cyprus: Primitive And Humane Methods, Kyriacos Polydorou

Hunting Collection

In Cyprus, a dog control scheme was started in 1971 within the context of an all-inclusive anti-echinococcosis campaign. At the time, it was estimated that there were more than 100,000 dogs in the island, almost all of which were strays (even many of those that were purportedly "owned"]. These had been identified as infectious agents of echinococcosis in Cyprus (the average surgical incidence in humans, over the 30-year period prior to 1970, was 12.9/100,000]. The destruction of stray dogs is accomplished by using guns that fire a syringe containing a euthanizing drug. In the past (prior to 1970), various inhumane …

Homeless Cats And Dogs Are Suffering And Dying

Close Up Reports

Last year more than 13 million homeless cats and dogs were euthanized at humane societies and municipal animal shelters. As a statistic, 13 million may be meaningless. But think of it another way. Think of the 13 million as individual animals with individual personalities--each with their own beating heart, each with their own wretched story of how they found their way to the animal shelter. Each one was an individual breathing creature whose life was ended because there was no home to go to.

Special Report On Controlling America's Pet Population

Special Reports

HSUS estimates that public and private animal control programs cost the nation as much as $500 million a year. Much of this expense is required for the feeding and care of unwanted animals during the 5 to 10 days they are held for adoption, killing the 80% that are not adopted or redeemed, and disposing of the carcasses. The result is both an unconscionable waste of life and a needless drain on public and private money.

A large part of the blame for people undertaking pet ownership without having made a total commitment to the animal lies with the pet …

Special Report On Animal Overpopulation: Breeding Surplus Dogs And Cats Causes Suffering

Special Reports

Overbreeding has created a surplus of nearly 50 million dogs and cats. These animals are unwanted and homeless. Some of them--the lucky ones--will get a quick, merciful death at humane society shelters. Most, however, haven't even the hope of being reached and protected from suffering in the 3,000 or more communities without humane societies. Instead, they roam the country--starving, thirsting, suffering from disease and injury.

This is suffering on a massive scale. Many factors contribute to it. Commercial interests like pet shops, for example, are partly to blame in suggesting there is money in breeding puppies and kittens. Veterinarians who …