Animal Studies Commons^™

Injuries To Birds Of Prey Caught In Leghold Traps, Katherine Durham

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

One hundred and seventy-three raptors, including 32 Bald Eagles, have been treated for trapping injuries at the University of Minnesota Raptor Research and Rehabilitation Program since 1972. These birds were primarily caught in "open" bait leghold sets incidental to furbearer trapping in the Minnesota region. The differential outcome of the injuries concerning crippling or mortality is presented for large versus small raptors, toe versus leg injuries, and leg fracture versus soft tissue damage only. There is only limited potential for mitigating the effects of trapping injuries.

Equine Behavior Problems In Relation To Humane Management, Katherine A. Houpt

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

The behavior problems of horses are frequently related to management practices. Behaviors termed stall vices appear to be either stereotyped behaviors that occur in reaction to stress or patterns that emerge when natural behaviors such as grazing are prevented. The behavior cases presented to the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, were tabulated: 27% were stall vices, and 27% were some form of aggression. The stall vices were circling, digging, kicking the stall, chewing wood, swallowing air, or self-mutilation. Management of horses on

pasture rather than in stalls prevents the development of many of these stall vices. …

People At Zoos: A Sociological Approach, Edward G. Ludwig

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

This article is a participant observation study of animal/human relationships at zoos. Both zoo personnel and visitors were observed intensively over four months and less intensively for two years. Young zoo employees tended to be naturalistic, ecologistic, and scientistic in their value orientation toward animals. These attitudes were often frustrated by the day-to-day routines of the job involving hosing and feeding and the realities of limitations placed upon zoos by strained budgets and antiquated buildings. The public tended to be an additional source of frustration due to their apparent lack of sensitivity and desire to be amused rather than educated.

A Strategy For Dog-Owner Education, Ian Dunbar

Animal Welfare Collection

By conservative estimates, the humane societies and societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals in the United States euthanize over 15 million pets each year. It is a great shame that people who have devoted their lives to animals should be forced to destroy the majority of animals that pass through their hands. In addition, the Pet Food Institute's 1975 Survey revealed that a high percentage of pet owners were unsatisfied with their animals and ended up giving them away, taking them to animal shelters, or losing them in accidents. It would appear that only a minority of pets …

The Leopard In Africa: Biological And Cultural Realities, Norman Myers

Conservation Collection

The leopard in Africa may once again come under pressure from the U.S. Fish an~ Wildlife Service, which is considering the prospect of changing the leop~rd s legal status from endangered to threatened, thus opening it up to sport huntmg. The motivation is to enable American hunters to bring leopard skin trophies back to the United States.

Farm Animal Welfare: Some Economic Considerations, Frances Turner, John Strak

Agribusiness Collection

Farmers, just like other businessmen, attempt to produce a saleable product at the least possible cost to themselves. In this way they hope to assure themselves of some profit, and hence to earn a living. In itself this profit motive cannot be criticized, but in attempting to maintain their profits, farmers have adopted more intensive systems of animal production. In turn, the benefits from farmers using these new techniques have accrued to consumers in the form of relatively less expensive food. Clearly, by restricting the use of factory farming methods (which are associated with lower unit costs of production) there …

Scientific Issues And Regulation Of Primate Use, Andrew N. Rowan

Experimentation Collection

Some of the patterns of use of nonhuman primates in the USA and Europe are outlined and a few specific examples of inappropriate and/or unnecessary use are described. The primate research resources program in the USA is examined and some suggestions as to how the program could be made more responsive to humane and conservation concerns are presented.

The Psychology Of Euthanizing Animals: The Emotional Components, Charles E. Owens, Ricky Davis, Bill Hurt Smith

Human and Animal Bonding Collection

The emotional effects of euthanizing unwanted animals on professional animal control personnel are examined using written statements of and discussions among twenty-six euthanasia technicians at a workshop during a national session of the Animal Control Academy (Tuscaloosa, AL]. Emotional conflicts arise .in significant part from the dilemma that the same public which is responsible for the problem of unwanted animals also has a markedly negative perception of euthanasia, and by extension, of those who perform euthanasia. During discussions, the euthanasia technicians revealed a variety of strategies for coping with feelings of isolation, alienation and sorrow. These included intellectualization, avoidance of …

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 …

The Metaphysics Of Anthropocentrism: A Review Of Paul Ehrenfeld's "The Arrogance Of Humanism" And Mary Midgley's "Beast And Man", Bernard E. Rollin

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

Our attitudes and behavior toward nature and toward other forms of life are clearly in the forefront of contemporary ethical concern. It thus becomes necessary to examine critically the metaphysics which has traditionally grounded these attitudes. Unquestionably, the key feature of the dominant underlying conceptual scheme has been the positing of a clear-cut dichotomy between man and the natural world. For most of the Greeks, man is radically separated from nature- he lives in the realm of nomos, convention, somehow above the realm of physis, nature. He can reason, communicate, choose, create a social order, apprehend ultimate reality, and even …

The Case For Revising Our Laws On Animal Experimentation, David L. Markell

Experimentation Collection

The current laws regarding experimentation upon animals should be drastically revised. These laws permit virtually unrestricted experimentation on animals without regard to the benefits to be obtained from such experimentation, and without regard to the consequences of such experimentation upon the subject animal. Legislation constituting a two-step jump from the current laws is needed: laws sanctioning and requiring animal experimentation should be repealed; and laws significantly restricting acceptable experimentation should be enacted. The principle underlying this proposal for change is straightforward: Nonhuman animals, like human animals, have interests in the integrity of their bodies which deserve legal protection. Only by …

Ethical Concerns In Primate Use And Husbandry, Ardith A. Eudey

Experimentation Collection

Subsequent to World War II, a dramatic increase occurred in the utilization of nonhuman primates in biomedical and psychological research and industry. At the same time field studies on the ecological and social behavior of natural populations of primates also increased, making possible more realistic assessments of both the behavioral potentiality of primate populations and their conservation status. In spite of the growing body of information indicating the endangered or threatened status of most species, many laboratory workers and planning agencies continue to regard primates as renewable resources, even seeking to bypass protective legislation in habitat countries to obtain them. …

Lab Animal Housing: Numbers Or Common Sense?, Andrew N. Rowan

Laboratory Experiments Collection

No abstract provided.

Farm Animal Welfare: Some Opinions, Michael W. Fox

Agribusiness Collection

The subject of farm animal welfare has evoked a wide range of responses from those involved in the livestock industry and those concerned about the humaneness of intensive husbandry farming practices. Books have been published on the subject as well as a large number of articles in professional and popular magazines. Three international symposia dealing with animal rights have been held in the last two years and a major European conference dealing with farm animal welfare and involving veterinarians, farmers, animal scientists and animal welfare groups was held in Amsterdam in 1979.

In the U.K., a governmental Farm Animal Welfare …

The Politics Of Animal Rights: Making The Human Connection, Jim Mason

Animal Welfare Collection

Animal Rights is in the air, so much so that the term borders on becoming a buzzword and the cause itself the latest form of radical chic. Although Lewis Gompertz, HenryS. Salt and others put forth radically different views on attitudes and relations toward other animals more than a century ago, the publication in 1972 of essays by Brigid Brophy, Richard Ryder and others in the book, Animals, Men and Morals and the more popular book, Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer have sparked another wave of these views and have inspired a spate of college courses, articles in both academic …

The Limits Of Legislation In Achieving Social Change, Theodore S. Meth

Laws and Legislation Collection

This paper is about law, not laboratory animals or philosophical ethics. It proceeds from the premise that law is an appropriate, perhaps inevitable, instrument for dealing with ethical issues related to the use of research animals.

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 …

History Of The Humane Movement And Prospects For The 80s, Robert A. Brown

Animal Welfare Collection

No abstract provided.

Biomedical Research And Animal Welfare: Traditional Viewpoints And Future Directions, Franklin M. Loew

Experimentation Collection

It has been twenty years since C.P. Snow first presented the concept of "The Two Cultures"; referring to the "culture" of scientists and the "culture" of literary intellectuals (mainly writers), Snow said (1969):

... constantly I felt I was moving among two groups- comparable in intelligence, identical in race, not grossly different in social origin, earning about the same incomes, who had almost ceased to communicate at all, who in intellectual, moral and psychological climate had so little in common ...

In some ways, "Two Cultures" goes far to characterize the current state of affairs surrounding those whose scientific endeavors …

Regulation Of Biomedical Research, Andrew N. Rowan

Experimentation Collection

The idea of abolishing or simplifying government regulations has a large following in Washington at the moment. As Reagan and his minions start to prune the growth of the past twenty years, we must hope that they are able to distinguish between the healthy growth which provides needed support and the unnecessary growth which strangles necessary initiatives. However, there is one area where we need more regulation rather than less, namely, biomedical research. In calling for more regulation in biomedical research, I do not mean the imposition of outside controls by allegedly ignorant and insensitive bureaucrats (although I think some …

Is Nature Our Birthright?, Nancy Heneson

Ecology Collection

It is of course impossible to escape the notion of self-interest in our relationship with nature. In fact, it is "unnatural," if one understands (and, one is forced to say nowadays, believes in) evolution. However, there is no real justification for either disguising this as stewardship or perverting it into dominionism. Every organism has an impact on the environment, and it is not only idealistic but biologically nonsensical to argue that we should leave everything alone. However, when decisions on policy are made which direct the future use of land, plants and animals, at least let the rationale not be …

Euthanasia Of Day-Old Male Chicks In The Poultry Industry, Walter Jaksch

Agribusiness Collection

Humane killing of animals implies a painless death (euthanasia). This depends on the rapidity with which unconsciousness is achieved and the maintenance of this state until death occurs. Euthanasia methods for day-old chicks must also be economical and should not interfere with the use of the carcasses for animal food or fertilizer. Manual decapitation or dislocation of the neck are the best available manual methods of euthanasia. For larger numbers of birds, the literature recommends homogenization in a crusher. In the author's own experiments, the destruction of day-old chicks was most effectively carried out by poisoning with carbon dioxide (CO …

Sewer Science & Pound Seizure, Kenneth P. Stoller

Laboratory Experiments Collection

Significant decisions are being made in the City and County of Los Angeles over a seemingly insignificant issue- pound seizure. Outwardly, the issue is a triflepotentially inconvenienced animal research professionals vs. irate citizens who don't want lost pets sold for research. However, on another level, this conflict has imp I ications that reach to the very depths of irrationality- for far from fighting to promote the practice of pound seizure, scientists should be fighting to end it.

Abnormal Behavior As An Indication Of Immaterial Suffering, Hans Hinrich Sambraus

Sentience Collection

Reactive abnormal behavior is the convincing proof of immaterial suffering for the ethologist. We consider abnormal that behavior which does not correspond to, or is without object, which appears with sharply increased or decreased frequency, or which is abnormal in its motor pattern. Moreover, much reactive abnormal behavior manifests itself in stereotypies, i.e., the movement is repeated continuously in the same way. Among wild animals and in traditional forms of animal production abnormal behavior is unknown. However, it is encountered often in animals in intensive husbandry systems, and it can be demonstrated that abnormal behavior is actually brought about by …

History Of Animal Experimentation Control In The U.K., Judith E. Hampson

Laws and Legislation Collection

The legislative control of the use of animals in experiments in the UK lies in the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1876. Animal Welfare groups and individuals in Britain have pressed for reform of this law almost since its inception 105 years ago, and the British government has recently agreed to bring this legislation up to date. Any new or amended legislation could have far-reaching implications, both for laboratory animal welfare and upon the scientific community and is therefore of considerable importance both in this country and overseas. No proper appreciation of the problem would be possible without reference to …

The Coyote (Canis Latrans) In Panama, Eustorgio Méndez, Francisco Delgádo, Demetrio Miranda

Conservation Collection

This report reveals that the coyote, Canis Iatrans, has recently extended its southern range to Panama. The skin of one adult female coyote killed by hunters at Los Pirales, a farm near Gualaca in Chiriqui Province, western Panama, has been deposited in the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory Vertebrate Collection. Other coyotes have been observed in Alanje, Boquete and Boqueron, other localities of the same province. The probable range of the coyote in Panama is indicated, and the need for an urgent management strategy for this canid in the Republic is also expressed.

One Answer To The Confinement Pig Problem, Arthur Nehring

Human Health Collection

A new design for an intensive hog finishing operation is presented. The "maze deconfinement" system consists of a series of 4-walled concrete pens arranged in a T-maze within a confinement building that is designed to utilize solar energy. In addition to low cost and efficient use of energy, the system has the following advantages: higher feed conversion rate; less fighting among and injuries to hogs; some freedom for hogs to exercise and explore; decreased labor. The system has been in use on the author's farm since the end of 1976.

A Chronology Of Significant Events, Meetings, And Publications Concerning The Welfare Of Laboratory And Farm Animals, Andrew N. Rowan

Animal Welfare Collection

It is not readily appreciated, except for those of us who are deeply involved in the animal movement, how the debate on animal rights and animal exploitation has grown and spread over the past ten years. It may, therefore, be of some interest to readers to have a chronology of important events and publications from the past decade. The outline is not meant to be comprehensive and others would no doubt highlight different events, but it is hoped that it will prove to be of interest and of use. The philosophical, legislative and scientific aspects are dealt with separately for …

Where To Put Your Choker, Roger A. Mugford

Pets Collection

The choke chain has come to be regarded as an indispensable aid to training dogs, but even the most time-hallowed practices deserve an occasional critical review. The author has recently completed an investigation into the uses and abuses of choke chains, and failed to find any benefit from using a choker rather than a conventional leather collar. Indeed, there are some very considerable dangers and disadvantages associated with the device. These charges may sound like heresy to many dog-trainers, but to others, it may strike a sympathetic chord.

Getting Educated At The Zoo, Nancy Heneson

Zoos and Aquariums Collection

In this issue we present three papers that deal with the subject of the zoo. Although the focal concern of each paper is different and the positions of the authors range from whole-hearted support of the institution to frank skepticism, all express a belief in the potential educational value of zoos. This editorial, however, has a different premise. It is not meant to criticize the other papers, but rather to raise questions from another point of view.