Animal Studies Commons^™

Counting The Contributions: Benchmarking For Your Organization And Your State, Andrew N. Rowan

Demography and Statistics for Companion Animal Populations Collection

An analysis of per-capita donations can help shelters assess their effectiveness in raising funds and awareness in their communities.

On Measuring Progress In Animal Welfare, James A. Serpell

Assessment of Animal Welfare Collection

Improvements in the welfare of animals arise from two primary sources: Changes in public attitudes and beliefs regarding what constitutes acceptable treatment of animals, and mandatory changes in behavior toward animals imposed by governments and regulatory authorities. During the last 30-40 years, public and political support for improvements in animal welfare has increased dramatically in many countries. Funding from both governmental and non-governmental sources continues to grow, and the relatively new field of animal welfare science has emerged and expanded to support and inform these efforts. Many experts in the field recognize, however, that there is still a distinct gap …

When To Be A Dear Enemy: Flexible Acoustic Relationships Of Neighbouring Skylarks, Alauda Arvensis, Elodie Briefer, Fanny Rybak, Thierry Aubin

Ethology Collection

Numerous territorial species are less aggressive towards neighbours than strangers. This tolerance towards neighbouring conspecifics, termed the ‘dear enemy’ effect, seems to be a flexible feature of the relationship between neighbours, and has been shown to disappear in some species after experimental or natural modifications of the context. However, the maintenance over time of this singular relationship has been poorly studied. In this study, we followed the change of dear enemy relationships during the breeding season in a territorial songbird with a complex song, the skylark. We examined in the field the response of territory owners to playbacks of neighbour …

Visual Attention And Its Relation To Knowledge States In Chimpanzees, Pan Troglodytes, Megan J. Bulloch, Sarah T. Boysen, Ellen E. Furlong

Sentience Collection

Primates rely on visual attention to gather knowledge about their environment. The ability to recognize such knowledge-acquisition activity in another may demonstrate one aspect of Theory of Mind. Using a series of experiments in which chimpanzees were presented with a choice between an experimenter whose visual attention was available and another whose vision was occluded, we asked whether chimpanzees understood the relationship between visual attention and knowledge states. The animals showed sophisticated understanding of attention from the first presentation of each task. Under more complex experimental conditions, the subjects had more difficulty with species-typical processing of attentional cues and those …

An Assessment Of The Role Of Chimpanzees In Aids Vaccine Research, Jarrod Bailey

Laboratory Experiments Collection

Prior to Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV)-infected macaques becoming the ‘model of choice’ in the 1990s, chimpanzees were widely used in AIDS vaccine research and testing. Faced with the continued failure to develop an effective human vaccine, some scientists are calling for a return to their widespread use. To assess the past and potential future contribution of chimpanzees to AIDS vaccine development, databases and published literature were systematically searched to compare the results of AIDS vaccine trials in chimpanzees with those of human clinical trials, and to determine whether the chimpanzee trials were predictive of the human response. Protective and/or therapeutic …

Spawning Salmon Disrupt Trophic Coupling Between Wolves And Ungulate Prey In Coastal British Columbia, Chris T. Darimont, Paul C. Paquet, Thomas E. Reimchen

Nonindigenous Pests and Biological Invasions Collection

Background: As a cross-boundary resource subsidy, spawning salmon can strongly affect consumer and ecosystem ecology. Here we examine whether this marine resource can influence a terrestrial wolf-deer (Canis lupus-Odocoileus hemionus) predator-prey system in coastal British Columbia, Canada. Data on resource availability and resource use among eight wolf groups for three seasons over four years allow us to evaluate competing hypotheses that describe salmon as either an alternate resource, consumed in areas where deer are scarce, or as a targeted resource, consumed as a positive function of its availability. Faecal (n = 2203 wolf scats) and isotopic analyses (n = 60 …

Understanding Animal Welfare, David Fraser

Assessment of Animal Welfare Collection

In debates about the welfare of animals, different people have tended to emphasize different concerns. Some emphasize the basic health and functioning of animals, especially freedom from disease and injury. Others emphasize the "affective states" of animals – states like pain, distress and pleasure that are experienced as positive or negative. Others emphasize the ability of animals to live reasonably natural lives by carrying out natural behaviour and having natural elements in their environment. These concerns constitute different criteria that people use to assess animal welfare. The criteria overlap substantially but are sufficiently independent that the single- minded pursuit of …

A Note On The Effectiveness Of Behavioural Rehabilitation For Reducing Inter-Dog Aggression In Shelter Dogs, Jane S. Orihel, David Fraser

Interactive Behavior Collection

The effectiveness of a rehabilitation program for reducing inter-dog aggression was evaluated at the municipal animal shelter. Sixteen dogs (of 60 examined) met the study criteria of medium inter-dog aggression as determined by an inter-dog aggression test. These dogs received a 10-day treatment of daily rehabilitation for 30 min (rehabilitation group, n = 9) or daily release into an outdoor enclosure for 30 min (control group, n = 7). Rehabilitation consisted of desensitising and counter-conditioning dogs to the approach of other ‘‘stimulus’’ dogs. Most dogs in the rehabilitation group showed a decline in aggression scores when re-tested after the last …

Estimates For Worldwide Laboratory Animal Use In 2005, Katy Taylor, Nicky Gordon, Gill Langley, Wendy Higgins

Laboratory Experiments Collection

Animal experimentation continues to generate public and political concern worldwide. Relatively few countries collate and publish animal use statistics, yet this is a first and essential step toward public accountability and an informed debate, as well as being important for effective policy-making and regulation. The implementation of the Three Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement of animal experiments) should be expected to result in a decline in animal use, but without regular, accurate statistics, this cannot be monitored. Recent estimates of worldwide annual laboratory animal use are imprecise and unsubstantiated, ranging from 28–100 million. We collated data for 37 countries that …

Factors Associated With Success In Guide Dog Training, Lara S. Batt, Marjolyn S. Batt, John A. Baguley, Paul D. Mcgreevy

Service and Support Animals Collection

Tests of motor laterality and behavioral reactivity, as well as salivary cortisol concentrations, were examined in this pilot study to identify dogs best suited to guide dog work. Over a 14-month period, lateralization tests were conducted and cortisol concentrations were determined on 3 separate occasions, and temperament testing was performed on 2. Potential guide dogs (N = 43) involved in this study were 5 golden retrievers (4 males, 1 female) and thirty-eight Labrador retrievers (8 black males, fifteen yellow males, 5 black females, and ten yellow females). Results from these tests were then compared with the ultimate success of the …

The Beginning Of The End For Chimpanzee Experiments?, Andrew Knight

Experimentation Collection

The advanced sensory, psychological and social abilities of chimpanzees confer upon them a profound ability to suffer when born into unnatural captive environments, or captured from the wild – as many older research chimpanzees once were – and when subsequently subjected to confinement, social disruption, and involuntary participation in potentially harmful biomedical research. Justifications for such research depend primarily on the important contributions advocates claim it has made toward medical advancements. However, a recent large-scale systematic review indicates that invasive chimpanzee experiments rarely provide benefits in excess of their profound animal welfare, bioethical and financial costs. The approval of large …

Novel Candidate Genes Identified In The Brain During Nociception In Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio) And Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss), Siobhan C. Reilly, John P. Quinn, Andrew R. Cossins, Lynne U. Sneddon

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Recent studies have demonstrated that teleost fish possess nociceptors that detect potentially painful stimuli and that the physiological properties of these fibres are markedly similar to those found in mammals. This finding led to suggestions of possible pain perception in fish, contrary to the view that the sensory response in these animals is limited to the spinal cord and hindbrain and as such is reflexive. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if the brain is active at the molecular level by using a microarray analysis of gene expression in the forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain of two fish …

Global Farm Animal Production And Global Warming: Impacting And Mitigating Climate Change, Gowri Koneswaran, Danielle Nierenberg

Agribusiness Collection

BACKGROUND: The farm animal sector is the single largest anthropogenic user of land, contributing to many environmental problems, including global warming and climate change.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to synthesize and expand upon existing data on the contribution of farm animal production to climate change.

METHODS: We analyzed the scientific literature on farm animal production and documented greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as various mitigation strategies.

DISCUSSIONS: An analysis of meat, egg, and milk production encompasses not only the direct rearing and slaughtering of animals, but also grain and fertilizer production for animal feed, waste storage …

Systematic Reviews Of Animal Experiments Demonstrate Poor Contributions To Human Healthcare, Andrew Knight

Experimentation Collection

Widespread reliance on animal models during preclinical research and toxicity testing assumes their reasonable predictivity for human outcomes. However, of 20 published systematic reviews examining human clinical utility located during a comprehensive literature search, animal models demonstrated significant potential to contribute toward clinical interventions in only two cases, one of which was contentious. Included were experiments expected by ethics committees to lead to medical advances, highly-cited experiments published in major journals, and chimpanzee experiments—the species most generally predictive of human outcomes. Seven additional reviews failed to demonstrate utility in reliably predicting human toxicological outcomes such as carcinogenicity and teratogenicity. Results …

Survey Of Dairy Management Practices On One Hundred Thirteen North Central And Northeastern United States Dairies, W. K. Fulwider, T. Grandin, B. E. Rollin, T. E. Engle, N. L. Dalstead, W. D. Lamm

Farm Animal Welfare Collection

The objective was to conduct a broad survey of dairy management practices that have an effect on animal well-being. Dairies were visited during the fall and winter of 2005 and 2006 in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa, and New York. Data were collected on 113 dairies on colostrum feeding, dehorning, tail-docking, euthanasia methods, producer statements about welfare, use of specialized calf-raising farms (custom), level of satisfaction with calf-raising by producers, and cow behavior. Calves were raised by the owner on 50.4% of dairies; 30.1% were raised on custom farms during the milk-feeding period, 18.6% were custom raised after weaning, and 1% …

Effects Of Gregariousness, Conspicuousness, And Novelty On Blue Jay (Cyanocitta Cristata) Learned Avoidance And Stimulus Generalization Of Unpalatable Prey, Joyce M. Dykema

Avian Cognition Papers

I examined a variety of factors hypothesized to be important in the evolution and maintenance of aposematism. Aposematism occurs when prey individuals advertise their toxic or otherwise aversive nature to potential predators via evolved conspicuous signals. I conducted three experiments in which blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) were allowed to search a printed grayscale pixilated background for grayscale pixilated moths in an open room. I manipulated moth appearance and food reward, and recorded jay predation on the varying moth stimuli. In my first experiment, I repeated Alatalo & Mappes’ (1996) study examining the effects of prey gregariousness, or grouping, …

Factors Affecting Road Mortality Of Whitetailed Deer In Eastern South Dakota, Troy W. Grovenburg, Jonathan A. Jenks, Robert W. Klaver, Kevin L. Monteith, Dwight H. Galster, Ron J. Schauer, Wilbert M. Morlock, Joshua A. Delger

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) mortalities (n = 4,433) caused by collisions with automobiles during 2003 were modeled in 35 counties in eastern South Dakota. Seventeen independent variables and 5 independent variable interactions were evaluated to explain deer mortalities. A negative binomial regression model (Ln Y = 1.25 – 0.12 [percentage tree coverage] + 0.0002 [county area] + 5.39 [county hunter success rate] + 0.0023 [vehicle proxy 96–104 km/hr roads], model deviance = 33.43, χ2 = 27.53, df = 27) was chosen using a combination of a priori model selection and AICc. Management options include use of the model to predict …

The Qualitative Assessment Of Responsiveness To Environmental Challenge In Horses And Ponies, Fabio Napolitano, Giuseppe De Rosa, Ada Braghieri, Fernando Grasso, Aldo Bordi, Françoise Wemelsfelder

Sentience Collection

The responsiveness of 10 horses and 10 ponies to environmental challenge (represented by an open field test) was assessed using a qualitative approach based on free choice profiling methodology (FCP), which gives observers complete freedom to choose their own descriptive terms. Data were analysed with generalised Procrustes analysis (GPA), a multivariate statistical technique associated with FCP. A cross-validation of the outcomes of this approach to data recorded through quantitative behaviour analysis, and through a questionnaire given to the animals’ owner/riding instructor, was also performed using principal component analysis (PCA). Twelve undergraduate students generated their own descriptive vocabularies, by watching 20 …

Medical Progress Depends On Animal Models - Doesn't It?, Robert A. J. Matthews

Validation of Animal Experimentation Collection

Animal models are widely recognized as being essential to the progress of medical science. In countering the critics’ arguments of the use of animals in medicine, one statement has acquired almost talismanic importance:

‘Virtually every medical achievement of the last century has depended directly or indirectly on research with animals.’

In this essay, the origins and justification of this oft-repeated statement are examined. Despite its endorsement by leading academic bodies, it is far from clear that the statement has been, or even could be, formally validated.

An Hsus Report: The Impact Of Industrialized Animal Agriculture On Rural Communities, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

Industrialized animal agriculture production practices and systems not only jeopardize the welfare of farm animals and the environment, but also negatively impact public health, independent family farmers, and quality of life in rural communities. The tolls exacted on rural communities necessitate dramatic and immediate changes in animal agriculture.

An Hsus Report: Human Health Implications Of Non-Therapeutic Antibiotic Use In Animal Agriculture, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

For decades, the U.S. meat industry has fed medically important antibiotics to chickens, pigs, and cattle to accelerate their weight gain and prevent disease in the stressful and unhygienic conditions that typify industrialized animal agriculture production facilities. A strong scientific consensus exists, asserting that this practice fosters antibiotic resistance in bacteria to the detriment of human health. In response to this public health threat, the European Union has banned the non-therapeutic feeding of a number of antibiotics of human importance to farm animals. Given these serious concerns as well as recent data that suggest an overall lack of financial benefit, …

An Hsus Report: Human Health Implications Of Intensive Poultry Production And Avian Influenza, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

The high stocking density, stress, unhygienic conditions, lack of sunlight, and breeding practices typical of industrial poultry and egg production systems may facilitate the emergence and spread of diseases, including highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses with public health implications such as H5N1.

An Hsus Report: Food Safety Concerns With The Slaughter Of Downed Cattle, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

Nonambulatory cattle may be at higher risk of harboring foodborne pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and, very rarely, the infectious agent that causes bovine spongiform encephalopathy, colloquially known as “mad cow disease.” The exclusion of nonambulatory cattle from slaughter for human consumption may strengthen the safety of the food supply and is a prudent measure already in place throughout the European Union.

An Hsus Report: Factory Farming In America: The True Cost Of Animal Agribusiness, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

Across the United States, nearly 10 billion land animals are raised and killed each year for meat, eggs, and milk. More than half of all confined farm animals by weight—54%—are concentrated in just 5% of the country‟s industrial animal production farms. The realities of today‟s animal agribusiness practices are a far cry from the ones embraced by the small, family farms that once supplied the marketplace. Industrialization and raising unprecedented numbers of farm animals have resulted in the intensive confinement of these chickens, pigs, turkeys, cattle, and other animals—and the intensive problems faced by those who must contend with the …

An Hsus Report: The Impact Of Animal Agriculture On Global Warming And Climate Change, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

The farm animal production sector is the single largest anthropogenic user of land, contributing to soil degradation, dwindling water supplies, and air pollution. The breadth of this sector‘s impacts has been largely underappreciated. Meat, egg, and milk production are not narrowly focused on the rearing and slaughtering of farm animals. The animal agriculture sector also encompasses feed grain production which requires substantial water, energy, and chemical inputs, as well as energy expenditures to transport feed, live animals, and animal products. All of this comes at a substantial cost to the environment.

One of animal agriculture‘s greatest environmental impacts is its …

An Hsus Report: The Impact Of Industrialized Animal Agriculture On The Environment, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

The continuous confinement of chickens, pigs, turkeys, cattle, and other animals raised in industrialized agricultural systems jeopardizes the animals’ welfare and degrades the environment. Factory farms produce immense quantities of animal waste and byproducts, which threaten water and air quality and contribute to climate change.

An Hsi Report: Human Health Implications Of Intensive Poultry Production And Avian Influenza, Humane Society International

HSI REPORTS

The high stocking density, stress, unhygienic conditions, lack of sunlight, and breeding practices typical of industrial poultry and egg production systems may facilitate the emergence and spread of diseases, including highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses with public health implications such as H5N1.

An Hsi Report: The Impact Of Animal Agriculture On Global Warming And Climate Change, Humane Society International

HSI REPORTS

The farm animal production sector is the single largest anthropogenic user of land, contributing to soil degradation, dwindling water supplies, and air pollution. The breadth of this sector‘s impacts has been largely underappreciated. Meat, egg, and milk production are not narrowly focused on the rearing and slaughtering of farm animals. The animal agriculture sector also encompasses feed grain production which requires substantial water, energy, and chemical inputs, as well as energy expenditures to transport feed, live animals, and animal products. All of this comes at a substantial cost to the environment.

One of animal agriculture‘s greatest environmental impacts is its …

Amyloid Fibrils: Potential Food Safety Implications, Michael Greger

Human Health Collection

The demonstration of oral Amyloid-A (AA) fibril transmissibility has raised food safety questions about the consumption of amyloidotic viscera. In a presumed prion-like mechanism, amyloid fibrils have been shown to trigger and accelerate the development of AA amyloidosis in rodent models. The finding of amyloid fibrils in edible avian and mammalian food animal tissues, combined with the inability of cooking temperatures to eliminate their amyloidogenic potential, has led to concerns that products such as pâté de foie gras may activate a reactive systemic amyloidosis in susceptible consumers. Given the ability of amyloid fibrils to cross-seed the formation of chemically heterologous …

Petland Investigation Report, The Humane Society Of The United States

PUPPY MILL INFORMATION

America's largest chain of puppy-selling pet stores, Petland Inc., is also the nation's largest retail supporter of puppy mills. There are more than 200 Petland stores worldwide, with about 140 in the U.S. Collectively, these stores sell tens of thousands of puppies each year. On November 20, 2008 The Humane Society of the United States (The HSUS) revealed the results of a shocking eight-month investigation of Petland stores. The investigation reveals that Petland stores across the country have marketed puppy-mill puppies to unsuspecting consumers.