Animal Studies Commons^™

Evolution And Animal Welfare, Marian Stamp Dawkins

Assessment of Animal Welfare Collection

Animal welfare is a topic often thought to reside outside mainstream biology. The complexity of the methods used to assess welfare (such as health, physiology, immunological state, and behavior) require an understanding of a wide range of biological phenomena. Furthermore, the "welfare" of an animal provides a framework in which a diversity of its responses can be understood as fitness-enhancing mechanisms. Different methods for assessing animal welfare are discussed, with particular emphasis on the role of an animal's own choices and reinforcement mechanisms. No part of biology is as yet able to explain consciousness, but by confronting the possibility that …

Fmri Of Monkey Visual Cortex, Lisa Stefanacci, Paul Reber, Jennifer Costanza, Eric Wong, Richard Buxton, Stuart Zola, Larry R. Squire, Thomas D. Albright

Neurology Collection

While functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is now used widely for demonstrating neural activity-related signals associated with perceptual, motor, and cognitive processes in humans, to date this technique has not been developed for use with nonhuman primates. fMRI in monkeys offers a potentially valuable experimental approach for investigating brain function, which will complement and aid existing techniques such as electrophysiology and the behavioral analysis of the effects of brain lesions. There are, however, a number of significant technical challenges involved in using fMRI with monkeys. Here, we describe the procedures by which we have overcome these challenges to …

A Comparison Of Encephalization Between Odontocete Cetaceans And Anthropoid Primates, L. Marino

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

There have been very few studies of brain size and encephalization in cetaceans and essentially none that have made direct quantitative comparisons of cetaceans and another mammalian group using large normative samples. In the present study two different measures of encephalization were calculated and used to rank and compare 21 odontocete species and 60 anthropoid primate species. Comparisons were made both within and between the two groups. Results show that the encephalization level of Homo sapiens is still extraordinary relative to that of nonhuman species. Nevertheless, a subset of delphinid odontocetes are significantly more highly encephalized than the most highly …

Vocal Response To Pain In Piglets, Daniel M. Weary, Leah A. Braithwaite, David Fraser

Farm Animal Welfare Collection

Three experiments were performed attempting to establish the validity of vocal measures as an indicator of the immediate response to pain in domestic piglets. Vocalisations were measured while piglets were subjected to the routine farm practice of castration without anaesthetic, or restrained identically but not castrated (i.e., sham-castrated). In Experiment 1 we measured how calling changed during the different stages of the procedure, and in Experiments 2 and 3 we measured the effect of different restraint techniques. Piglets that were castrated produced significantly more high frequency calls ( >1000 Hz) than sham castrates in all three experiments. In Experiment 1, …

Production Practices Of Arkansas Beef Cattle Producers, Michael P. Popp, Lucas D. Parsch

AAES Research Reports and Research Bulletins

This report contains information from a 1996 survey on production practices of Arkansas beef cattle producers. While several studies have been completed on the profitability of retained ownership of beef cattle, few empirical data are available on production practices of cow/calf and stocker operations in Arkansas. This report shows that there are some differences in production methods across operation types. Further, the report summarizes demographic characteristics of Arkansas cow/calf and stocker operations. The results of this study can be particularly helpful in providing the needed data for studying the potential economic impact of feeding weaned calves to heavier weights in …

Marketing Practices Of Arkansas Beef Cattle Producers, Michael P. Popp, Lucas D. Parsch

AAES Research Reports and Research Bulletins

This report contains information from a 1996 survey on marketing practices of Arkansas beef cattle producers. While several studies have been completed on the profitability of retained ownership of beef cattle, few data are available on what marketing techniques and decision criteria cow-calf and stocker operations use to market their cattle. This report shows that there are some differences in opinions on marketing issues such as pooled cattle sales and retained ownership across cow-calf and stocker operations. Further, these operations use different sources of information to make marketing decisions. The results of this study can be particularly helpful in providing …

Unrelieved Pain And Distress In Animals: An Analysis Of Usda Data On Experimental Procedures, Martin Stephens, Philip Mendoza, Adrianna Weaver, Tamara Hamilton

Experimentation Collection

Pain and distress are core issues in the field of animal experimentation and in the controversy that surrounds it. We sought to add to the empirical base of the literature on pain and distress by examining government data on experimental procedures that caused unrelieved pain and distress (UPAD) in animals. Of the species regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), most of the approximately 100,000 animals subjected to UP AD during the year analyzed (1992) were guinea pigs and hamsters. Most of these animals were used in industry laboratories for various testing procedures, primarily vaccine potency testing. We discuss …

Psychology's Use Of Animals: Current Practices And Attitudes, Kenneth J. Shapiro

Experimentation Collection

In this chapter, I present a psychology primer for the uninitiated, with special emphasis on psychology's uses of animals. After sketching the scope of the field generally, I review available data on present numbers and species of animals used in psychological research, level of suffering induced and current trends. I also provide several concrete examples of psychological research involving animals. Finally, the chapter concludes with a presentation of attitudes of psychologists toward animals and these practices.

Attitudes And Dispositional Optimism Of Animal Rights Demonstrators, Shelley L. Galvin, Harold A. Herzog

Animal Welfare Collection

Mail-in surveys were distributed to animal activists attending the 1996 March for the Animals. Age and gender demographic characteristics of the 209 activists who participated in the study were similar to those of the 1990 March for the Animals demonstrators. Most goals of the animal rights movement were judged to be moderately to critically important, although beliefs about their chances of being realized varied considerably. Movement tactics judged to be least effective included the liberation of laboratory animals and the harassment of researchers. Education was seen as being a particularly important instrument of future social change. Demonstrators' scores on the …

‘Pleasures’, ‘Pains’ And Animal Welfare: Toward A Natural History Of Affect, D. Fraser, I. J.H. Duncan

Animal Welfare Collection

In hedonic theories of motivation, 'motivational affective states' (MASs) are typically seen as adaptations which motivate certain types of behaviour, especially in situations where a flexible or learned response is more adaptive than a rigid or reflexive one. MASs can be negative (eg unpleasant feelings of hunger or pain) or positive (eg pleasant feelings associated with eating and playing). Hedonic theories often portray negative and positive MASs as opposite ends of a one-dimensional scale.

We suggest that natural selection has favoured negative and positive affect as separate processes to solve two different types of motivational problems. We propose that negative …

Contested Moralities: Animals And Moral Value In The Dear/Symanski Debate, William S. Lynn

Human and Animal Bonding Collection

Geography is experiencing a ‘moral turn’ in its research interests and practices. There is also a flourishing interest in animal geographies that intersects this turn, and is concurrent with wider scholarly efforts to reincorporate animals and nature into our ethical and social theories. This article intervenes in a dispute between Michael Dear and Richard Symanski. The dispute is over the culling of wild horses in Australia, and I intervene to explore how geography deepens our moral understanding of the animal/human dialectic. I begin by situating the inquiry into ethics and animals in geography. Next, I provide a synopsis of Dear …

Animals, Ethics And Geography, William S. Lynn

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

No abstract provided.

Translocation Effects On The Behavior Of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys Ludovicianus), John P. Farrar, Karin L. Coleman, Marc Bekoff, Eric Stone

Ethology Collection

We examined the effects of translocation on Black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) anti-predator behavior by recording response distances and response times to a human intruder in three colonies containing native, translocated, and combined native and translocated prairie dogs. The translocated prairie dogs barked alarms and concealed themselves at significantly greater intruder distances than mixed or native colonies. However, individuals in different colonies did not differ in the time taken to return to a burrow, to conceal themselves after a human approached the colony, or in the time elapsed after concealment until an animal reappeared. Translocated prairie dogs exhibited nearly twice …

Why It Is Important To Understand Animal Behavior, Joy Mench

Anthropomorphism and Anthropocentrism Collection

Although people have long been fascinated by the behavior of animals, the formal discipline of animal behavior--ethology--is actually relatively new, dating to the work of Konrad Lorenz in Austria in the 1930s. Application of ethological principles and methods to the study of animal welfare is an even newer endeavor, of course, and one that has generated a great deal of stimulating discussion and controversy during its short history. In this paper, I provide an overview of the development of behavioral approaches to the study of animal welfare. I then discuss some reasons that behaviors are important to animals and describe …

A Demanding Task: Using Economic Techniques To Assess Animal Priorities. A Reply To Mason Et Al., C. M. Sherwin, C. J. Nicol

Economics and Animal Welfare Collection

No abstract provided.

Total Grazing Management : Results And Observations From The Pimbee Station Trial, Damien Pearce, Geoff Elliott, Robert Rouda

Agriculture reports

The major aim of the trial was to assess the effectiveness of permanent trapyards as a system for managing total grazing pressure. Permanent trapyards potentially offer a cost-effective system of controlling domestic stock, feral goats and kangaroos.

Collecting Birds: The Importance Of Moral Debate, Marc Bekoff, Andrzej Elzanowski

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

No abstract provided.

Farrowing Behaviour And Stillbirth In Two Environments: An Evaluation Of The Restraint-Stillbirth Hypothesis, D. Fraser, P. A. Phillips, B. K. Thompson

Reproductive Behavior Collection

A total of 59 farrowings were studied in either a conventional, narrow farrowing crate (0.43 m wide) or a much wider alternative design with sides spaced 1.2 m apart at the sow’s standing height but narrowing near the floor to limit the sow’s lying area. Using video recording, we monitored each “birth interval” (i.e. the period between two successive births) and noted the interval’s length, the sow’s posture and postural changes during the interval, and whether the interval ended with a live-born or stillborn piglet. The wide and conventional crates did not differ significantly in median interval between piglets (15.9 …

Weapon Size Versus Body Size As A Predictor Of Winning In Fights Between Shore Crabs, Carcinus Maenas (L.), Lynne U. Sneddon, Felicity A. Huntingford, Alan C. Taylor

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Relative body size (carapace width) and weapon size (chela length) were used as indicators of resource holding potential (RHP) in the agonistic behaviour of male shore crabs, Carcinus maenas (L.). Weapon size was found to be a more reliable predictor of the outcome of pairwise fights than body size. Crabs with longer chelae than their opponents were more likely to win fights than crabs with relatively larger bodies. Body size had less influence on the outcome of fights. Relative body and weapon size did not influence initiation of contests but did affect the likelihood of winning; however, this was significant …

Vocal Response Of Piglets To Weaning: Effect Of Piglet Age, Daniel M. Weary, David Fraser

Ontogeny Collection

Piglets vocalize a great deal during the first few days after weaning. The aim of this experiment was to determine if the calls given by piglets vary in response to one factor thought to influence post-weaning adaptation: weaning age. In 22 litters, each containing a minimum of 9 piglets, 3 piglets were weaned under identical conditions at 3, 4 and 5 weeks of age. Vocalizations and weight gain were monitored for the week after weaning. The number of calls produced by piglets of all three ages declined from an average of 8.2 calls/min per piglet on the day of weaning …

Dna Fingerprinting Reveals Low Genetic Diversity In Gunnison's Prairie Dog (Cynomys Gunnisoni), Steven E. Travis, C. N. Slobodchikoff, Paul Keim

Genetics Collection

The use of molecular techniques for the assessment of familial relationships among social species of mammals has become relatively commonplace. However, some species represent poor candidates for such studies due to naturally low levels of genetic diversity, leading to unacceptably large standard errors associated with estimates of relatedness. Here, we report on a preliminary study of genetic diversity within two populations of a social species of ground squirrel, Gunnison's prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisoni) using DNA fingerprinting. We observed low levels of diversity in the form of large mean coefficients of genetic similarity among individuals occupying the same population. …

Life In Captivity: Its Lack Of Opportunities For Variable Behaviour, Françoise Wemelsfelder

Zoos and Aquariums Collection

No abstract provided.

Development Of Replacement Heifers Using Combinations Of Three Forage Types And Feed Supplements (With Or Without Broiler Litter), R. B. Simpson, J. M. Phillips, C. F. Rosenkrans Jr., A. H. Brown Jr., D. W. Kellogg

AAES Research Reports and Research Bulletins

The proper management of replacement heifers is an essential component of successful cow/calf operations. The level of management and nutrition applied to replacement heifers as calves and yearlings can impact their subsequent reproductive performance and productivity.

Animal Rights Talk: Moral Debate Over The Internet, Harold A. Herzog Jr., Beth Dinoff, Jessica R. Page

Animal Welfare Collection

Messages sent over Animal Rights-Talk, an electronic mail network devoted to the discussion of issues related to the animal rights movement, were analyzed. Messages typically fell into the following categories: questions and information, discussions of philosophical issues, ethical problems associated with the treatment of particular species, the politics of the animal rights movement, problems of moral consistency, the ethics of particular uses of non-human species (e.g., meat consumption, biomedical research with animal subjects), and matters pertaining to the internal life of the network (e.g., efforts at control of perceived norm violations). Debates between animal activists and animal researchers over the …

Vocalizations By Isolated Piglets: A Reliable Indicator Of Piglet Need Directed Towards The Sow, Daniel M. Weary, Stephen Ross, David Fraser

Communication Skills Collection

When suckling piglets are isolated from the sow and litter-mates they vocalize a great deal. Sows also call when isolated from their piglets. In one experiment, we found that isolated piglets doubled their call rate in response to playback of sow calls, indicating that piglets are directing calls towards the sow. In a second experiment, we found that variation in the piglet isolation calls related to aspects of the piglet's condition: piglets isolated for 13 min in an enclosure kept at approximately 14°C called more, used higher frequency calls and longer calls, than litter-mates isolated in an enclosure kept at …

The Scientific Validity Of Subjective Concepts In Models Of Animal Welfare, Françoise Wemelsfelder

Animal Welfare Collection

This paper takes a closer look at the subjectivity/objectivity relationship, as it plays a role in the science of animal welfare. It argues that subjective, experiential states in animals such as well-being and suffering are, contrary to what is often assumed, open to empirical observation and scientific assessment. The presumably purely private, inaccessible nature of such states is not an inherent property of these states, but derives from their misguided conception as ‘causal objects’ in mechanistic models of behaviour. This inevitably endows subjective experience with a ‘hidden’ status. However, subjective experience should be approached on its own conceptual grounds, i.e. …

Nest-Site Selection By Belted Kingfishers (Ceryle Alcyon) In Colorado, Sara Shields, Jeffrey F. Kelly

Habitat Assessment and Management Collection

Along the Cache la Poudre River in northern Colorado, belted kingfishers nested in relatively tall banks that lacked a toe. Kingfishers constructed burrows in soils that contained significantly less sand than was present at systematically sampled points. This finding conflicts with earlier findings that indicate kingfishers select sandy soils for burrow construction. Otherwise, the physical characteristics of banks used by belted kingfishers in Colorado were similar to those found elsewhere.

Development Of Piagetian Object Permanence In A Grey Parrot (Psittacus Erithacus), Irene M. Pepperberg, Mark R. Willner, Lauren B. Gravitz

Sentience Collection

The authors evaluated the ontogenetic performance of a grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) on object permanence tasks designed for human infants. Testing began when the bird was 8 weeks old, prior to fledging and weaning. Because adult grey parrots understand complex invisible displacements (I. M. Pepperberg & F. A. Kozak, 1986), the authors continued weekly testing until the current subject completed all of I. C. Uzgiris and J. Hunt's (1975) Scale 1 tasks. Stage 6 object permanence with respect to these tasks emerged at 22 weeks, after the bird had fledged but before it was completely weaned. Although the parrot progressed …

Preference And Motivation Testing, David Fraser, Lindsay R. Matthews

Validation of Animal Experimentation Collection

Since the early 1970s, scientists have used preference tests (tests that require animals to choose between two or more different options or environments) as a means of answering questions about animal welfare. Preference tests have been used to establish animals' preferences for common housing options such as ambient temperature, illumination and preferred types of bedding and flooring; to improve the effectiveness of devices such as loading ramps and nest boxes; and to clarify how strongly animals avoid various aspects of confinement and methods of restraint.

To use preference research to answer questions about animal welfare, three issues need to be …

Personality And Attitudes Toward The Treatment Of Animals, Steve Mathews, Harold A. Herzog

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

The authors examined the relationship between personality and attitudes toward the treatment of animals by administering the Sixteen Personality Factor Inventory and the Animal Attitudes Scale to 99 college students. The personality scales were only weakly related to attitudes about animal welfare issues. Two personality factors, sensitivity and imaginativeness, were significantly correlated with attitudes towards animals. Gender and sensitivity explained 25% of the variance in attitudes, with most of the variance accounted for by gender.