Animal Studies Commons^™

Preference By Sows For A Partially Enclosed Farrowing Crate, P. A. Phillips, D. Fraser, B. K. Thompson

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

A preference testing apparatus was designed to give sows continuous access to three farrowing crates with different degrees of visual enclosure. A ‘fully enclosed' crate had solid black panels on the sides and top of the crate, a ‘solid-sided’ crate had the side panels only and an ‘open crate’ had no solid panels over the crate's tubular framework. The crates radiated from a central area sufficient for sows to enter or leave any crate freely. Video recording was used to determine sow position from 3 days before to 6 days after farrowing. The results indicated that younger sows (second or …

Massachusetts Public Opinion Study On Spaying And Neutering Pets, Dorr Research Corporation

Demography and Statistics for Companion Animal Populations Collection

This report contains the findings from a study of pet owners in Massachusetts conducted for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals during the period of October 21-27, 1991. The objectives of the research focused on the issue of spaying/neutering pets and focused on the following topics:

• Some background data on owners and pets
• Attitudes and behavior relating to spaying/neutering pets
• Motivators and deterrents in decisions of whether to spay/neuter

Enhanced Attraction To Blood By Pigs With Inadequate Dietary Protein Supplementation, David Fraser, D. E. Bernon, R. O. Ball

Nutrition Collection

In two experiments, 60 individually penned growing pigs were exposed daily to two sections of cotton cord, one of which had been soaked with pigs' blood and subsequently dried, while the other was plain. The animals' preference for chewing-on the blood-impregnated cord was quantified by direct observation. When fed a standard "control" diet of corn, barley, and soybean meal with mineral and vitamin supplements, the pigs had a clear but modest preference for chewing the blood-impregnated cord. Omission of the protein supplement (soybean meal) from the diet for 4 wk led to a major increase in attraction to blood and …

Arkansas Cooperative Beef Bull Performance Test 1991, M. W. Eaton, A. E. Brown Jr., J. A. Hornsby, R. W. Parham, J. D. Shockey, W. C. Loe

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Performance testing of beef bulls was initiated to improve productivity of Arkansas beef cattle through breeding. This cooperative testing program provides cattlemen with reliable information for identifying animals with superior breeding value for the traits of production measured in the test. By using the information as a basis for herd sire selection, a breeder can greatly increase the chances of obtaining a bull that will sire rapid-gaining, more efficient, highquality calves. Such calves can increase profits for both the breeder and the feeder. This testing program provides information that is useful to financial institutes in arranging their lending programs and …

Use Morality As Basis For Animal Treatment, Kenneth J. Shapiro

Experimentation Collection

No abstract provided.

Kin Recognition In Vertebrates: What Do We Really Know About Adaptive Value?, Andrew R. Blaustein, Marc Bekoff, John A. Byers, Thomas J. Daniels

Sentience Collection

The ability of an animal to discriminate between kin and non-kin (kin recognition) has been the subject of numerous recent investigations. Grafen (Anim. Behav., 1990, 39, 42-54) recently reported that the evidence in support of kin recognition is weak and the data illustrating a preference for kin to associate in the laboratory may be more consistently explained as species recognition. It is suggested here, however, that in many cases it may be impossible to distinguish between species recognition and kin recognition, but in some cases, kin recognition seems apparent. It is also emphasized that very little is known about the …

The Hsus: Helping Animals

Close Up Reports

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Straw On The Behaviour Of Growing Pigs, David Fraser, P. A. Phillips, B. K. Thompson, T. Tennessen

Social Behavior Collection

The effects of straw on the behaviour of young growing pigs were studied in two experiments. In Experiment 1, group of three pigs, aged about 7 weeks, were housed in raised decks with or without straw bedding. Time-lapse video recording showed no major differences between treatments in the amount or daily pattern of overall activity and feeding. Detailed observations showed that bedding reduced the incidence of rooting and chewing on pen-mates, but had little effect on other social activities such as mounting and aggressive biting. Experiment 2 compared groups of eight growing pigs aged about 10 weeks, housed in floor …

Saving The Dolphins

Close Up Reports

Victories and a new threat

Discovery Of Selected Water Dispensers By Newborn Pigs, P. A. Phillips, D. Fraser

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

Newborn pigs in 86 litters were offered drinking water from four types of dispenser to determine how quickly each design would be discovered. On average piglets discovered water within about 24 h from an exposed water surface (bowl or cup), whereas discovery time was delayed to more than 72 h with nipple or push-lever dispensers. A prototype dispenser with a wide bowl and continuous bubbling action reduced (P < 0.05) average discovery time to about 14 h.

Puppy Mills Exposed

Close Up Reports

Thousands of dogs, unloved, starving, ill-housed; thousands of puppies, shipped like so much merchandise at too young an age; thousands of consumers, unknowingly buying sick dogs: these are the grim truths of the puppy-mill trade.

Gender, Sex Role Orientation, And Attitudes Toward Animals, Harold A. Herzog Jr., Nancy S. Betchart, Robert B. Pittman

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

To examine the relationship among gender, sex role orientation, and attitudes toward the treatment of animals, 144 male and 222 female college students were administered the Bem Sex Role Inventory, a Likert-scale questionnaire designed to assess attitudes toward animal welfare issues, and a measure of perceived comfort touching animals of a variety of species. There were significant gender differences on all of the animal-related measures with the exception of self-reported comfort touching positively perceived animals. Gender and the expressive (feminine) dimension of sex role orientation accounted for a significant proportion of the variation in attitudes toward animal welfare issues and …

Animals In Biomedical Research: The Undermining Effect Of The Rhetoric Of The Besieged, John P. Gluck, Steven R. Kubacki

Experimentation Collection

It is correctly asserted that the intensity of the current debate over the use of animals in biomedical research is unprecedented. The extent of expressed animosity and distrust has stunned many researchers. In response, researchers have tended to take a strategic defensive posture, which involves the assertation of several abstract positions that serve to obstruct resolution of the debate. Those abstractions include the notions that the animal protection movement is trivial and purely anti-intellectual in scope, that all science is good (and some especially so), and the belief that an ethical consensus can never really be reached between the parties.

Reflective Ethology, Applied Philosophy, And The Moral Status Of Animals, Marc Bekoff, Dale Jamieson

Experimental Research and Animal Welfare Collection

Currently there is an unprecedented interest in ethological studies of nonhuman animals. Much of this interest is motivated by a desire to learn more about animals themselves. For scientists assuming this stance, a secondary goal is to use this knowledge to assess the place of humans in the natural order of things, stressing continuity or discontinuity depending on one's views. Others, however, study animals primarily to apply this knowledge to human behavior. We argue that behavioral research demands the rigorous application of methods that are minimally harmful to the animals being studied. We argue for a moderate, but rigorous and …

Bacteremia Associated With Mortality In An Arkansas Alligator, James J. Daly, Sam W. Barkley, Peggy Benton

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Reported Animal Rabies In Arkansas: 1982-1990, Gary A. Heidt, David A. Saugey, Laura Chandler, Karen D. Stone

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Reported animal rabies in Arkansas is reviewed for the years 1982-1990; providing an update from 1950-1981 (Heidt, 1982). Total cases ranged from 39 in 1990 to 168 in 1986, with a mean of 123.1. Wildlife accounted for 93.4% of the total cases. A total of 16 kinds of mammals has been implicated in reported rabies (individual species of foxes and skunks have been combined). The four taxa accounting for the highest incidence are: skunks (82.6%); bats (10.1%, all seven species combined); cattle (2.8%); and dogs (1.5%). Skunks, the most prominent species, ranged from 71.8% in 1990 to 90.2% in 1987. …

Hyperinfestation Of Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus Dolomieui) By The Trematode Clinostomum Marginatum, James J. Daly, Bruce Deyoung, Terryl L. Hostetler

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Observations On A Resident Population Of Myotis Lucifugus, In Jackson County, Arkansas, M. Doug Fletcher, J. D. Wilhide, R. B. Mcallister

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Identifying Colibri Hummingbirds Occurring In Arkansas Using Indirect Measurements, Douglas A. James

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Range Extension Of The Endangered Gray Bat, Myotis Grisescens, Into The Arkansas River Valley, Thomas A. Nelson, David A. Saugey, Lee E. Carolan

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Posterior Maxillary Fangs Of The Flathead Snake, Tantilla Gracillis (Serpentes: Colubridae), Using Scanning Electron Microscopy, Stanley E. Trauth

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Inferences About Guessing And Knowing By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), Daniel J. Povinelli, Kurt E. Nelson, Sarah T. Boysen

Sentience Collection

The visual perspective-taking ability of 4 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) was investigated. The subjects chose between information about the location of hidden food provided by 2 experimenters who randomly alternated between two roles (the guesser and the knower). The knower baited 1 of 4 obscured cups so that the subjects could watch the process but could not see which of the cups contained the reward. The guesser waited outside the room until the food was hidden. Finally, the knower pointed to the correct cup while the guesser pointed to an incorrect one. The chimpanzees quickly learned to respond to the knower. …

National Wildlife Refuges - A Cruel Hoax

Close Up Reports

No abstract provided.

Crisis In The Oceans

Close Up Reports

No abstract provided.

Long-Term Effects Of Early Social Isolation In Macaca Mulatta: Changes In Dopamine Receptor Function Following Apomorphine Challenge, Mark H. Lewis, John P. Gluck, Tom L. Beauchamp, Michael F. Keresztury, Richard B. Mailman

Experimentation Collection

The hypothesis that early social isolation results in long-term alterations in dopamine receptor sensitivity was tested using older adult rhesus monkeys. Isolated and control monkeys were challenged with apomorphine (0.1 and 0.3 mg/kg), and the drug effects on spontaneous blink rate, stereotyped behavior, and self-injurious behavior were quantified using observational measures. Monoamine metabolites were quantified from cisternal CSF by HPLC-EC, prior to pharmacological challenge. Isolated and control monkeys did not differ in CSF concentrations of HVA, 5-HIAA, or MHPG. At the higher dose, apomorphine significantly increased the rate of blinking, the occurrence of whole-body stereotypies, and the intensity of stereotyped …

Understanding Dogs Through Kinesthetic Empathy, Social Construction, And History, Kenneth J. Shapiro

Sentience Collection

The term, "come into animal presence," she takes from the title of a Denise Levertov poem. The poem, which reads, in part, "What joy when the insouciant armadillo glances at us and doesn't quicken his trotting across the track into the palm bush. What is this joy?" This joy is the possibility of our being in the presence of animals for "(t)he armadillo has some intention to pursue in the palm forest." This joy, to which I invite you here, consists in dwelling in that presence, in inhabiting that intention, that armored but guileless world of the armadillo. I will …

Animal Rights Vs. Humanism: The Charge Of Speciesism, Kenneth J. Shapiro

Animal Welfare Collection

The present article examines a concern I have had for some time about the compatibility of humanistic psychology with the emerging animal rights movement. Beyond working out my position, the paper has the additional educational and, frankly, political purpose of bringing animal rights issues to the attention of humanistic psychologists.

The article applies certain concepts of contemporary animal rights philosophy, notably "speciesism," to both the philosophy of humanism and humanistic psychology. While on a philosophical level, certain concepts are discussed that would likely block a rapprochement, I feel that humanistic psychologists as individuals are likely to extend their compassion to …

Animal Welfare, Animal Rights And Agriculture, Bernard E. Rollin

Animal Welfare Collection

The past decade has witnessed a major revolution in social concern with animals. Philosophically, this revolution entails a significant revision in traditional ways of conceiving our mod obligations to other creatures. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the social and conceptual basis for what is widely termed “animal rights.” The agricultural community has mistakenly tended to dismiss this new thinking as tkinge and emotionally based. In actuality, it is a natural extension of earlier social thought. The case of new laws regulating biomedical research illustrates the rapidity of social change in this area, as do recent developments in European regulation …

The Live Sheep Export Industry, Richard Norris, Barry Richards, Tony Higgs

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Australia's live sheep trade to Middle Eastern countries is an important export industry. However, about 2 per cent of the sheep die, mainly during the sea voyage. The Western Australian Department of Agriculture has conducted a major research programme to improve the health and welfare of sheep during live export. The programme has'examined many aspects of the export sheep industry, and a substantial part of it has focused on why sheep die during sea transport.

Nutritive And Nonnutritive Sucking And The Temporal Organization Of The Suckling Behavior Of Domestic Piglets, Jeffrey Rushen, David Fraser

Feeding Behavior Collection

Detailed video recordings of the suckling behavior of one piglet from each of four litters were analyzed to determine how the components of piglet suckling behavior are organized in relation to the time of milk ejection and the temporal pattern of grunting by the sow. Early in the suckling episode, most piglets massaged the udder with their snouts, and then changed gradually to sucking the teats with slow mouth movements (1-2/sec). The piglets then had a distinct phase of sucking with rapid mouth movements (4-5/sec) which began suddenly and lasted about 5 to 15 sec. The weight gains of piglets …