Animal Care and Welfare Final

animal welfare is on a _

continuum

animal welfare

inputs from animals environment and internal state processed based on past experiences

attributes of animal welfare

proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling, and humane euthanasia

animal rights

humane treatment and protection from exploitation, abuse and suffering, animals entitled to possession of their lives

public expects veterinarians to

understand and explain what is necessary for well-being of animals

animal-welfare activities veterinarians may engage in

evaluate welfare, carry out actions and provide advice to improve welfare, inform clients on their animals welfare and their responsibilities, inform stakeholders/public, develop standards for animal care, assist in drafting laws, evaluate compliance of standards

audiences veterinarians interact with

client, other veterinarians, students, members of public, special interest groups, prosecutors/judges, regulatory agencies, members of media

why do animal welfare problems happen?

owner fails to recognize problem, fails to act on problem, fails to seek professional advice, lack of resources, mental illness

three Rs

replacement, refinement, reduction for lab animals

replacement

avoiding or replacing use of animals; replacing animals with less sentient animals

reduction

minimizing number of animals used

refinement

minimizing pain, suffering, stress, or lasting harm

five freedoms

freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury, or disease, freedom to express normal behavior, freedom from fear and distress

three circles

biological functioning, affective states, natural living

five domains

nutrition, environment, health, behavior, mental state

anmnesis

asking questions to owner about animal

normal behavior

grooming, thermoregulatory behaviors, play

simple thermoregulatory behavior

moving toward or away from a heat source

complex thermoregulatory behavior

creating a nest or burrow

abnormal behaviors two definitions

1. the occurrence, frequency, or intensity of a behavior varies

2. any behavior outside of the normal behavior pattern for that species and age

stereotypic behaviors

repetitive, unvarying behaviors with no obvious goal or function (elephants swaying, tongue rolling, horse cribbing, over-grooming)

solutions to stereotypic behaviors

manage animal stress, genetic selection, pharmacological treatment, reinforce alternate behaviors, environmental enrichment

what can stereotypies do?

alter brain function and become CNS dysfunction, behavior will increase and nearly impossible to interrupt

displacement behavior

out-of-context behaviors that animals engage in when they are faced with conflict or frustration (birds in conflict preen or peck ground, dog yawning when stressed, piglet tail biting)

redirected behavior

activities are directed away from principal target and toward another, less appropriate target

ethogram

catalog or inventory of behaviors/actions exhibited by an animal

pros of behavioral assessment

reliable, specific indicator of animal welfare, maintains animal health, gives info regarding animal’s care requirements, preferences, motivations, and emotional state

behavior plays a role in maintaining what?

physical, physiological, and psychological animal health

cons of behavioral assessment

certain behaviors difficult to observe, animals may change behavior under observation, laborious observer fatigue, requires experience with species/individual animal, risk of bias/subjective, interpretation of behaviors variable, more pronounced consequences in wild animals

banding penguins cons

poorer survival rates, lower breeding probability and chick production, increase risk of predation

affective states

how animal is feeling, mental/emotional state, provides motivation for many natural behaviors

pain is not the same as _

nociception

pain

unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage

preference test

animal is given choice between two or more options, we observe what animal prefers

hen nest preference test

hen will work as hard to get to a nest as it will to get to food when it has been deprived of food for 28-30h

with preference test we must

ensure choice is not trivial, and ensure choice is not lesser of two evils

issues with preference tests

familiarity affects choice, choices may not be within animal’s cognitive capacity, short-term prefence may not be ideal for welfare

preference/avoidance tests are used to gauge _ of animal to behave the way it does

motivation

motivation

motivational strength varies between individuals, emotions are important to motivational control, motivation may follow biological rhythm and vary throughout day, animals may be influenced if can see result

least important measure

production-based

animal-based measures

most important to animal welfare assessment, behavior changes, body condition score, lameness, desynchronized behavior, physiology

resource-based measures

what is being provided to the animals, environment animal is living in

management-based measures

protocols, staff training and competence, animal handling, cleaning facilities, daily tasks