Lecture 13 - Animal Behaviour & Animal Welfare

Understanding Animal Welfare

• Definition & Scope
  • Refers to the quality of life an animal experiences; how well the animal is coping with its current situation and surroundings.
  • World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE): The physical and mental state of an animal in relation to the conditions in which it lives and dies.
  • Encompasses every context in which humans control animals: laboratories, farms, zoos, companion-animal homes, entertainment venues, etc.
  • Implies a human duty to treat animals humanely, responsibly, and with respect.

Importance of Animal Welfare

• Sentience
  • Science recognises animals as sentient beings—capable of feelings, emotions, perceptions, pleasure, pain, and suffering.
  • Sentience = Able to perceive or feel things.
• One Health / One Welfare links
  • Poor welfare ➔ increased disease transmission & virulence of zoonoses.
  • Example: Transport- or slaughter-stress leads to greater pathogen shedding.
• Moral & societal drivers
  • Rising public concern for standards of care and well-being.
  • Drives legislation, industry guidelines, certification schemes, and consumer behaviour.
• Illustrative comparison
  • Battery-caged laying hens vs. free-range hens: environment determines welfare outcomes (space, behavioural opportunities, health issues).

The Five Freedoms

• Originated in the UK (Brambell Report, $1965$).
• Expanded by the Farm Animal Welfare Council; now globally adopted (veterinary bodies, NGOs, industries).
• Freedom $1$ – Hunger & Thirst: access to fresh water and a diet that maintains full health & vigour.
• Freedom $2$ – Discomfort: suitable environment, shelter, and comfortable resting area.
• Freedom $3$ – Pain, Injury, Disease: prevention or rapid diagnosis + treatment.
• Freedom $4$ – Normal Behaviour: sufficient space, proper facilities, and company of the animal’s own kind.
• Freedom $5$ – Fear & Distress: conditions and treatment that avoid mental suffering.
• Underpin welfare audits, certification standards, and legislative frameworks.

Animal Welfare & Ethics

• Ethics = critical reflection on how and why we should act.
• Animal ethics specifically addresses how humans ought to treat non-human animals, considering both relationships and direct treatment.
• Most leading ethical theories reject speciesism (unjustified discrimination based on species) and insist the interests of all sentient beings matter.

Ethical Theories

Deontology (Animal-Rights Position)

• Moral focus on duties and rights rather than consequences.
• Aims at abolition of animal use/exploitation in agriculture, entertainment, research, fur industry, etc.—not merely "reform".
• Even "humane" farming or zoos are morally impermissible because they treat animals as resources.

Utilitarianism (Consequentialism)

• Morality demands actions that maximise net happiness for all sentient beings.
• Likely condemns factory farming & certain zoos (high suffering, low benefit).
• Nonetheless allows animal use if doing so yields greater total happiness (e.g.
  biomedical research that saves many lives).
• Focus: How animals are used, not the mere fact they are used.

Contractarianism

• Morality arises from mutual agreements between people (social contract).
• Animals cannot be contractors, so obligations are indirect—we care because animals matter to humans (economic, emotional, reputational).
• Illustrative statements:
  • "We improve welfare because consumers demand it."
  • "Avoid using primates in research because the public objects."
  • "Better welfare ➔ better research data."
• Commonly invoked in veterinary and agri-business ethics.

Contextual Ethical Questions

• Companion animals: Is pet-keeping morally acceptable? What duties do guardians have?
• Production animals: How should we house/feed animals raised for meat/milk/eggs? Is it ethical to eat them at all?
• Wild animals: Should we intervene to rescue injured wild animals? Is hunting justifiable?
• Research & teaching: Is killing animals for dissection permissible? Should primates be used in biomedical trials?
• Work, sport, display: Is culling "unsuitable" racehorses acceptable? Are zoos permissible?
• Aquatic animals: Should large marine mammals be kept in captivity? Does fish sentience obligate us to change fishing practices?

Indicators & Assessment of Animal Welfare

• Welfare exists on a continuum
  • From Optimal (body, mind, and natural behaviour all satisfied) to Minimal (none satisfactory).
• Need for reliable, objective methods ➔ scientific research continually refines indicators & tools.

Four Core Categories of Indicators

• Behavioural
  • Choices animals make; presence of abnormal behaviours (stereotypies, feather-pecking, bar-biting, tongue-rolling, weaving, wind-sucking).
• Physical
  • Injury (cuts, tail/ear biting), body damage, abscesses, joint swelling, hair/wool loss, body condition.
• Physiological
  • Stress hormones (cortisol), altered adrenal activity, immunosuppression, feed-intake changes.
• Production
  • Growth rate, body weight, reproduction, milk/meat/egg/wool yields, meat texture.

Key Principle

• Welfare is complex; assess multiple indicators to avoid misleading conclusions.

Three Main Sources of Indicators

$\bullet$ The animal itself in its current state (behaviour frequency, hormone levels, body condition).
$\bullet$ The animal in a decision-making test (preference testing, cognitive-bias tests).
$\bullet$ The environment/situation (diet quality, climate exposure, housing/husbandry details).

Approaches to Welfare Assessment

Objective vs. Subjective Measurement Continuum

• Objective: Quantify rates, durations, frequencies, hormone concentrations, etc.
• Subjective: Keeper questionnaires, qualitative behaviour assessment, lameness/pain scoring by trained observers.

Selecting Appropriate Indicators

• Welfare aim: e.g. pain prevention vs. encouraging play.
• Timescale: vocalisations (short-term) vs. ulcers (long-term stress).
• Ethical constraints: prefer non-invasive sampling (faecal hormones) over blood draws when feasible.
• Feasibility: budget, time, labour, technical expertise.

Key Takeaways

• Animal welfare blends science (behaviour, physiology), ethics (moral reasoning), and practicality (husbandry, legislation).
• The Five Freedoms remain a cornerstone but are complemented by modern frameworks (e.g. Five Domains, Quality of Life scales).
• Effective assessment utilises multiple indicators across behaviour, body, and productivity, interpreted through an explicit welfare concept (naturalistic, functional, or subjective).
• Ethical theories (deontology, utilitarianism, contractarianism) shape policy debates and personal choices—from lab protocols to dietary habits.
• Because animals are sentient, their interests must be weighed in every human decision that affects them.