Finding biomarkers of experience in animals

At a time when there is a growing public interest in animal welfare,it is critical to have objective means to assess the way that an animal experiences a situation.Objectivity is critical to ensure appropriate animal welfare outcomes.Existing behavioural,physiological,and neurobiological indicators that are used to assess animal welfare can verify the absence of extremely negative outcomes.But welfare is more than an absence of negative outcomes and an appropriate indicator should reflect the full spectrum of experience of an animal,from negative to positive.In this review,we draw from the knowledge of human biomedical science to propose a list of candidate biological markers(biomarkers)that should reflect the experiential state of non-human animals.The proposed biomarkers can be classified on their main function as endocrine,oxidative stress,non-coding molecular,and thermobiological markers.We also discuss practical challenges that must be addressed before any of these biomarkers can become useful to assess the experience of an animal in real-life.

Environmental Enrichment and Its Effect on the Welfare of Two Asian Elephants in Africam Safari Wildlife Conservation Park (Puebla, Mexico)

Animal welfare is important in zoos to maintain the physical well-being and psychological health of individuals. An animal is considered to have welfare if it has good nutrition and also expresses its innate behavior, including sensations and feelings experienced as a result of physical health. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of environmental enrichment on the behaviors of two Asian elephants in a wildlife conservation park. The behavior of two Asian elephants, a 46-year-old male and a 59-year-old female, was observed. Behavior was measured by quantifying the frequency, latency, and duration of behavioral actions. Measurements were done with ad libitum sampling during 5 days of testing, then observations were recorded with focal sampling for 25 days with environmental enrichment and 25 days without enrichment. Data were analyzed with the Chi-square statistical test using the statistical program SPSS 20, observing significant differences (P the application of environmental enrichment. The frequency of maintenance behaviors was higher when environmental enrichment was provided, and the frequency of social conducts (affiliative and agonistic) decreased. In fact, the behaviors most frequently presented by elephants with and without environmental enrichment were definitely maintenance behaviors. The environmental enrichment program helped to reduce the duration of abnormal behaviors and increase the frequency of typical behaviors of the species. It also increased independent movements within the exhibition area and helped to know each of the elephants individually in order to apply each enrichment combination according to their needs.

Clinical/Behavioral Monitoring of Rodents and Rabbits Undergoing Scientific Experiments

Background: We currently have international and national guidelines regarding the assessment and monitoring of clinical signs and humane endpoints in animals used in teaching and research, which make the performance of these activities mandatory for any experiment and professional working in this area. Assigning the severity of a research experiment is the result of an analysis of records of observations of the animal’s behavior, and clinical signs. The aim of this study was to describe the importance of carrying out a severity assessment associated with clinical and behavioral monitoring of rodents and rabbits during experimentation to maintain the welfare of these animals undergoing scientific research. Methods: The literature search was carried out using the following terms: “Monitoring”;“Humane endpoints”;“Animal welfare”, “Rodents”;“Rabbits”, and as connectors “and”;“or”, in the following databases: PubMed;LILACS/BIREME and SciELO. Results: A total of 987 articles were identified in the databases, and 20 of these studies were included in this review. Conclusions: Humane endpoint protocols and procedure severity tables are of the utmost importance, both from an ethical point and to refine the results of research conducted on laboratory animals. They should be drawn up jointly by the teams responsible for the project and the maintenance of the animals during the research period, and the data obtained should be published so that the scientific community can have access to it, helping to disseminate these practices, as well as helping to draw up new procedures. Monitoring and evaluating the welfare and clinical condition of animals undergoing scientific research procedures is the responsibility of the professors, researchers, veterinarians, and animal facility coordinators. The Ethics Committee on the Use of Animals must monitor all the activities conducted with the animals, by inspecting the experimental procedures and the physical environment of the laboratory animal facility where the animals are housed.

Review of human-animal interactions and their impact on animal productivity and welfare

Humans and animals are in regular and at times close contact in modern intensive farming systems.The quality of human-animal interactions can have a profound impact on the productivity and welfare of farm animals.Interactions by humans may be neutral,positive or negative in nature.Regular pleasant contact with humans may result in desirable alterations in the physiology,behaviour,health and productivity of farm animals.On the contrary,animals that were subjected to aversive human contact were highly fearful of humans and their growth and reproductive performance could be compromised.Farm animals are particularly sensitive to human stimulation that occurs early in life,while many systems of the animals are still developing.This may have long-lasting impact and could possibly modify their genetic potential.The question as to how human contact can have a positive impact on responses to stressors,and productivity is not well understood.Recent work in our laboratory suggested that pleasant human contact may alter ability to tolerate various stressors through enhanced heat shock protein（hsp） 70 expression.The induction of hsp is often associated with increased tolerance to environmental stressors and disease resistance in animals.The attitude and consequent behaviour of stockpeople affect the animals＇ fear of human which eventually influence animals＇ productivity and welfare.Other than attitude and behaviour,technical skills,knowledge,job motivation,commitment and job satisfaction are prerequisites for high job performance.

Recent advances in immunocastration in sheep and goat and its animal welfare benefits:A review

Castration of male animals is a common practice in the meat industry aimed at reducing aggressive behavior, preventing unpleasant flavor, and controlling undesirable breeding. For many years, mechanical castration and surgical castration have been practiced to sterilize the animals. However, these castration methods are not humane because of the associated risk of death, pain, and stress. Recently, immunocastration targeting the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis(HPG) axis has been reported as an animal-friendly approach that circumvents many of the concerns with conventional castration, and suggested by researches as an alternative to surgical castration. However, there is no compilation of updated information on the use of immunocastration in sheep and goats. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the developmental process from traditional surgical castration to immunocastration and to screen the process of immune targets. It also compares the respective advantages and disadvantages of traditional castration technologies and immunocastration, in particular including analyses in the characteristics, features application and welfare benefits of immunocastration in sheep and goats were also analyzed.

Effect of Cowshed Design and Cooling Strategy on Welfare and Productivity of Dairy Cows

Nine cowsheds were used, the differences between each cowshed are orientation （east-west or north-south）, cooling （with or without）, and height （3 m, 5 m or 8 m height）. Dry-bulb temperature, relative humidity, dew point, shaded area, air velocity, and maximum temperature were measured beneath each shed. The temperature-humidity index （THI） and the shading efficiency were calculated for each cowshed. The trials were conducted using 180 lactating Holstein Friesian cows; twenty cows housed beneath each shade structure. Measurements performed on cows were respiration rate, skin temperature, and rectal temperature; moreover, the milk produced by each cow was recorded, and the feed intake. High air velocities were recorded under high shade structures which enhance the aeration; consequently, maximum temperatures, and THI recorded beneath high sheds were less than those recorded beneath low sheds; also, skin temperatures, and respiration rates for cows housed under high sheds were less than those measured for animals housed under low sheds（differences were found to be significant）. Thereby, increasing shed height enhances dairy cows＇ microclimate under Egyptian conditions （hot climate）; consequently, the milk production increases. The best orientation is the east-west orientation, which is preferable for hot climates. The exploitation of cooling has significant effect on microclimate, cooling enhances the ambient environment and provides comfortable zone for dairy cows within which cows reach high production levels.

Research Progress on Effects of Stocking Density on Performance, Health and Welfare of Duck

Stocking density is an important factor for animal production performance.It appears particularly urgent and important to research systematically on stocking density for the dual restriction of environmental protection and animal welfare.This review dealt with the influence of stocking density on ducks'productivity and health through production performance,animal behavior and animal welfare,and analyzed the possible mechanism of high stocking density reducing production performance,resulting in abnormal behavior and stress,causing welfare and health problems.We consider that it might be associated with heat stress,more spatial competition(to gather the food,drinking water,sports area,etc.),as well as the quality deterioration of litter and house air caused by high stocking density.Finally,we put forward some suggestions on the study of stocking density's effects on ducks,and proposed the future work that need to be studied and problems that need to be solved imminently.

Music Effects on Swine Welfare:a Sumarry

Music is a form of art that people use to relax, entertain, or express their inner feelings as they act on his particular occasion. Modern scientific research shows that animals, like humans, have complex nervous systems and have certain perception of music. Music can affect animal emotions, affect animal immune function and so on. As people pay more attention to farm animal welfare, more and more researches regard music as a means to improve animal welfare. In this context, the research on the impact of music on the welfare of swine has also begun to attract attention in recent years. This paper briefly reviews the related concepts of animal welfare, its relationship with humans, the mechanism of music and its research on the impact on swine in order to attract more professionals and researchers in animal welfare, music and pig farming.

Preliminary Discussion on Farm Animal Welfare and Its Influence on Brand and Consumption of Chinese Livestock Products

Farm animal welfare(FAW) affects the health and sustainable development of animal husbandry. However, at present,there are still a lot of damage to FAW, and the situation of FAW in China is worrying. In this paper, the concept of FAW and brand are sketched and the importance of FAW is emphasized through analyzing the impact of FAW on the brand and consumption of animal products in China. Advices that more importance should be attached to FAW, animal welfare awareness should be promoted to publicity, and FAW legislation should be speed up are proposed.

Animal Welfare in the Uruguayan Veterinary Profession Field

Training and dissemination of good handling practices are key points in reducing animal abuse. Three aspects are considered in the development of education in animal welfare （AW）： （1） introduction of AW in curricular education, nevertheless it has not been applied in the Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la Repfiblica de Uruguay, up to now; （2） promotion of permanent education for graduates; （3） development of plans for dissemination, follow up, assessment and continuous improvement on AW affairs. Aiming to obtain information about the knowledge of veterinarians on AW during the practice of their professional duties, in September 2016, an on-line questionnaire was sent to the veterinarians who were in the Educaci6n Continua database. The questionnaire had four sections： a general gathering information and three additional sections, one for each veterinarian professional field （large animal＇s health and production, small animal＇s health and food industry）. From 1,804 questionnaires sent, 388 answers were obtained. There were 69% attended at least one AW course, and 89.9% were willing to attend another AW course. And 63.5% considered the information received to be very useful for their daily activities, 95% considered that AW should be included in the veterinary studies curriculum, while 53.3% declared not having knowledge about the regional animal welfare strategy （RAWS）. The majority of the veterinarians considered the acquired knowledge very useful and are eager to obtain more information. It is necessary to keep working to include AW in the veterinary studies curriculum as well as continuing with the diffusion of good practices and AW principles, based on the national and international norms.

Improving Loading Facilities and Methods to Minimize Stress on Animals during Transport from Farm to Abattoir

Transport and handlings of slaughter animals are associated with series of stressful activities which compromise the welfare of animals. The main objective of this study was to improve loading methods and facilities to minimize the prevailing adverse effects on animal welfare during transport. The study was conducted using cattle from animal farms in Uppsala, Sweden. Data were gathered through field measurements. The inclination of loading ramp was measured using inclinometer while floor quality was evaluated using Skid Resistance Tester. The effect of using loading dock was studied. Continuous measurements of heart rate were made on 349 animals using POLAR Vantage equipment, before transport, during transport and unloading. Vocalization, refusal to leave original place, defecation, urination, refusal to move forward towards a gate, slipping, running away and falling were also observed and recorded as indicators of behavioural alterations during loading activities. The size of observed ramp angles in the farms ranged from 5° to 29°. The heart rate measurement result indicated that loading, unloading and confinement in the stunning box were the most stressful activities. During loading, heart rate elevated by about 42.5% when the animals were forced to leave their original place and turn 180 ℃, by about 39% when animals were forced to move to the loading gate and by about 75% when animals were forced to climb the ramp. The result showed that heart rate increased significantly （P 〈 0.007） with an increase of ramp angle. During loading, when loading dock was used, ramp angle was about zero degree and the increase in heart rate was marginal （ranging from 10% to 23%）, while the figure was about 75% without loading dock. About 72% of loose animals and 89% of tied animals strongly refused to climb the ramp and enter the vehicle. Regarding floor quality, the rubber mat had the highest friction coefficient of 0.72 ± 0.024 BPN （British Pendulum Number） and concrete slates had the lowest friction coefficient （0.39 ± 0.028 BPN）. Incidence of slippery was observed more in tied animals than in loose animals. About 5.7% of observed animals （280 animals） had elongated and curled hooves.

Evaluation of Education of Veterinarians in Animal Welfare Issues

Education of veterinarians in animal welfare issues is important to improve the welfare and health of animals. A questionnaire to 250 veterinarians related to their knowledge on animal welfare issues has been carried out at the Veterinary School of the University of the Republic, Uruguay, during March-April 2012. The questions were related to the courses on animal welfare veterinarians received, their main field of work, the importance given to the information offered and the quality of the topics addressed. From the total of veterinarians surveyed, 45% （112） answered the questionnaire. Of those who responded, 47% attended to three or more animal welfare courses, 18% assisted to two courses and 22% to one. The occupation of the 82% of respondents was with beef and dairy cattle （large animals） or in the meat industry equally. 10% works with small animals （especially pets） and poultry （production and industry）. The 95% of respondents considered that animal welfare is very important for their daily work with animals 65% reported that animal welfare concepts have high applicability in their job. 85% considered that animal welfare should be part of the veterinary curricula and 100% expressed their compliance to be present in other courses on the subject. These results emphasize the importance afforded by Uruguayan veterinarians to improve their knowledge on animal welfare and to continue including specific courses in the veterinary curricula.

Visitors＇ Opinion Regarding Animal Welfare at Zoo National d＇Abidjan

This study aimed to assess the opinion of visitors regarding animal welfare at Zoo National d＇Abidjan. To reach this goal, a survey was conducted by interview with 220 visitors randomly selected among those who realized a full tour of the Zoo. Respondents were predominantly （59.1%） men and 59.1% were aged between 21 and 40 years. A large part （48.2%） had a high school level. Nearly 31% （30.9%） have animals and 64.6% love animals. More than half （60%） believe that the animals are in a situation of well being and 24.1% believe that elephant, lions and monkeys are lean. On the hygiene of habitat, 49.5% of visitors think that the pen of chimpanzees is the least clean. More three quarters （79.1%） believe that the animals are well fed, 89.1% that they are safe and 29.9% believe that animals are sad. Finally, visitors have various opinions but many believe that the welfare of lions, elephant, chimpanzees and patas monkeys must be improved.

Preliminary Analysis on the Welfare of Adult Breeding Boar on Scale Swine Farm in China

Not so much attention has been paid to animal welfare in many pig farms in China yet and there are still some violations of Animal Welfare Practices.Breeding boar is the core of modern pig farm,which is responsible for the reproductive task of supplying sperm for sows. With the development of artificial insemination,breeding boar plays an increasingly important role in pig production and the welfare of it is becoming more and more important. The problems existing in the welfare of breeding boar in China scale pig farm were analyzed from the aspects of rearing method,feed,environment condition,exercise,artificial semen collection,sexual behavior and environment enrichment and the corresponding measures or countermeasures were put forwards to improve their welfare level.

More Attention to Animal Welfare

With the development and progression of society, people pay more attention to the concept of protecting cattle. Animal welfare in developed countries has become an accepted concept. But according to these developing countries, animal welfare has gradually become an obstacle for exporting their products. In order to surpass this boundary, some ideas and suggestions are put forward.

Understanding Animal Welfare

Awareness increases in China over the issue of protecting pets HAO Xiaomao is a truck driver,shipping whatever his employers ask him to from his hometown of Jiaozuo City in central China’s Henan Province to northeast China.But one of his recent hauls put him in the center of a nationwide controversy.

Trends in in ovo sexing technologies:insights and interpretation from papers and patents

Numerous researchers and institutions have been developing in ovo sexing technologies to improve animal welfare by identifying male embryos in an early embryonic stage and disposing of them before pain perception.This review gives a complete overview of the technological approaches reported in papers and patents by performing a thorough search using Web of Science and Patstat/Espacenet databases for papers and patents,respectively.Based on a total of 49 papers and 115 patent families reported until May 2023 worldwide,11 technology categories were defined:6 non-optical and 5 optical techniques.Every category was described for its characteristics while assessing its potential for application.Next,the dynamics of the publications of in ovo sexing techniques in both paper and patent fields were described through growth curves,and the interest or actual status was visualized using the number of paper citations and the actual legal status of the patents.When comparing the reported technologies in papers to those in patents,scientific gaps were observed,as some of the patented technologies were not reported in the scientific literature,e.g.,ion mobility and mass spectrometry approaches.Generally,more diverse approaches in all categories were found in patents,although they do require more scientific evidence through papers or industrial adoption to prove their robustness.Moreover,although there is a recent trend for non-invasive techniques,invasive methods like analyzing DNA through PCR or hormones through immunosensing are still being reported(and might continue to be)in papers and patents.It was also observed that none of the technologies complies with all the industry requirements,although 5 companies already entered the market.On the one hand,more research and harmony between consumers,industry,and governments is necessary.On the other hand,close monitoring of the market performance of the currently available techniques will offer valuable insights into the potential and expectations of in ovo sexing techniques in the poultry industry.

Effects of odors on behaviors of captive Amur leopards Panthera pardus orientalis

Captive environments often fail to resemble the wild environment in respects of limited space, unchanging habitat, lack of stimulus and contingency. Common animal welfare problems which occur in captive animals include low behavioral diversity, abnormal behavior and excessive inactivity. Environmental enrichment, as an effective strategy to tackle these problems and promote mental health of captive animals, has been recognized as an important principal for captive animal management. Among all the enriehment techniques, olfactory enrichment is a simple and effective method for improving the well-being of the olfactory sensitive felids. Behavioral problems were observed in six Amur leopards Panthera pardus orientalis at Beijing Zoological Garden. These were held in the older type exhibits which have now been rebuilt. These behaviors include stereotypic behavior and excessive inactivity caused by the spatially limited enclosures with low levels of stimuli. To determine the effects of predator, prey, and herb odors as potential enrichment materials for captive leopards, we conducted olfactory enrichment experiments for the leopards and tested the effects of nutmeg Myristica fragrans, feces of roe deer Capreolus capreolus and urine of Amur tiger Panthera tigris altaica to test for an increase in behavioral repertoire and activity. Odors provided in this study were also believed to improve the psychological and physiological health of individuals. To standardize the method of presentation the odors were introduced to the enclosures by rubbing or spraying onto a clean towel. Our results show that the selected three odors effectively increased the behavioral diversity. Ten new behavior types were observed in the nutmeg experiment, eight in the feces of roe deer experiment and six in the tiger urine experiment. Among the three odors, cats responded to nutmeg for the longest duration, followed by tiger urine and feces of roe deer. Leopards showed more play behavior in presence of nutmeg while more investigatory behavior in presences of feces of roe deer and tiger urine. Providing novel odors increased the spatial use of the exhibit and the animal＇ s increased use of the logs, sleeping platforms and bars in the cages. Novel odors also significantly increased the overall activity of the leopards, but the effects were diminished in about three hours.

Adverse impact of industrial animal agriculture on the health and welfare of farmed animals

Industrial animal agriculture is grounded in the concept of maximizing productivity and profit.Selective breeding for maximum productivity in one characteristic of the animal(e.g.milk yield in cows,or breast meat in broiler chickens)has resulted in genotypes and phenotypes that may predispose the animals to poor health and welfare.The conditions in which these individuals are kept may also frustrate many inherited behaviors that they are strongly motivated to perform.In order to curb the resulting harmful aberrant behaviors,such as feather-pecking in chickens,we sometimes resort to mutilating the animals.In many places chickens are routinely de-beaked by means of a hot metal guillotine.Compassion in World Farming(an international organization that promotes the humane treatment of farm animals)believes that it is unethical to treat sentient beings in such ways.We have a duty to respect farm animals’sentience by providing them with housing conditions that take their needs and wants into account,and by reverting to the use of dual-purpose,slower-growing breeds that have the potential for good welfare.Alternatives to current farming practices are available,and we owe it to the animals,and to our consciences,to pursue them.

IgY technology: Methods for developing and evaluating avian immunoglobulins for the in vitro detection of biomolecules

The term“IgY technology”was introduced in the literature in the mid 1990s to describe a procedure involving immunization of avian species,mainly laying hens and consequent isolation of the polyclonal IgYs from the“immune”egg yolk(thus avoiding bleeding and animal stress).IgYs have been applied to various fields of medicine and biotechnology.The present article will deal with specific aspects of IgY technology,focusing on the currently reported methods for developing,isolating,evaluating and storing polyclonal IgYs.Other topics such as current information on isolation protocols or evaluation of IgYs from different avian species are also discussed.Specific advantages of IgY technology(e.g.,novel antibody specificities that may emerge via the avian immune system)will also be discussed.Recent in vitro applications of polyclonal egg yolk-derived IgYs to the field of disease diagnosis in human and veterinary medicine through in vitro immunodetection of target biomolecules will be presented.Moreover,ethical aspects associated with animal well-being as well as new promising approaches that are relevant to the original IgY technology(e.g.,development of monoclonal IgYs and IgY-like antibodies through the phage display technique or in transgenic chickens)and future prospects in the area will also be mentioned.