What Does a Scientific Evaluation of an Animal's

Home , Animal Welfare (journal), Animal welfare science

©MSU ABWG ©CSIRO ©Taronga

WHAT DOES A SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION OF AN ANIMAL’S WELFARE LOOK LIKE?

Janice M. Siegford, MS, PhD Michigan State University Animal What?

 Before we can assess animal welfare scientifically, we need to define it.

 Why is this important?

Back to Defining Animal Welfare…

 When you personally hear the term ‘animal welfare,’ what do you think of?

 Do you think each of your colleagues would define welfare in the same way?

 How about each of your clients?

The Perspective of the Animal

 Good animal welfare represents good quality of life from the perspective of the animal

Health & Biological

Functioning © David Anderson © fofurasfelinas

Behavioral Affective Integrity State © The Brooke

Fraser et al., 1997 Animal Welfare

 Animal welfare is multidimensional in nature  Health and biological functioning  Behavioral integrity  Affective state

 As a result, any attempt to assess or enhance animal welfare should be a multidisciplinary scientific venture

Broom, 1988; Dawkins, 2006; Botreau et al., 2008; Fraser, 2009; Hill & Broom, 2009; Hosey et al., 2009; Würbel, 2009 Scientifically Studying Welfare

 Additional measures = neuroscience, endocrinology, psychology, and immunology

 The addition of these measures creates a more complex picture  How do animals’ bodies respond?  How do animals’ minds respond?  To aversive situations?  To pleasurable situations?

Carter, 2001; Siegford, 2013 Multidisciplinary Measures

Physiology

Psychology

Ethology Immunology

Neuroscienc e Productivity Measuring vs. Evaluating

 The measures we take may be objective…  i.e., cortisol = 4ng/mol, BCS = 4, heart rate = 40bpm

 …but evaluating the measures in terms of animal welfare is subjective  Both from the perspective of the animal experiencing the situation  And the perspective of the human doing the evaluating Is the Link to Welfare Clear?

 Verify what a measure of interest means to an animal’s welfare rather than assuming

Cortisol in Pigs Responding to Varying Stimuli 400 350

300 /L) 250 nmol 200 Baseline 150 Immediate

Cortisol( 100 Chronic 50 0 Mixing, Crowding & Transport (Breinekova Mating (Kotwica et al., Enriched Housing (de Heat (Sutherland et al., et al., 2007) 2002) Jong et al., 2000) 2006) Treatment (Study) Look Beyond Averages

de Jong et al., 2000 Welfare is an Individual Characteristic

Range = Poor to Great Average = Good I’m Goo Who is d I’m that guy? Good

I’m I’m Goo I’m Goo I’m I want to d Goo d Great get in the d I’m nestbox I’m I’m Goo Goo I’m I’m Goo d d Hungry Goo I’m I’m d I’m d Goo Goo I’m Goo d d Goo d I’m I’m d Thirsty Great Health & Biological Functioning

 Examples of measures…  Body condition/weight  Rate of growth/feed conversion  Reproductive measures  Presence of injuries or lameness  Presence of disease or changes in immunity  Morbidity, mortality, longevity

 Remember: be wary of measures taken at the group level!

Affective State

 Behaviors as indicators of pleasure ©Muller ©Cheetah Conservation Fund

©Lucies Farm

Boissy et al., 2007 Assessing Emotional Valence

 Ear posture indicates emotional valence in sheep  Forward ear posture and frequent transition between ear postures is ©Martin Junius related to negative

states ©Lynn Ketchum/Oregon State University  Passive ear posture is related to positive states

©Wool is Best Reefman et al., 2009 Assessing Pain

 Posture

 Facial expressions

©Kemp et al, 2008, Vet. Rec.  Vocalizations

©Newcastle University Morton & Griffiths, 1985; Molony & Kent, 1997; Sprecher et al., 1997; Weary et al., 1998; Langford et al., 2010 Affective State

 Examples of measures…  Presence of behaviors that indicate pleasure or comfort  Presence of behaviors that indicate fear, pain, distress, etc  Engagement in normal activity  Engagement in displacement activities

Behavioral Integrity

 Naturalness  Ability to perform natural behaviors  Exposure to natural environments

 Two important questions to consider:  What is natural?  Is everything natural good for welfare? What is the Right Baseline?

Photo Source: Wikipedia Baseline for Domestic Animals?

DOMESTIC, INTENSIVE FERAL

©Big Dutchman ©juseniah

DOMESTIC, EXTENSIVE WILD

Reimers et al., 2013 What is Natural?

 Examples of measures…  Examine the animal’s preferences  Observe how the animal uses space and resources  Observe how the animal interacts with humans and group members  Look for stereotypies or abnormal behavior

 NOTE: many measures can be used to examine more than one of the elements

Welfare is a Continuum

Poor welfare Adequate welfare Good welfare (suffering) (absence of suffering) (happy/healthy)

Health & Biological Functioning Affective State Behavioral Integrity Welfare is a Continuum

Poor welfare Adequate welfare Good welfare (suffering) (absence of suffering) (happy/healthy)

Health & Biological Functioning Affective State Behavioral Integrity

Poor welfare Adequate welfare Good welfare (suffering) (absence of suffering) (happy/healthy)

Health & Biological Functioning Affective State Behavioral Integrity

Poor welfare Adequate welfare Good welfare (suffering) (absence of suffering) (happy/healthy)

Health & Biological Functioning Affective State Behavioral Integrity When Measures Contradict

Physiology

Psychology

Ethology Immunology

Neuroscienc e Productivity Broom, 1988; Mason & Mendl, 1993 Welfare Assessment is Complex

 Multidimensional  Many contributing factors (physical, mental, etc)

 Context specific  Individual, species, environment, management  Assessment is a snapshot

 Objective measures, subjective interpretation? Thank You Any Questions? References

Boissy et al. (2007). Assessment of positive emotions in animals to improve Langford et al.(2010). Coding of facial expressions of pain in the laboratory their welfare. Physiology & Behavior, 92, 375-397. mouse. Nature Methods, 7, 447-449. Botreau, R., Veissier, I., & Perny, P. (2009). Overall assessment of animal Mason, G., & Mendl, M. (1993). Why is there no simple way of measuring welfare: Strategy adopted in Welfare Quality. Animal Welfare, 18, 363-370. animal welfare? Animal Welfare, 2, 301-319. Breinekova et al. (2007). Markers of acute stress in pigs. Physiological Molony, V., & Kent, J. E. (1997). Assessment of acute pain in farm animals Research, 56:323-329. using behavioral and physiological measurements. Journal of Animal Science, 75, 266-272. Broom, D. M. (1988). The scientific assessment of animal welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 20, 5-19. Morton, D. B., & Griffiths, P. H. (1985). Guidelines on the recognition of pain, distress and discomfort in experimental animals and an hypothesis for Carter, C. S. (2001). Is there a neurobiology of good welfare? In D. M. assessment. Veterinary Record, 116, 431-436. Broom (Ed.), Coping with challenge: Welfare in animals including humans (pp.11-30). Berlin, Germany: Dahlem University Press. Reefmann et al. (2009). Ear and tail postures as indicators of emotional valence in sheep. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 118, 199-207. Dawkins, M. S. (2006). A user's guide to animal welfare science. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 21, 77–82. Reimers et al. (2013). Activity patterns in reindeer with domestic vs. wild ancestry, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Online 5 November 2013. de Jong et al. (2000). Effects of environmental enrichment on behavioral responses to novelty, learning, and memory, and the circadian rhythm in Siegford, J. M. 2013. Multidisciplinary approaches and assessment cortisol in growing pigs. Physiology & Behavior, 68:571-578. techniques to better understand and enhance zoo animal welfare. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 16:300-318. Fraser, D. (2009). Assessing animal welfare: Different philosophies, different scientific approaches. Zoo Biology, 28, 507-518. Sprecher, D. J., Hostetler, D. E., & Kaneene, J. B. (1997). A lameness scoring system that uses posture and gait to predict dairy cattle Fraser et al. (1997). A scientific conception of animal welfare that reflects reproductive performance. Theriogenology, 47, 1179-1187. ethical concerns. Animal Welfare, 6:187-205. Sutherland et al. (2006). Impacts of chronic stress and social status on Hill, S. P., & Broom, D. M. (2009). Measuring zoo animal welfare: Theory various physiological and performance measures in pigs of different breeds. and practice. Zoo Biology, 28, 531-544. Journal of Animal Science, 84:588-596. Hosey, G., Melfi, V., & Pankhurst, S. (2009). Zoo animals: Behaviour, Weary, D. M., Braithwaite, L. A., & Fraser, D. (1998). Vocal response to management, and welfare. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University pain in piglets. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 56, 161-172. Press. Würbel, H. (2009). Ethology applied to animal ethics. Applied Animal Kotwica et al. (2002). Effects of mating stimuli and oxytocin on plasma Behaviour Science, 118, 118-127. cortisol concentration in gilts. Reproductive Biology. 2:25-37.