The influence of workplace learning on attitudes toward animal welfare in veterinary students.

Several studies suggest that veterinary students' empathy for animals declines during the years spent at university, yet the factors responsible for this change are not well understood. This study focused on the influence of workplace learning (WPL) on veterinary students' empathy for animals. WPL comprises off-campus placements and is common to all veterinary degree programs. A survey of 150 veterinary students at Charles Sturt University was conducted using an established animal-empathy scale. In general, our findings supported previous studies that empathy for animals declines between the first and fifth year and is lower in male students than in female students. Our findings indicated that specific factors relating to WPL such as pre-clinical extramural studies and clinical placements significantly influenced the students' beliefs on animal welfare. The findings presented here suggest that closer examination of the impact of WPL within the veterinary curricula is important to understanding students' changes in empathy for animals and the development of ethical principles in veterinary education.

Temperament Behaviours in Individually Tested Sheep Are Not Related to Behaviours Expressed in the Presence of Conspecifics.

Individual behavioural testing in sheep is common; however, outcomes may be misleading as they are a highly gregarious species that is usually managed in groups. We investigated whether behaviour expressed by 3-4-month-old Merino lambs (n = 220) in social isolation was related to their behaviour towards the same stimuli when three other conspecifics were present, and if measures of temperament (vocalisations and locomotory behaviours) were repeatable across both social situations. Expression of all behaviours were reduced when conspecifics were present, and vocalisations were rarely performed in social groups, suggesting that this behaviour is a response to social isolation. Similarities across the two social situations, in ranked order of how individual lambs expressed each behaviour, indicate that vigilance and attentional orienting towards a human were repeatable (p < 0.001), as was vigilance in a startle test (p < 0.05). However, no clear relationship between behaviours expressed across the two social situations was found. The results of this study suggest that testing sheep individually should be conducted with caution where the outcome is applied to animals managed in groups. Vigilance shows promise as a measure of an underlying trait that is stable across social contexts.

Behavioural reactivity testing in sheep indicates the presence of multiple temperament traits.

Temperament in sheep is commonly presented as unidimensional, with a 'nervous' temperament indicative of fear and reactivity towards humans and novel environments. However, temperament is multidimensional, with some traits expressed only under certain conditions (context-specific). There is evidence that a common temperament test in sheep, the isolation-box (IB), measures level of activity and not fearfulness as intended, and that behaviours measured in the IB test are indicative of different traits. To investigate this, 16 behavioural responses to a human, to being startled, and to confinement (IB test) were measured in 89 lambs, twice, three months apart. Our results agree with previous studies that vocalisations in all tests and locomotion in two, show high repeatability over time. A principal component analysis identified that vocalisations are domain-general, and are indicative of the trait 'sociability', however locomotion is context-specific' and captures the traits 'exploration-avoidance', 'boldness-shyness' and 'general activity'. A cluster analysis identified four behavioural profiles that indicate the trait 'boldness-shyness' captures reactivity towards humans. This suggests the IB test, which measures 'general activity', is unsuitable for measuring reactivity towards humans in sheep, and that when studying the impact of temperament on other factors, multiple conditions should be used when identify temperament traits.

Exposure to humans after weaning does not reduce the behavioural reactivity of extensively reared Merino lambs.

Human-directed fear in extensively reared sheep is often high due to the aversive nature of common husbandry procedures and infrequent interactions with humans. This study investigated whether additional human exposure provided to weaned lambs reduced human-directed fear and behavioural reactivity. Ninety Merino lambs were either exposed to low or moderately stressful human exposure sessions, or had no additional human contact, and their fear responses and behavioural reactivity to humans, a startle stimulus and confinement were tested. Overall, the imposed interventions did not reduce behavioural reactivity during these tests, suggesting fear towards humans had not been altered.

Animal welfare knowledge, attitudes, and practices among livestock holders in Ethiopia.

Improving animal welfare is a human responsibility and influenced by a person's values and experiences. Thus, it is critical to have an in-depth understanding of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of animal welfare among animal owners. For livestock in Ethiopia, the greatest proportion of livestock are reared by pastoral and mixed crop-livestock communities. A cross-sectional survey covering a range of species and animal welfare aspects was carried out on a total of 197 household (117 pastoral and 80 crop-livestock owners) and recorded information on 34 animal welfare KAP items. Item response theory models (IRT) were fitted to the data from KAP items to estimate the probability of correctly answering an item. This was used as a function of the respondents' KAP level. Overall, the highest percentage of desirable scores was recorded for the knowledge scale (35.7%) and the lowest was for the practice scale (24.6%). A significant correlation (P < 0.01) was found between knowledge of the farmers and their attitude toward animal welfare and self-reported practices. Generally, households practicing mixed crop-livestock farming system had better animal welfare knowledge, attitude, and practice than pastoralist. Mixed crop-livestock farmers had better knowledge on items related to observing the nutrition condition of the animal, animal-human relationship, the importance of water, and health inspection compared to pastoralists. In contrast, pastoralists had better knowledge of items related to natural behavior expression, animal care, and animal suffering than mixed crop-livestock farmers. Pastoralists had 3.3-times higher odds than mixed crop-livestock farmers to have a positive attitude to train their animals without beating. KAP scores demonstrate the need for targeted training to improve animal well-being (i.e., housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling) across livestock holding communities in Ethiopia.

Cognitive Enrichment in Practice: A Survey of Factors Affecting Its Implementation in Zoos Globally.

Information on the practical use of cognitive enrichment in zoos is scarce. This survey aimed to identify where cognitive enrichment is being used while identifying factors that may limit its implementation and success. Distributed in eight languages to increase global range, responses to this survey (n = 177) show that while agreement on what constitutes cognitive enrichment is poor, it is universally perceived as very important for animal welfare. Carnivores were the animal group most reported to receive cognitive enrichment (76.3%), while amphibians and fish the least (16.9%). All animal groups had a percentage of participants indicating animal groups in their facility were not receiving cognitive enrichment when they believe that they should (29.4-44.6%). On average, factors relating to time and finance were rated most highly in terms of effect on cognitive enrichment use, and keeper interest was the highest rated for effect on success. Results of this study indicate that cognitive enrichment is perceived as important. However, placing the responsibility of its development and implementation on animal keepers who are already time-poor may be impeding its use. A commitment to incorporating cognitive enrichment into routine husbandry, including financial support and investment into staff is needed from zoos to ensure continued improvement to captive animal welfare.

Animal-Based Welfare Assessment of Cattle and Water Buffalo in Bangladeshi Slaughterhouses.

This study quantified the welfare of 423 cattle and water buffalo in four Bangladeshi slaughterhouses to identify facility and species-specific factors that influence welfare. The majority of animals arrived at the slaughterhouse with injuries, signs of dehydration and oculo-nasal discharge. During slaughter, buffalo experienced more stabbing at the throat (21%), compared to local cattle (10%, P = 0.011), and significantly more cuts to the neck during slaughter (5.1 ± 1) than Hariana (3.9 ± 1) or local cattle (3.6 ± 1.1; P < 0.001). These results indicated that welfare compromise is common to all species, but that the risk to buffalo was greater. Partial severing of carotid arteries was common and affected time to unconsciousness. There was a statistical interaction between facility and species on the time taken for animals to reach unconsciousness, suggesting that welfare within a location could be improved; however, animal welfare was compromised at all facilities. Immediate welfare improvements could be made by training for effective halal slaughter, and future welfare improvements could be gained by improved facility infrastructure for restraint and halal approved pre-slaughter stunning.

Evaluating the welfare of extensively managed sheep.

The aim of this study was to identify the main on-farm welfare issues likely to be encountered in extensive sheep farming systems. Thirty-two commercial sheep farms in Victoria, Australia were involved in this study. Of the 32 farms involved, 30 were visited twice (at mid-pregnancy and weaning), and 2 farms only once (both at weaning). In total, 62 visits were conducted and 6,200 ewes (aged 2-5 years) were examined using six animal-based indicators: body condition score (BCS), fleece condition, skin lesions, tail length, dag score and lameness. In addition, the number of ewes that needed further care (such as sick or injured sheep) was recorded and reported to the farmers. Generalised linear mixed models were conducted to investigate associations between welfare outcomes and visit, ewe breed and location, with all three, and their interactions, as fixed factors. In all instances, farm was set as a random factor to account for specific variation between farms. Overall, the welfare of the ewe flocks, based on the six indicators measured, was considered good. A total of 86.9% of the ewes were in adequate BCS (2.5-3.5), 91% had good fleece condition, 69.2% had no skin lesions, 97.1% had low dag scores, and overall lameness was 4.7%. An important and prevalent risk to welfare identified across farms was short tail length; with 85.7% of ewes having tails docked shorter than the third palpable joint. While the welfare of the flock was good, ewes in need of further care were identified at all farms. There were 185 (3.0%) cases needing further care, and the extent of welfare compromise of these animals was considered significant. Main reasons for further care were moderate/severe lameness or foot-related issues, BCS ≤ 2 and active dermatophilosis or broken wool. To our knowledge, this study constitutes the largest assessment of ewes conducted in Australia, and the findings provide valuable insight into the main welfare issues likely to be encountered in extensive sheep farming enterprises. Future studies should develop practical technologies that can assist in the detection of the welfare issues identified in this study. In addition, the thresholds identified here could be used for future comparison and sheep welfare benchmarking programs to assess farm performance and measure continuous improvements.

Enrichment with Lucerne Hay Improves Sow Maternal Behaviour and Improves Piglet Survival.

This study investigated the effects of providing lucerne hay on the behaviour and the performance of sows housed in farrowing crates during farrowing and lactation. Seventy-two mixed parity sows received either 1 kg lucerne hay daily from entry into the farrowing crate (-2 d from expected farrowing date) until weaning at 17 d (lucerne group, n = 36), or received no additional enrichment (control group, n = 36). In the 18 h prior to farrowing, the sows in the lucerne treatment spent more time performing nest-building behaviour (14.8% lucerne vs 11.1% control, p = 0.0009) and less time sham-chewing (1.0% lucerne vs 1.9% control, p = 0.01) than control sows, and gave birth to fewer stillborn piglets/litter (0.1 lucerne vs 0.4 control, p = 0.027). After farrowing (Day 3), the control sows spent less time lying than the lucerne sows (26% control vs 43% lucerne, p < 0.05). The control sows also spent less time interacting with their piglets during early lactation compared to late lactation (25.5% Day 5 vs 47.3% Day 12, p < 0.05), suggesting reduced maternal behaviour in this group. The lucerne sows continued to interact with the lucerne throughout lactation, indicating that they still found the enrichment rewarding after the nesting period had ceased. Based on these results, lucerne enrichment was considered to improve sow welfare during farrowing and lactation and reduce the number of stillborn piglets.

Positive attitudes, positive outcomes: The relationship between farmer attitudes, management behaviour and sheep welfare.

This study examined the relationships between the attitudes and the management behaviour of the farmer and the on-farm welfare of their ewes. To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating these relationships in extensive sheep farming systems. Thirty-two sheep farmers and 6200 ewes were sampled across Victoria, Australia. Questionnaire interviews and on-farm animal welfare assessments were conducted. The ewes were assessed at two-time points, mid-pregnancy and weaning. To examine relationships between farmer and ewe variables, categorical principal component analyses, correlations and logistic regressions were used. The main findings of this study indicate relationships between farmer attitudes and management behaviour, consistent with findings from other more intensive livestock industries. Farmers were more likely to check the body condition of their ewes (Odds ratio = 2.37, P = 0.03), perform ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis (Odds ratio = 1.16, P = 0.02) and test for egg count before deworming sheep (Odds ratio = 2.88, P = 0.01) if they perceived these activities were important/valuable. In addition, farmers that performed these activities had a more active management style, and ewes in better welfare: fewer lame ewes at mid-pregnancy (r = -0.38 P = 0.04), and fewer ewes in need of further care at mid-pregnancy and weaning respectively (r = -0.47, P = 0.01; r = -0.50, P = 0.01). When combining the qualitative and quantitative analyses, behavioural attitudes (attitudes towards specific management behaviours) and perceived behavioural control (perceived barriers to performing the behaviour) emerged as the two main drivers underpinning farmer management behaviour. The results of this study indicate that the way farmers manage their ewes influences welfare outcomes, and management decisions are influenced by attitudes towards management practices. These findings demonstrate the opportunity to create change in farmer management behaviour and improve sheep welfare via targeted education programs.

Curious creatures: a multi-taxa investigation of responses to novelty in a zoo environment.

The personality trait of curiosity has been shown to increase welfare in humans. If this positive welfare effect is also true for non-humans, animals with high levels of curiosity may be able to cope better with stressful situations than their conspecifics. Before discoveries can be made regarding the effect of curiosity on an animal's ability to cope in their environment, a way of measuring curiosity across species in different environments must be created to standardise testing. To determine the suitability of novel objects in testing curiosity, species from different evolutionary backgrounds with sufficient sample sizes were chosen. Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) n = 12, little penguins (Eudyptula minor) n = 10, ringtail lemurs (Lemur catta) n = 8, red tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksia) n = 7, Indian star tortoises (Geochelone elegans) n = 5 and red kangaroos (Macropus rufus) n = 5 were presented with a stationary object, a moving object and a mirror. Having objects with different characteristics increased the likelihood individuals would find at least one motivating. Conspecifics were all assessed simultaneously for time to first orientate towards object (s), latency to make contact (s), frequency of interactions, and total duration of interaction (s). Differences in curiosity were recorded in four of the six species; the Barbary sheep and red tailed black cockatoos did not interact with the novel objects suggesting either a low level of curiosity or that the objects were not motivating for these animals. Variation in curiosity was seen between and within species in terms of which objects they interacted with and how long they spent with the objects. This was determined by the speed in which they interacted, and the duration of interest. By using the measure of curiosity towards novel objects with varying characteristics across a range of zoo species, we can see evidence of evolutionary, husbandry and individual influences on their response. Further work to obtain data on multiple captive populations of a single species using a standardised method could uncover factors that nurture the development of curiosity. In doing so, it would be possible to isolate and modify sub-optimal husbandry practices to improve welfare in the zoo environment.

Towards a more practical attention bias test to assess affective state in sheep.

Tests for attention bias potentially offer more rapid assessment of affective state in animals than existing cognitive methods. An attention bias test has previously been developed for sheep and validated as a measure of anxious states. The 3 minute test assessed behavioural responses of sheep in an enclosed arena after brief exposure to the threat of a dog. Experiment 1 of the current study aimed to refine the previously developed method, removing the need for a habituation period and shortening the test duration. Sheep were given either an anxiolytic drug, an anxiogenic drug or a control treatment prior to testing to induce contrasting affective states. Differences in behaviour were found between the treatment groups within the first 45s of the test, indicating the original test duration could be shortened from 180 s. During testing, 36 of 40 animals in the control and anxiolytic groups ate the novel feed offered in the test, indicating it is not necessary to habituate animals to a feed container. Experiment 2 aimed to confirm the responses measured in the test were primarily towards the dog rather than other aspects of the test environment. Sheep exposed to an empty window at the beginning of the test behaved differently to those which were exposed to a dog, indicating sheep behaviour in the test is at least partially a response to the dog. A third group of sheep were also tested with the dog immediately after having small data loggers attached to their necks. Behaviour of these sheep did not differ from the sheep tested without loggers, indicating data logger attachment did not impact their behaviour in the test. In both experiments, treatments did not appear to modify activity (zones crossed), which we propose indicates the test was primarily detecting valence of the affective state rather than arousal.

Stakeholder Perceptions of Welfare Issues and Indicators for Extensively Managed Sheep in Australia.

An online survey was designed to form the basis of a framework for the welfare assessment of extensively managed sheep in Australia. The survey focused on welfare compromise and useful welfare indicators. A total of 952 people completed the survey in its entirety, representing four stakeholder groups: Public (53.6%), Producer (27.4%), Scientist (9.9%), and Service provider (9.1%). Animal welfare was considered to be important by all participating groups in this survey (average score of 3.78/4). Respondents felt the welfare of grazing sheep was generally adequate but improvement was desired (2.98/5), with female members of the public rating sheep welfare significantly worse than other respondents (p < 0.05). Environmental issues were considered to pose the greatest risk to welfare (3.87/5), followed by heat stress (3.79), lameness (3.57) and husbandry practices (3.37). Key indicators recognised by all respondents were those associated with pain and fear (3.98/5), nutrition (4.23), mortality/management (4.27), food on offer (4.41) and number of illness/injures in a flock (4.33). There were gender and stakeholder differences in the perceived importance of both welfare issues and indicators with women and the public consistently rating issues (all p < 0.01) and indicators (all p < 0.05) to be of greater significance than other respondents. These results highlight the importance of including all stakeholders and an even balance of genders when developing a welfare framework that can address both practical and societal concerns.

An assessment of African lion Panthera leo sociality via social network analysis: prerelease monitoring for an ex situ reintroduction program.

The wild population of the African lion Panthera leo continues to decline, requiring alternate conservation programs to be considered. One such program is ex situ reintroduction. Prior to release, long-term monitoring and assessment of behavior is required to determine whether prides and coalitions behave naturally and are sufficiently adapted to a wild environment. Social network analysis (SNA) can be used to provide insight into how the pride as a whole and individuals within it, function. Our study was conducted upon 2 captive-origin prides who are part of an ex situ reintroduction program, and 1 wild pride of African lion. Social interactions were collected at all occurrence for each pride and categorized into greet, social grooming, play, and aggression. Betweenness centrality showed that offspring in each pride were central to the play network, whereas degree indicated that adults received (indegree) the greatest number of overall social interactions, and the adult males of each pride were least likely to initiate (outdegree) any interactions. Through the assessment of individual centrality and degree values, a social keystone adult female was identified for each pride. Social network results indicated that the 2 captive-origin prides had formed cohesive social units and possessed relationships and behaviors comparable with the wild pride for the studied behaviors. This study provided the first SNA comparison between captive-bred origin and a wild pride of lions, providing valuable information on individual and pride sociality, critical for determining the success of prides within an ex situ reintroduction program.

Physiological and Behavioral Responses of Horses to Wither Scratching and Patting the Neck When Under Saddle.

Riding is considered to be an arousing activity for horses. It has been suggested that wither scratching may be a more useful tool for relaxation compared with the common practice of neck patting. In the current study, 18 horses were exposed to 3 treatments, including control or no interaction, neck patting, and wither scratching, for 1 min each following a short obstacle course. Heart rate, heart rate variability, and a variety of behaviors were measured in the horses. Wither scratching produced a significantly longer duration of relaxed-type behaviors. Wither scratching could be a useful tool to help a horse relax while under saddle. Additionally, the study identified 2 ear positions that may be useful for future research in horse behavior.

Temperament, age and weather predict social interaction in the sheep flock.

The aim of the current study was to investigate the social relationships between individual sheep, and factors that influence this, through the novel application of the statistical multiple membership multiple classification (MMMC) model. In study one 49 ewes (ranging between 1 and 8 years old) were fitted with data loggers, which recorded when pairs of sheep were within 4m or less of each other, within a social group, for a total of 6days. In study two proximity data were collected from 45 ewes over 17days, as were measures of ewe temperament, weight and weather. In study 1 age difference significantly influenced daily contact time, with sheep of the same age spending an average of 20min 43s together per day, whereas pairs with the greatest difference in age spent 16min 33s together. Maximum daily temperature also significantly affected contact time, being longer on hotter days (34min 40s hottest day vs. 18min 17s coolest day), as did precipitation (29min 33s wettest day vs. 10min 32s no rain). Vocalisation in isolation, as a measure of temperament, also affected contacts, with sheep with the same frequency of vocalisations spending more time together (27min 16s) than those with the greatest difference in vocalisations (19min 36s). Sheep behaviour in the isolation box test (IBT) was also correlated over time, but vocalisations and movement were not correlated. Influences of age, temperature and rain on social contact are all well-established and so indicate that MMMC modelling is a useful way to analyse social structures of the flock. While it has been demonstrated that personality factors affect social relationships in non-human animals, the finding that vocalisation in isolation influences pair social contact in sheep is a novel one.

Evaluating pharmacological models of high and low anxiety in sheep.

New tests of animal affect and welfare require validation in subjects experiencing putatively different states. Pharmacological manipulations of affective state are advantageous because they can be administered in a standardised fashion, and the duration of their action can be established and tailored to suit the length of a particular test. To this end, the current study aimed to evaluate a pharmacological model of high and low anxiety in an important agricultural and laboratory species, the sheep. Thirty-five 8-month-old female sheep received either an intramuscular injection of the putatively anxiogenic drug 1-(m-chlorophenyl)piperazine (mCPP; 1 mg/kg; n = 12), an intravenous injection of the putatively anxiolytic drug diazepam (0.1 mg/kg; n = 12), or acted as a control (saline intramuscular injection n = 11). Thirty minutes after the treatments, sheep were individually exposed to a variety of tests assessing their general movement, performance in a 'runway task' (moving down a raceway for a food reward), response to startle, and behaviour in isolation. A test to assess feeding motivation was performed 2 days later following administration of the drugs to the same animals in the same manner. The mCPP sheep had poorer performance in the two runway tasks (6.8 and 7.7 × slower respectively than control group; p < 0.001), a greater startle response (1.4 vs. 0.6; p = 0.02), a higher level of movement during isolation (9.1 steps vs. 5.4; p < 0.001), and a lower feeding motivation (1.8 × slower; p < 0.001) than the control group, all of which act as indicators of anxiety. These results show that mCPP is an effective pharmacological model of high anxiety in sheep. Comparatively, the sheep treated with diazepam did not display any differences compared to the control sheep. Thus we suggest that mCPP is an effective treatment to validate future tests aimed at assessing anxiety in sheep, and that future studies should include other subtle indicators of positive affective states, as well as dosage studies, so conclusions on the efficacy of diazepam as a model of low anxiety can be drawn.

Physiological and nonphysiological indicators of body condition score in weaner pigs.

The aim of this study was to identify parameters that may be used as objective measures of wellbeing in weaner pigs on farm. Eighty-six weaner pigs were categorized into 3 groups based on their BCS: very compromised (VC, BCS = 1), moderately compromised (MC, BCS = 2), or healthy (HY, BCS ≥ 3). Nonphysiological and physiological measures were then collected from the pigs. Nonphysiological measures included 3 subjective binary scores that assessed the activity, hairiness, and responsiveness of each pig. Physiological measures included rectal temperature, skin temperature, and 11 blood-based parameters. Each physiological measure was assessed in a ternary manner, with pigs being classed as being above, below, or within the normal physiological range. Fisher's exact tests (FET) were used to identify differences between the numbers of pigs in each BCS category for each variable, and ANOVA of physiological measures was also conducted. Correlations between all variables were also conducted. The FET results identified significant differences for 8 of the measures, with activity, hairiness, responsiveness, rectal temperature, and blood concentrations of glucose, creatinine kinase (CK), albumin, and globulin all differing significantly (all P < 0.05) according to category. Rectal temperature, glucose, and globulin concentrations were significantly different in ANOVA analyses. Of these measures, there were significant correlations between hairiness, rectal temperature, and glucose (all R > 0.30 and P < 0.05). Based on these results, rectal temperature, glucose, and hairiness all warrant further investigation as simple to apply, on-farm measures that can be used in conjunction with body condition and subjective assessment to aid management decisions on pig welfare.

The impact of early unilateral brain injury on perceptual organization and visual memory.

Studies of young children with early unilateral brain injury have suggested that while hemispheric differences in visuospatial processing appear to be present early in development, the young brain is better able to compensate for injury than when the injury occurs later, after networks have been established. The aim of this study was to determine if this pattern continues later in development when these children are given a challenging task: the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure. Experiment 1 included longitudinal data from ten children with early left hemisphere (LH) injury and nine children with early right hemisphere (RH) injury. Injury was presumed to be due to a prenatal or perinatal stroke. Compared with typically developing children, both groups were poorer in copying the figure. With development, these children produced reasonably accurate drawings but continued to use the most immature and piecemeal strategy. In Experiment 2, copy and immediate memory drawings from the 19 children with early unilateral brain injury were collected at a single age (11-14 years). Eight of the ten children with LH injury organized their memory reproductions around the core rectangle but included relatively few additional details. In contrast, only two of the nine children with RH injury organized their memory reproductions around the core rectangle and all but one produced the figure in a piecemeal manner. The results from both studies demonstrate the continuation of subtle deficits in visuospatial analysis with development but also the continued capacity for compensation.