What lies in store from a Labour government?

Fiona Shuttleworth, parliamentary veterinary intern to Lord Trees, discusses what may be on the new government's agenda - despite the omission of animal health and welfare from both its manifesto and introductory King's speech.

How Might Corporations' and Nonhuman Animals' Personhood Compare Under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments?

The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits states from depriving any person "equal protection of the laws," and the Constitution's Fifth Amendment has been interpreted as applying this prohibition to the federal government. This article considers whether constitutional equal protection should apply to some nonhuman animals in light of corporations having gained such protection and concludes that expanding equal protection personhood to nonhuman animals is improbable in the present legal landscape.

Should Nonhuman Animals Be Recognized Legally as Persons?

This article explores the legal status of nonhuman animals used in biomedical research. While acknowledging that, presently, nonhuman animals in research settings hold no personal legal rights, this article explores what a legal person is and proposes that it is possible for nonhuman animals to become legal persons and receive better protections under the federal Animal Welfare Act.

A brief history of the animals' scientific research, international rules and Brazilian regulations.

Several countries and non-governmental organizations have discussed the use of animals in industry and biomedical areas. This work shows the progression of animal' rights for scientific purposes in Brazil and how Brazilian Councils have advanced to follow worldwide regulations. Since the first rules about animals' usage in Ireland in 1635, the British Cruelty to Animals Act in 1876, and the Brazilian animal protection rules in 1924 and 1934, most worldwide actions culminated in the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights (1978). In 1979, the Brazilian Law 6.638 displayed directives for didactic-scientific practice of vivisection. In 2008, the Arouca Law 11.794 filled regulatory gaps and created the National Council for the Control of Animal Experimentation (CONCEA). In 2014, the CONCEA incorporated the 3R's philosophy and recognized substitute techniques, but only in 2023 it prohibited vertebrate animals in scientific research, development and control of personal hygiene products, cosmetics and perfumes. It is clear current Brazilian and international rules are unable to cover all aspects of animal wellbeing, even for regulations of commercial issues. Certainly, innovative tools, as organ-on-chip, in vitro techniques and bioinformatical advancements will provide a crucial animal welfare and new laws will minimize animal pain and distress, including for disregarded invertebrates.

Animal welfare during transport, evolution, and perspectives of European Union Legislation and Policy.

In the one health approach, which summarizes the concept that human, animal, and plant health are interdependent and linked to the ecosystems in which they exist, animal welfare assumes an important role. In addition, the Farm to Fork Strategy of the European Union recognizes animal welfare as an essential component. Transport of animals involves a number of issues related to welfare. Animals are subjected to continuous stress, not only during transit on vehicles, vessels, trains, or airplanes, but also during loading and unloading operations. The handling and transport conditions have improved from basic and relatively rudimentary systems, with elements to attenuate the discomfort of animals having been gradually introduced, especially for long-distance transport. Despite several improvements in animal welfare standards during transportation there are still pressing issues in current EU legislation which deserve reviewing. Recently, several scientific opinions on animal welfare, including during transport, have been published by the European Food Safety Agency, following requests by the European Commission. In addition, the European Court of Auditors published its last report focused on animal welfare during transport. These reports underline the need to review current legislation governing the topic and highlight a number of outstanding issues in the European Union and in Third Countries. This article summarizes the history and current status of this complex issue.

Calls for the Welsh Government to back reform of veterinary legislation.

At our annual Welsh dinner, BVA President Anna Judson called on the Welsh Government to support urgent reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act and prioritise the delivery of key animal welfare legislation.

Hat trick of welfare measures completed.

Fiona Shuttleworth, parliamentary veterinary intern to Lord Trees, reports how three of the four main measures contained in the government's withdrawn Kept Animals Bill were pushed through parliament as separate pieces of legislation just before its dissolution.

Veterinary telemedicine: A new era for animal welfare.

Telehealth is a rapidly developing field of veterinary medicine, particularly during and after the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The world and animal owners' expectations are changing to the point where veterinary practice will need to adapt due to information technology advancements. This narrative review describes the status, benefits, technology basics, applications, limitations, and legal aspects of veterinary telemedicine over the globe. Veterinary telemedicine is a service alongside other veterinary services that meets client needs, delivers quality medicine, and improves animal welfare. The most frequently utilized veterinary telemedicine applications include teleradiology, telesonography, teledentistry, telecardiology, telerehabilitation, anesthesia teleconsultation, telehospice and telepalliative care, telecytology, tele-endoscpy, teledermatology, tele-ophthalmology, tele-behavior therapy, and veterinary education and training. Veterinary telemedicine has a bright near future and will impact veterinary medicine and animal welfare due to its numerous advantages. These advantages include its low cost, availability, involvement in veterinary health care, online payment, and effectiveness in many clinical situations such as follow-up after an in-person examination, inspection of surgical sites, or mobility. Nevertheless, veterinary telemedicine should receive more attention from veterinary professional regulatory bodies in all countries. Moreover, it is necessary to conduct more studies to evaluate how telehealth is beginning to improve veterinary care, particularly for underserved regions.

Legislative Differences Governing Exotic Animal Practice.

Laws regulating exotic animal ownership vary throughout the world. While some differences regarding the legal status and use of exotic companion animals are associated with cultural differences and public perception, some differences may result in different outcome, which could be of interest for other parts of the world. This article provides a general overview of relevant laws pertaining to exotic companion animals in certain developed countries.

[Current regulations in the Animal Welfare Act and the significance for animal research]. / Aktuelle Regelungen im Tierschutzgesetz und Bedeutung für die tierexperimentelle Forschung.

Due to the legal implantation of the 3R principle, the number of laboratory animals decreased significantly over the past 10 years. In this article, the historical development of animal experiments over the last decade will be presented in the context of the current regulations of the Animal Welfare Act. It points out bureaucratic obstacles to the approval of animal experiments, which jeopardize Germany as a research location for both academia and industry. The article presents constructive proposals for solutions. This should be done in accordance with the DFG recommendation to ensure efficient biomedical research while maintaining the highest animal welfare standards.

Have the non-technical summaries of animal experiments in Europe improved? An update

Following a review of Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific pur­poses in the European Union (EU), non-technical project summaries (NTS) of all approved projects must be published in a central database using a standard template. Our initial review of the NTS reported in ALTEX in 2018 had found the NTS to be deficient in their accessibility and quality, notably the "adverse effects" section where the harms to the animals are meant to be described. Here we repeat our review to see if these legislative changes have improved the accessibility and quality of the NTS. As before, we focused on the NTS from the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany; even though the UK has left the EU, it is using the same template. We found significant improvement in the reporting of five of the six elements we identified as essential to the "predicted harms" section. However, there was no significant improvement in the reporting of adverse effects. Only 41% of German NTS and 48% of UK NTS are fully reporting this important element of the "predicted harms" section. In our view, researchers need support in describing the impact of their research on the animals and to assist here we include a checklist for competent authorities and a list of suggested terminology for standard administration and sampling procedures. Unless the NTS improve further, their utility as a tool for sharing of good practices in the 3Rs or to support evidence-based policy­making will remain limited.

All countries of the European Union (EU) are required to publish "non-technical summaries" (NTS) of research projects that use animals. To improve transparency, the public must have access to NTS and understand their content. Our previous review found that the information provided in the NTS was lacking in many cases. This is preventing a full understanding of what animals experience during experiments. In particular, NTS often failed to fully describe what procedures the animals would be subjected to, how often they would take place, how long they would last, and the harm they would cause. Here we repeat our review to see if recent legislative changes, including the requirement for NTS to be published in a central database using a standard template, have made a difference. While there has been some improvement in reporting, many NTS still fail to adequately describe the harm that animals will experience.

Analysis of reported animal abuse in Campo Magro, Paraná, Brazil / Análise de denúncias de maus-tratos aos animais no município de Campo Magro, Paraná

Animal abuse is a criminal offense in Brazil and can be dealt with by several government agencies, including municipal ones. Cases of animal abuse reported to the Department of Health Surveillance, of the Municipal Health Secretariat of Campo Magro, Paraná, Brazil, between March of 2019 and December of 2020 were analyzed to assess the most common forms of abuse and animals involved. A total of 140 complaints were received in this period; 132 were investigated, of which 81 were considered authentic. The most common form of abuse was neglect 64.2% (52/81). Cases of neglect were further classified into four types (although cases may be classified with more than one type), resulting in 106 classifications of neglect. Behavioral neglect was the most common form of neglect 33.9% (36/106). As more than one animal could be involved in each report, the 81 authentic cases involved a total of 471 animals. Dogs were the species most commonly affected 78.5% (370/471). The vast majority of animal abuse was perpetrated against adult animals. Statistically significant correlations were found between the sex and age of dogs and abuse and between species and the different forms of abuse for dogs and cats.(AU)

Os maus-tratos aos animais são considerados crime no Brasil e o atendimento desse tipo de ocorrência pode ser realizado por diferentes órgãos governamentais, incluindo os municipais. O presente trabalho analisa denúncias atendidas pelo Departamento de Vigilância em Saúde, da Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de Campo Magro, Paraná, Brasil, entre março de 2019 e dezembro de 2020 e avalia os tipos mais comuns de maus-tratos a animais e os animais envolvidos. Um total de 140 denúncias foram recebidas e 132 foram fiscalizadas, destas, 81 foram consideradas procedentes. A forma mais prevalente de maus-tratos foi a negligência com 64,2% (52/81). Os casos de negligência foram classificados em quatro diferentes tipos (cada caso pode ser classificado em mais de um tipo de negligência). O tipo mais frequente foi a negligência comportamental com 33,9% (36/106). Como mais de um animal podia estar envolvido em cada caso de maus-tratos, os 81 casos procedentes contabilizaram 471 animais envolvidos. A espécie canina foi a mais afetada, sendo 78,5% (370/471). A maior parte dos casos de maus-tratos foram cometidos contra animais adultos. Correlações estatísticas significativas foram encontradas entre o sexo e faixa etária dos cães em relação à ocorrência de maus-tratos e, também, entre a espécie e os diferentes tipos de maus-tratos para cães e gatos.(AU)

Wildlife must be protected from crime and trade for the sake of public and planetary health.

COVID-19 most likely had its origins in wildlife, and hundreds of thousands of new viruses could spill over from wildlife to humans. We are struggling to combat climate change, and we are staring down the loss of a million species. It's time to change course.