Cross-Sectional Survey of Public Perception of Commercial Greyhound Racing in New Zealand.

The commercial greyhound racing industry in New Zealand is struggling with an eroding social license and 'on-notice' status. Multiple independent reviews of the industry have identified ongoing issues of animal welfare during and between races, euthanasia decisions, poor data tracking, a lack of transparency and problems with rehoming dogs, resulting in New Zealand animal advocacy agencies and the general public questioning the continuation of greyhound racing. The current paper assessed the New Zealand public's awareness and familiarity with commercial greyhound racing, identified current levels of public support or opposition for racing, and provided context in terms of engagement with greyhound racing using a comprehensive survey of a robust sample of New Zealanders. The results confirm that the social license of the greyhound industry is under challenge with most respondents expressing disagreement with or lack of knowledge of current industry practices and indicating they would vote in support of a ban. There is scope for increasing public acceptability by addressing welfare issues, increasing awareness of positive industry practices, and encouraging transparency of the greyhound racing agency. However, as greyhound racing is on the decline worldwide, calls are likely to continue for a phase-out of commercial greyhound racing.

Measuring ramp use in guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus).

To investigate the utility of ramps as enrichment and as a method for establishing demand for commodities, the latency to climb a ramp of increasing slope to obtain food was measured in four guinea pigs. The average height where guinea pigs failed to climb was 29.1 cm (slope 14.2 degrees). In addition, the increasing slope altered climbing behavior; when climbing speed was tested using the same slope for all trials within a single session, the guinea pigs maintained their climbing speed as the gradient increased across sessions. In comparison, when the slope was increased with each successful climb within a session, climbing speed was not maintained. Installing the maximum slope climbed can promote increased exercise and foraging but avoid physical harm or barriers to resources. Furthermore, these results indicate that climbing, a simple behavior with measurable differences as a function of slope and thus, effort, could be used as a method for testing the demand for commodities, such as food type or enrichment items, to be included in the husbandry of guinea pigs to improve welfare of the small cavy.

Assessing the performance of brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) on the Mechner counting procedure.

This study assessed brushtail possums' performance on the Mechner counting procedure. Six brushtail possums were required to produce different Fixed-Ratio (FR) response targets by lever pressing. Their responses provided access to food reinforcement delivered either upon completing the target FR response requirement on a single lever or, in different conditions, on completing the target FR before producing an additional response on a second lever. The mean number of responses on the first lever before switching to the second lever typically occurred just above the target FR response requirement (FR: 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64). The variability in the number of switches between the levers around the target FR decreased from the first 10 days to the last 10 days, indicating an improvement in counting accuracy over sessions. The time to switch between the first and second lever was consistently variable across response requirements suggesting that it is unlikely the possums were using time to predict when to switch levers. This research further supports the use of the Mechner procedure as a method for measuring counting ability in animals and confirms the possibility of numerical competence in a marsupial species.

The Need for a National Accreditation Programme for Professionals Working in the Field of Animal Training and Behavioural Modification in New Zealand.

Companion animals are at risk of psychological (and physical) harm if outdated, incorrect or aversive methods of training or equipment are used during training and behavioural modification. Companion animal guardians often engage professional animal behaviour and training services, yet this industry is not regulated in New Zealand. A voluntary national accreditation and registration programme could act to protect the welfare of animals by robustly evaluating the experience, qualifications and training methods of industry professionals. To investigate industry readiness for a national accreditation programme, we conducted an online survey and analysed the responses of 262 animal trainers, behavioural consultants, dog safety educators, veterinarians and veterinary nurses. A national accreditation programme, promoting the use of reward-based training and behavioural modification techniques, was generally supported, especially by individuals holding qualifications and membership of professional organisations. The implementation of such a programme would ensure that those seeking these services are able to source professionals that use best practice when it comes to training and behavioural modification, with lasting benefits to animal welfare.

Concurrent progressive-ratio and fixed-ratio schedule performance under geometric and arithmetic progressions by brushtail possums.

The aim of this study was to compare the demand for food under concurrent progressive- and fixed-ratio schedules. Twelve brushtail possums participated in 16 conditions where schedule, progression and food type were varied. An incrementing schedule increased the fixed-ratio requirement within and across sessions and was arranged as either a geometric sequence (base 2), or an arithmetic sequence (step 5). Two foods were tested: a flaked barley and coco-pop(®) mix versus rolled oats. Overall, performance was similar for most possums in the within- and across-session incrementing schedules. An analysis of the estimates of essential value and break point produced the same account of demand for foods under the geometric or arithmetic progressions and within- and across-session procedures for 8 of 12 possums. Six possums showed higher demand for rolled oats compared to flaked barley, and two possums showed higher demand for flaked barley compared to rolled oats. Incrementing ratios within, rather than between sessions using an arithmetic progression was demonstrated to be a time efficient procedure for investigating demand for different food types without affecting conclusions about the relative demand for those foods.

Effect of stimulus and response separation in a matching-to-sample task in the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).

This study seeks to investigate the impact of changing the proximity of stimulus and response manipulanda on matching-to-sample performance in possums. Possums were presented with five rows of blue and yellow stimuli arranged vertically 25mm apart above response levers. Generally, peak performance occurred at the distance from the lever currently being trained. Performance generalized to distances close to the currently trained distance and decreased in accuracy at distances further from the trained level. The findings from this experiment provide evidence for placing stimuli and response manipulanda close together to improve acquisition of a task, and increase the responding accuracy in MTS experiments. This suggests that spatial contiguity in the relative location of stimuli and response manipulanda is critical to animals performing complex operant tasks.

Assessing stability of body weight in the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).

When conducting controlled laboratory studies with non-traditional laboratory animals it is important that methods for determining body weight stability are reliable. This helps ensure the health and welfare of animals when they are maintained during periods of free feeding or food restriction. This study compared different methods for determining body weight stability in six common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) maintained on a free-feeding diet under laboratory conditions. A criterion of five consecutive weighings with less than ±2.5% change across days and no more than two consecutive days of weight loss or weight gain was judged to be the most suitable criteria for determining stability. It is important to study non-traditional animals, especially endangered or pest species, under controlled laboratory conditions and to have robust methods for establishing body weight stability.