Legitimate accommodations for house pets--tips for advising owners of small animals in consultation

The majority of diseases in house pets results from inadequate husbandry. 2 of the law for animal protection defines the general claim of animals considering care and housing, but interpretation of the needs for each individual species requires specific veterinary knowledge. Overview tables and illustrations demonstrate diseases and causal husbandry mistakes in caged birds and house rodents.     

Recommendations for keeping birds of prey and owls according to animal welfare regulations

In the Federal Republic of Germany the ownership of birds of prey and owls is subject to legal provisions for the conservation of nature and wildlife, as well as to the game law. Minimal requirements for housing and care of such birds result from regulations for animal welfare. According to these--arranged as to the pertinent paragraphs--recommendations are supplied for dealing with all aspects of animal welfare in the management and care of birds of prey and owls.     

Veterinary aspects of raising chimpanzees

The problems involved in chimpanzee husbandry are mainly baised on their behaviour, intelligence and psychical sensitivity. The most suitable species-specific conditions of keeping, feeding and veterinary welfare are fundamental demands for physical and mental health as well as for successful reproduction of chimpanzees living in captivity. In spite of different possibilities and motives of chimpanzee husbandry in each particular case, the general statements given in this article may be useful concerning these requirements.     

Risk assessment in fish welfare, applications and limitations

The Treaty of Amsterdam, in force since 1 May 1999, has established new ground rules for the actions of the European Union (EU) on animal welfare. It recognizes that animals are sentient beings and obliges the European Institutions to pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals when formulating and implementing Community legislation. In order to properly address welfare issues, these need to be assessed in a scientific and transparent way. The principles of risk assessment in terms of transparency and use of available scientific data are probably well suited for this area. The application of risk assessment for terrestrial and aquatic animal welfare is a relatively new area. This paper describes the work developed in the context of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) opinions on the application of a risk assessment methodology to fish welfare. Risk assessment is a scientifically based process that seeks to determine the likelihood and consequences of an adverse event, which is referred to as a hazard. It generally consists of the following steps: (i) hazard identification, (ii) hazard characterisation, (iii) exposure assessment and (iv) risk characterisation. Different approaches can be used for risk assessments, such as qualitative, semi-quantitative and quantitative approaches. These are discussed in the context of fish welfare, using examples from assessments done to aquaculture husbandry systems and stunning/killing methods for farmed fish. A critical review of the applications and limitations of the risk methodology in fish welfare is given. There is a need to develop appropriate indicators of fish welfare. Yet, risk assessment methodology provides a transparent approach to identify significant hazards and support recommendations for improved welfare.     

Peculiarities of exotic animals in human-pet relations

In the past years an upward tendency in zoo animal husbandry is seen which is reflecting itself in additional visits to the small animal practitioner. The motivation for the increased keeping of zoo animals is of various nature and is a result of changes in the living conditions in the age of high technology. Misinterpretation when purchasing a zoo animal frequently leads to torturous husbandry. In contrast to dogs and cats, avian and rodent pets have additional characteristics. Cage housing and the therefore total dependence on the owner as well as the frequently missing sexual partner mean individual consideration for the needs of each species. Only the knowledge of these circumstances enables the small animal practitioner to assess the relationship of the owner and his pet, which is essential for therapy but also for an appropriate animal protection.     

Health of farmed fish: its relation to fish welfare and its utility as welfare indicator

This brief review focuses on health and biological function as cornerstones of fish welfare. From the function-based point of view, good welfare is reflected in the ability of the animal to cope with infectious and non-infectious stressors, thereby maintaining homeostasis and good health, whereas stressful husbandry conditions and protracted suffering will lead to the loss of the coping ability and, thus, to impaired health. In the first part of the review, the physiological processes through which stressful husbandry conditions modulate health of farmed fish are examined. If fish are subjected to unfavourable husbandry conditions, the resulting disruption of internal homeostasis necessitates energy-demanding physiological adjustments (allostasis/acclimation). The ensuing energy drain leads to trade-offs with other energy-demanding processes such as the functioning of the primary epithelial barriers (gut, skin, gills) and the immune system. Understanding of the relation between husbandry conditions, allostatic responses and fish health provides the basis for the second theme developed in this review, the potential use of biological function and health parameters as operational welfare indicators (OWIs). Advantages of function- and health-related parameters are that they are relatively straightforward to recognize and to measure and are routinely monitored in most aquaculture units, thereby providing feasible tools to assess fish welfare under practical farming conditions. As the efforts to improve fish welfare and environmental sustainability lead to increasingly diverse solutions, in particular integrated production, it is imperative that we have objective OWIs to compare with other production forms, such as high-density aquaculture. However, to receive the necessary acceptance for legislation, more robust scientific backing of the health- and function-related OWIs is urgently needed.     

黑龙江省畜牧业产业化的发展现状及其问题对策的研究

为给黑龙江省畜牧产业化进程提供相应支持,本文在对黑龙江省畜牧业产业化发展状况进行分析的基础上,并客观地阐述了黑龙江省畜牧业产业化存在的一些问题,并在此基础上提出把建立、发展与完善畜牧专业生产合作社作为发展黑龙江省畜牧业产业化的首要任务的对策和建议,为进一步在黑龙江省发展畜牧业产业化提供了理论参考。     

中药在现代畜牧业中的应用

目的:了解中药在现代畜牧业中的应用现状。方法:参阅了大量相关文献,对近年来中药在现代畜牧业中的应用进展作一综述。结果:中药在免疫功能调节、抗病原体、抗炎作用、抗应激作用等方面研究较多,具有很好的应用前景。结论:随着人们对"绿色农业"的渴求和向往,中药在畜牧业中的应用将具有广泛的开发前景。     

畜禽疫病实验室常规检验方法的应用

畜禽疫病直接关系畜牧业的发展。目前,我国畜牧业发展迅速,逐步走向产业化,增长方式由传统的粗放型向现代的集约型转变。因此,动物疫病实验室检验方法显得尤为重要。文章重点介绍了一些实际中遇到的动物疫病实验室检验方法。     

Fish welfare: a challenge to the feelings-based approach, with implications for recreational fishing

Fish welfare issues are increasingly appearing on social and political agendas and have recently gained prominence in fisheries literature. By focusing on examples from recreational fishing, this paper challenges some of the previous accounts of fish welfare. Issues of concern encompass: (1) the feelings‐based approach to fish welfare; (2) the artificial divide between human beings and nature; and (3) ways in which stakeholders can address fish welfare issues. The different approaches to characterizing the interaction of humans with animals are animal welfare, animal liberation and animal rights. We show that the suffering‐centred approaches to fish welfare and the extension of the moral domain to fish – characteristic of the concepts of animal liberation and animal rights – are not the cornerstone of animal welfare. This, however, does not question the need of fisheries stakeholders to consider the well‐being of fish when interacting with them. There are many ways in which recreational fishing stakeholders can modify standard practices to improve the welfare of fish, without questioning fishing as an activity per se. Examples are choice of gear and handling techniques. Previous accounts have failed to include discussions of the many efforts – voluntary or mandated – pursued by fisheries stakeholders to reduce fish stress, injury and mortality. Progress towards addressing fish welfare issues will be enhanced by avoiding the viewing of humans as ‘non‐natural’ disturbance to fishes and keeping three types of crucial question in separate compartments. The three questions cover the symptoms of good and poor welfare, the conscious experience of suffering, and the ethical attitudes towards animals. Fish biologists should focus on the first question – objective measurement of biochemical, physiological and behavioural indicators – to evaluate whether human interactions with fish impair the latters’ health or prevent them from receiving what they need, if held in captivity.     

Does feeding time affect fish welfare?

Increased aquaculture production has raised concerns about managing protocols to safeguard the welfare of farmed fish, as consumers demand responsible aquaculture practices to provide ‘welfare friendly’ products. Feeding is one of the largest production cost in a fish farm and can be one of the biggest stressors for fish. Under farming conditions, fish are challenged with artificial diets and feeding regimes, and inadequate feeding conditions cause stress, alteration of normal behavioural patterns, poor performance and eventually diseases and death, which are by no means acceptable neither economically nor ethically. This review aims to highlight the impact of feeding rhythms and feeding time upon physiological and behavioural welfare indicators, which show circadian rhythms as well. Therefore, all these variables should be considered when designing feeding strategies in farming conditions and assessing the welfare state of cultured fish.     

猪圆环病毒与附红细胞体混合感染的诊治

猪圆环病毒病是一种危害猪群的免疫抑制性疾病。近来我国各地猪场广泛发生该病,同时病猪容易继发和混合感染其他传染病已经成为猪病流行的重要特点,大大增加了确诊和治疗的难度,给我国养猪业造成巨大的经济损失。对重庆地区某规模化养猪场的育肥猪发生的高热、呼吸困难、皮肤上有圆形或不规则黑色斑块状丘疹病例,进行临床诊断、病理剖解、实验室检查,初步确定该场本次爆发的疫病为猪圆环病毒-2型与附红细胞体混合感染。全部猪只注射黄芪多糖,并使用强力霉素、贝尼尔、咪唑苯脲等药物辅助治疗,配合加强营养,猪场消毒,3d后猪只发病数量减少,10d后逐渐恢复。     

The effect of environmental factors on the occurrence of udder diseases]

The influence of housing factors on udder diseases was investigated in 2156 tiestall barns with 41893 cows and in 98 loose housed herds with 4126 cows. In loose housed herds less teat injuries were observed and also less mastitis than in tiestall barns. Within the different tiestall systems there was a trend to more udder diseases in short standings with a dung grid than in other systems. The ordinary neck chain and the "Grabner"-tethering system showed better results than the horizontal chain and the yoke tying system. Stall partitions between the cows caused a marked reduction of udder diseases. The installation of a cow trainer showed advantages regarding udder diseases. Inaccurate standing measurements (length and width) caused more udder diseases. When the metal grid was in poor condition, the incidence of teat injuries as well as udder diseases of heifers increased. Teat injuries and udder infections were more frequent when limb or digit injuries were found. Regular hoof care twice a year reduced the udder disease rate. Bedding material influenced the incidence of udder diseases positively. On farms where the cows were on pasture, the incidence of udder infections was higher than on farms where the cows were permanently housed. Heifers that were tied as calves or as juveniles showed significantly less udder diseases than those that were raised in groups. Faults in milking, defects in milking machines and deficits in milking hygiene showed a negative effect on udder diseases.     

农牧业结合经营的土地资源优化配置研究——以北方农牧交错带为例

在农田与草地交错分布的的特殊区域，农业与牧业为支柱产业。本文通过对农牧交错带种植业与养殖业资源利用的理论与实证分析得出，种养业结合经营既存在耕地与草地对农用地资源竞争关系，又存在饲料作物与传统粮油作物对耕地的竞争关系。要在有限的资源条件下，基于农户效用最大化原则，合理调整农牧业结构，使土地资源逐渐得到优化的有效的配置。     

Cortisol and finfish welfare

Previous reviews of stress, and the stress hormone cortisol, in fish have focussed on physiology, due to interest in impacts on aquaculture production. Here, we discuss cortisol in relation to fish welfare. Cortisol is a readily measured component of the primary (neuroendocrine) stress response and is relevant to fish welfare as it affects physiological and brain functions and modifies behaviour. However, we argue that cortisol has little value if welfare is viewed purely from a functional (or behavioural) perspective—the cortisol response itself is a natural, adaptive response and is not predictive of coping as downstream impacts on function and behaviour are dose-, time- and context-dependent and not predictable. Nevertheless, we argue that welfare should be considered in terms of mental health and feelings, and that stress in relation to welfare should be viewed as psychological, rather than physiological. We contend that cortisol can be used (with caution) as a tractable indicator of how fish perceive (and feel about) their environment, psychological stress and feelings in fish. Cortisol responses are directly triggered by the brain and fish studies do indicate cortisol responses to psychological stressors, i.e., those with no direct physicochemical action. We discuss the practicalities of using cortisol to ask the fish themselves how they feel about husbandry practices and the culture environment. Single time point measurements of cortisol are of little value in assessing the stress level of fish as studies need to account for diurnal and seasonal variations, and environmental and genetic factors. Areas in need of greater clarity for the use of cortisol as an indicator of fish feelings are the separation of (physiological) stress from (psychological) distress, the separation of chronic stress from acclimation, and the interactions between feelings, cortisol, mood and behaviour.     

Review of opportunities for low stress and selective control of fish

Routine inspection and selective control of livestock is an integral part of animal agriculture benefiting both animal welfare and profitability. Appropriate developments in this field may therefore also be expected within fin-fish farming. Equipment enabling some subsurface inspection of fish stocks has recently appeared on the market but this is as yet unmatched by equipment which would enable subsurface selective interaction for the purpose of sampling, further inspection or selective application of remedial measures. Currently available non-selective fish control techniques are reviewed and some potential methods for selective control are considered. Since most forms of selective control must rely on fish’s response to signals the paper is organised on the basis of the sensory systems that might be used. A brief introduction to each system is given followed by a review of any current control techniques and possibilities for developing selective control systems.     

猪圆环病毒研究进展

PCV2可严重导致猪群产生免疫抑制,从而容易继发和并发其它传染病的发生;也可加重其它传染病的临床表现和病理过程,PCV感染可能干扰正常的免疫功能。猪圆环病毒属于单股DNA圆环病毒科,该科的共同特征为20面体对称,无囊膜,核酸为负链,是单股环状DNA,是迄今为止发现的最小的动物病毒。其中PCV1基因组大小为1759bp,包含7个阅读框;PCV2基因组大小为1767～1768bp,包含11个阅读框;目前诊断PCV的方法大致可分为两类:一类为血清学方法,另一类为病原学方法,本病尚无疫苗可用,目前主要采取综合防制措施对本病的防控。     

赴丹麦、瑞典畜牧业考察报告

畜牧业作为农业的重要组成部分，是优化农业结构、振兴农村经济和增加农民收入的重要支柱产业。通过分析总结丹麦、瑞典等发达国家在畜牧业发展上取得的成功经验，明确黑龙江省畜牧业发展的目标，提出了发挥区住优势、加快畜牧业“三化”建设、加大农业生态环境的保护、解决食品安全问题、加强与北欧国家经贸合作的建议，对加快黑龙江省畜牧业发展具有重要的启示作用。     

Dietary nitrogen and fish welfare

Little research has been done in optimizing the nitrogenous fraction of the fish diets in order to minimize welfare problems. The purpose of this review is to give an overview on how amino acid (AA) metabolism may be affected when fish are under stress and the possible effects on fish welfare when sub-optimal dietary nitrogen formulations are used to feed fish. In addition, it intends to evaluate the current possibilities, and future prospects, of using improved dietary nitrogen formulations to help fish coping with predictable stressful periods. Both metabolomic and genomic evidence show that stressful husbandry conditions affect AA metabolism in fish and may bring an increase in the requirement of indispensable AA. Supplementation in arginine and leucine, but also eventually in lysine, methionine, threonine and glutamine, may have an important role in enhancing the innate immune system. Tryptophan, as precursor for serotonin, modulates aggressive behaviour and feed intake in fish. Bioactive peptides may bring important advances in immunocompetence, disease control and other aspects of welfare of cultured fish. Fishmeal replacement may reduce immune competence, and the full nutritional potential of plant-protein ingredients is attained only after the removal or inactivation of some antinutritional factors. This review shows that AA metabolism is affected when fish are under stress, and this together with sub-optimal dietary nitrogen formulations may affect fish welfare. Furthermore, improved dietary nitrogen formulations may help fish coping with predictable stressful events.