Teaching animal welfare science, ethics, and law to veterinary students in the United kingdom

Teaching veterinary students about animal welfare science, ethics, and law has been identified as a priority of the veterinary curriculum. Suggested content for such a course, the stage at which it should be taught, and possible methods of teaching and assessing the subject have been outlined. Critically, such a course needs to address the quantification of the impact of humans on animals (welfare science), the analysis of our moral obligations (welfare ethics), and knowledge of minimum welfare standards (welfare legislation). A mixture of both teaching methods and assessment techniques is needed to ensure that sufficient skills and knowledge and a deeper understanding are achieved.     

ASAS Centennial Paper: The future of teaching and research in companion animal biology in departments of animal sciences

Departments of animal sciences must be relevant to a society in which a small number of people can raise almost all the food animal products needed. The declining number of people involved in animal agriculture has decreased enrollment of students interested in food animals in many departments of animal science. However, several departments welcomed students from a diverse background and began research on animals other than food animals. In many states, the undergraduate enrollment is made up primarily of students interested only in companion animals. A benefit of this is that we have recruited new students into animal agriculture and they have gone on to excellent careers. We have a new challenge now: how to maintain and expand the efforts in teaching, research, and outreach of companion animal science. Departments wishing to expand in teaching have examples of successful courses and curricula from other departments. Some departments have expanded their teaching efforts across their own university to teach about pets to a wider audience than their own majors; other departments can follow. In research, a small number of faculty have been able to establish extramurally funded projects on pets, including horses. But it will be difficult for more than a handful of departments to have a serious research effort in dogs, cats, birds, fish, or exotic animals. Departments will have to make a concerted effort to invest in such endeavors; joint ventures with other universities and colleges of veterinary medicine (or medicine) will probably be required. Funding sources for "traditional" efforts in nutrition, reproduction, and physiology are small and inconsistent; however, with the progress of the equine, canine, and feline genome projects, there should be opportunities from federal funding sources aimed at using animal models for human health. In addition, efforts in animal behavior and welfare can be expanded, perhaps with some funding from private foundations or animal-supportive organizations.     

Poultry welfare: Science or subjectivity?

1. Most people in the developed world agree on what 'animal welfare' is, although it is impossible to give it a precise scientific definition. 2. The argument is made that animal welfare is all to do with the feelings of animals and not the primary needs that these feeling have evolved to protect. 3. Acceptance of subjective feelings as a legitimate subject for scientific investigation has a long and well-established history in science. This acceptance was interrupted by the rise of Behaviorism in the 20th century, but now seems to be re-established. 4. Subjective feelings cannot be studied directly. However, in the animal welfare debate, indirect evidence on feelings is extremely useful, and methods for obtaining this indirect evidence are described. 5. The poultry species are capable of feeling several states of suffering including fear, frustration and pain. A start has been made to elucidate these states and the conditions that cause them, but much remains to be done. Recent evidence suggests that the poultry species may also be capable of experiencing pleasure. 6. It is concluded that, although poultry welfare is all to do with the subjective feelings of the birds, it is possible to be objective and scientific about these feelings. Investigation into poultry welfare, therefore, really is science rather than subjectivity.     

Animal welfare training at the Ontario Veterinary College

The University of Guelph is internationally recognized as a leader in animal welfare and is home to the Colonel K.L. Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare and to numerous faculty with expertise in the discipline. However, while animal welfare receives significant attention within the agricultural college, its didactic teaching within the veterinary curriculum has been limited. Veterinary students receive four hours of instruction in animal ethics and apply their knowledge within the communication lectures and laboratories, totaling 11-15 hrs. Compulsory coursework explicitly addressing factual components of animal welfare science, welfare assessment, and associated animal-related policy constitute only 12 hrs throughout the four-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine curriculum. However, an elective final-year clinical rotation and a graduate course specific to animal welfare were offered for the first time in 2004/2005. Student interest in animal welfare is evident through their participation in summer research projects in animal welfare, an animal welfare mentor group, and a student-run animal welfare club that organizes an Animal Welfare Forum each October. Veterinarians have important contributions to make in decision making about animal welfare issues, at clinician and policy levels. Although motivated individuals can seek out opportunities to expand their knowledge of animal welfare, a compulsory senior-level course in animal welfare is needed to develop the necessary depth of understanding of this discipline if veterinarians, as a profession, are to meet society's expectations about animal welfare.     

Assessing attitudes toward farm animal welfare: a national survey of animal science faculty members

A survey to measure attitudes toward farm animal welfare was developed. We targeted animal science faculty because of their influence on animal production in the United States. We initially interviewed 34 faculty members from a large Midwestern public university to assist with questionnaire development. After our written survey was developed, we pilot-tested our questionnaire at this same university. Thereafter, we sent an e-mail advance notice, first survey, and follow-up survey/thank-you to the national population of animal science faculty members. With an n = 446 (response rate = 45%), we observed the following: 51% (for layer birds), 58% (for meat birds), 66% (for swine), 84% (for dairy), 86% (for sheep), and 87% (for beef) of our respondents agreed that the predominant methods used to produce various types of animal products provided appropriate levels of animal welfare. Our findings showed that greater than 90% of respondents support general principles of animal welfare, such as keeping animals free from unnecessary fear and distress. However, specific practices that have been shown to elicit distress (e.g., castration without anesthetic) were deemed a concern by only 32% of the respondents. Various industry practices/outcomes were assessed for level of concern and varied from a high of 83% of respondents agreeing that flooring effects on lameness in intensively farmed animals are a concern, to a low of 16% agreeing that early weaning in pigs is a concern. Summed attitude scores showed significant relationships with the demographic variables of gender (P < 0.01) and political ideology (P < 0.01), with women and those holding more liberal political views being more concerned about farm animal welfare issues. Gaining an awareness of various stakeholders' attitudes (e.g., animal scientists, veterinarians, producers, and consumers) toward farm animal welfare will assist animal welfare scientists in knowing which research topics to emphasize and, perhaps, where critical gaps in accessibility of knowledge exist.     

Board-invited review: the ethical and behavioral bases for farm animal welfare legislation

Concerns about farm animal welfare vary among individuals and societies. As people increasingly consider the values underlying current farm animal production methods, farm animal welfare policy debates have escalated. Recent food animal protection policies enacted in the European Union have fueled highly contentious discussions about the need for similar legislative activity in the United States. Policymakers and scientists in the United States are apprehensive about the scientific assessment, validation, and monitoring of animal welfare, as well as the unforeseen consequences of moving too hastily toward legislating farm animal welfare. The potential impact of such legislation on producers, food prices, animals, and concerned citizens must also be considered. Balancing the interests of all stakeholders has therefore presented a considerable challenge that has stymied US policymaking. In this review, we examine the roles of ethics and science in policy decisions, discuss how scientific knowledge relative to animal behavior has been incorporated into animal welfare policy, and identify opportunities for additional refinement of animal welfare science that may facilitate ethical and policy decisions about animal care.     

动物科学专业本科生对《畜产品加工学》双语教学的需求分析

《畜产品加工学》是动物科学专业学生重要的专业核心课.长期以来,该课程所采取的中文教学内容和方式已经难以适应培养现代化和国际化动物科学人才的要求,必须进行相应的改革.但是在教学改革之前了解学生需求是必不可少的过程,笔者对扬州大学动物科学专业本科生《畜产品加工学》双语教学的需求进行分析,以期为该课程双语教学的实施提供依据,...     

Assessment of positive welfare: a review

As a complement to the concentration on negative states in welfare science, scientists are increasingly considering the desirability of measuring positive outcomes. Since evaluation of an animal's mental state is a critical goal for welfare assessment, considerations of both positive feelings (what an animal "likes") and resources that an animal is motivated to obtain (what an animal "wants") appear to be important. However, since animals may make choices that are not in their long-term interests, an assessment of positive feelings and resources should include an evaluation of any associated actual or potential harms, such as fear, distress, pain, injury and disease. A review of current evidence suggests that positive welfare can be best assessed by evaluation of resources (i.e. inputs) that are valued by an animal and by positive outcomes such as behavioural responses, influences on cognitive processes and physiological markers. Since negative welfare is often inversely correlated with positive welfare measures, current welfare policy will have been achieving some positive welfare outcomes, however the explicit inclusion of positive welfare outcomes in the framework allows for analyses that are both deeper and more in tune with commonsense, which can hopefully yield more objective policies.     

Animal behavior and well-being symposium: Farm animal welfare assurance: science and application

Public and consumer pressure for assurances that farm animals are raised humanely has led to a range of private and public animal welfare standards, and for methods to assess compliance with these standards. The standards usually claim to be science based, but even though researchers have developed measures of animal welfare and have tested the effects of housing and management variables on welfare within controlled laboratory settings, there are challenges in extending this research to develop on-site animal welfare standards. The standards need to be validated against a definition of welfare that has broad support and which is amenable to scientific investigation. Ensuring that such standards acknowledge scientific uncertainty is also challenging, and balanced input from all scientific disciplines dealing with animal welfare is needed. Agencies providing animal welfare audit services need to integrate these scientific standards and legal requirements into successful programs that effectively measure and objectively report compliance. On-farm assessment of animal welfare requires a combination of animal-based measures to assess the actual state of welfare and resource-based measures to identify risk factors. We illustrate this by referring to a method of assessing welfare in broiler flocks. Compliance with animal welfare standards requires buy-in from all stakeholders, and this will be best achieved by a process of inclusion in the development of pragmatic assessment methods and the development of audit programs verifying the conditions and continuous improvement of farm animal welfare.     

我国高等草业科学教育发展的道路及其在世界的地位

世界上存在着不同特色的高等草业教育和教学指导思想。俄罗斯的草地经营学高等教育始于19世纪末20世纪初,由于认为草地经营是饲料生产的一个组成部分,它的任务是在合理利用和改良天然草地的基础上,生产干草、半干贮草、青贮草、放牧饲料、草粉以及其他饲料,因此,俄罗斯的草地经营学教育至今仍是畜牧学教学的一部分。英国的草地科学史悠久,草地科学教学以土—草—畜系统理论为指导,形成了以草地科学为主要内容的农业教育,没有建立独立的草地科学专业。美国的草原管理学教育始于20世纪初,在利用草原的多种功能,把草原的流域水土保持、野外游憩与放牧饲养家畜结合在一起,全面发挥草原的重要生态价值和经济价值的科学思想指导下,建立了独立和庞大的草原管理学专业教育体系。我国的草业科学教育始于20世纪30年代,50年代建立了独立的草原专业。80年代以来,在草业系统工程思想和草业生态系统理论的指导下,草业教育有了极大的发展。与俄罗斯、英国和美国的草业教学思想相比,我国草业科学的教学指导思想具有更丰富、更系统的科学内涵,也具有更强的产业概括性,为我国的草业教育奠定了科学思想基础,在草业生产的推动下,实现了草业教育的高质量、健康和快速发展。     

Companion Animals Symposium: Environmental enrichment for companion, exotic, and laboratory animals

Animal scientists have an extraordinary burden to promote the health and well-being of all animals in their care. Promoting species- or breed-appropriate behaviors through proper training and enrichment, regardless of animal housing, should be a paramount concern for all animal scientists working with exotic animals, laboratory animals, shelter animals, or privately owned pet animals. Developing ideal training and enrichment programs for any species begins with understanding basic behavior patterns and emotional systems of animals. The basic emotional systems in mammals have been extensively mapped; however, most of these studies are in the neuroscience literature and seldom read by animal science professionals. The emotional circuits for fear have been well documented through studies demonstrating that lesions to the amygdala will block both conditioned and unconditioned fear behaviors. Additionally, other core emotional systems including seeking (i.e., approaching a novel stimulus), rage, panic (e.g., separation stress), play, lust (i.e., sex drive), and care (e.g., mother-young nurturing behavior) have been identified. More recent neuroscience research has discovered the subcortical brain regions that drive different types of seeking behaviors. Research to increase the understanding of the emotional systems that drive both abnormal and normal animal behaviors could greatly improve animal welfare by making it possible to provide more effective environmental enrichment programs. Enrichment devices and methods could be specifically designed to enable the expression of highly motivated behaviors that are driven by emotional circuits in the brain. The objective of this paper is to increase awareness of animal scientists to the field of neuroscience studying animal emotions and the application of that science to improve the welfare of captive exotic animals, laboratory animals, and pets with environmental enrichment.     

Results of a national survey of US veterinary college faculty regarding attitudes toward farm animal welfare

OBJECTIVE: To examine attitudes toward farm animal welfare among veterinary college faculty. DESIGN: E-mail survey. STUDY POPULATION: 157 US veterinary college faculty with large animal or food animal emphasis. PROCEDURE: Veterinarians from 27 US veterinary colleges were contacted via e-mail and asked to complete a 7-page survey relating to farm animal welfare issues. Thirty-one percent of those contacted responded. RESULTS: 71% of respondents self-characterized their attitude toward farm animal welfare as "we can use animals for the greater human good but have an obligation to provide for the majority of the animals' physiologic and behavioral needs." An additional 19% of respondents were more concerned about animal welfare than was indicated by that statement, and 10% were less concerned about farm animal welfare than was indicated by that statement. Significant relationships among demographic variables and attitude scores were observed, including more concerned attitudes among females, those with more liberal political views, and those who cited lower religiosity. No relationship between attitude and age was observed. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Veterinary college faculty have the opportunity to impact many stakeholders within the animal agriculture industries (eg, future veterinarians and policy makers looking for a veterinary science perspective). Results indicated that a considerable level of concern toward farm animal welfare is present in this population. Although the process of change may not be rapid, it is likely that the influence of these respondents will factor heavily into enhancing farm animal welfare.     

动物福利与我国国际贸易

世界上许多国家已将动物福利概念引入国际贸易领域,西方国家已经制定了较为完善的动物福利法律,而我国在家畜饲养、屠宰等环节都存在很大的问题,远远达不到西方国家制定的动物福利标准,我国的农产品出口贸易因此蒙受巨大的冲击.论文介绍了国际和我国的动物福利地位,并就动物福利对我国国际贸易的影响进行了剖析,最后提出推行动物福利、提高动物福利地位的必要性.     

Teaching animal welfare at the University of Sydney's Faculty of Veterinary Science

Animal welfare is part of the Mission Statement of the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney and is taught throughout the undergraduate curriculum. Two units of study have a particular focus on animal welfare: Professional Practice in years 1, 2, and 3 and Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science in year 3. There is an emphasis on the refinement and development of alternatives to the use of animals in teaching. With a conscientious objection policy in place, these elements of our approach demonstrate the increasing importance of ethical teaching in the faculty. Undergraduate students have recently founded a vibrant special interest group called Veterinary Students for Animal Welfare. The faculty is advised on matters relating to animal welfare by its Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, chaired by the Sub-Dean for Animal Welfare. With the development of a Faculty Animal Welfare Policy, the faculty is progressing to a more proactive and public profile on animal welfare issues.     

Ethical stockmanship

The objective of this review is to consider the ethics of stockmanship, particularly from the perspective of the nature and extent of the duties of stockpeople to their farm animals. It will consider what science tells us about the impact of stockmanship on the animal, particularly the welfare of the farm animal. The effects of human-animal interactions on the stockperson will also be considered, since these interactions affect the work performance and job satisfaction of the stockperson and thus indirectly affect animal welfare. Animal ethics is broader than animal welfare and includes economic as well as philosophical, social, cultural and religious aspects. This paper is predicated on the view that farm animals can suffer, and that animal suffering is a key consideration in our moral obligations to animals. Housing and husbandry practices affect farm animal welfare and thus farmers and stockpeople have a responsibility to provide, at minimum, community-acceptable animal housing and husbandry standards for their animals. The farmer's or stockperson's attitudes and behaviour can directly affect the animal's welfare and thus they also have a responsibility to provide specific standards of stockmanship for these animals. However, research suggests that the behaviour of some stockpeople is not as correct as it might be. Such situations exemplify the inevitably unequal human - domestic animal relationship, and this inequality should be considered in analysing the boundary between right and wrong behaviour of humans. Thus ethical discussion, using science and other considerations and involving stockpeople, livestock industries, government and the general public, should be used to establish and assure acceptable stockperson competencies across the livestock industries. Training programs targeting the key attitudes and behaviour of stockpeople presently offer the livestock industries good opportunities to improve human-animal interactions.     

ASAS Centennial Paper: animal science teaching: a century of excellence

Teaching has a long and varied history in the life of departments of animal science and the American Society of Animal Science. Some of the earliest reports from meetings of the society have strong indication that planning the curriculum was a prominent feature of the meetings. Teaching symposia were also included almost from the beginning. The society went through a lengthy period from the 1940s through most of the 1960s when teaching was not a prominent focus, but a symposium in 1968 appeared to be a catalyst for change, and, since that date, teaching has again been an important part of the meetings. In recent years, outstanding symposia and contributed papers have made the teaching section a vibrant entry. Departments of animal science have changed considerably since the early days in which "men taught boys" and the primary goal was to produce farmers. More female students, more urban students, interest in a wide variety of animals, and greatly diversified career goals have been emerging during the last few decades. Departments of animal science and the American Society of Animal Science are positioning to be able to respond to change and face the challenge of providing excellence in teaching during the next century.     

动物分子生物学课程教学改革探索

动物分子生物学是动物科学和动物医学等专业的专业基础课之一。随着课程知识的不断更新,尤其是数据库时代的到来,之前的教学模式和教学内容已跟不上现代教学需求。针对以动物科学等专业为授课对象的动物分子生物学课程存在的问题,从优化教学内容、增加教学方式和多元考核方式进行教学改革和探索。通过课程教学改革,增加课程的吸引力和学生学习的积极性,提高教学质量,为培养优秀的动物科学等专业的创新型科研人才奠定基础。     

Social defeat models in animal science: What we have learned from rodent models

Studies on stress and its impacts on animals are very important in many fields of science, including animal science, because various stresses influence animal production and animal welfare. In particular, the social stresses within animal groups have profound impact on animals, with the potential to induce abnormal behaviors and health problems. In humans, social stress induces several health problems, including psychiatric disorders. In animal stress models, social defeat models are well characterized and used in various research fields, particularly in studies concerning mental disorders. Recently, we have focused on behavior, nutrition and metabolism in rodent models of social defeat to elucidate how social stresses affect animals. In this review, recent significant progress in studies related to animal social defeat models are described. In the field of animal science, these stress models may contribute to advances in the development of functional foods and in the management of animal welfare.     

Livestock, ethics, and quality of life

Agricultural and animal scientists need to embrace a new vision beyond the single-minded existing pursuit of biological efficiency. The public in the West is no longer concerned solely with cheap food. Other paramount issues define quality of life, including: health and safety of foods; nutritional value; traditional, regional, locally produced, and organic foods; animal welfare; sustainable farming, environment, and rural resources. The paper provides examples of how the credibility of animal scientists has been lost due to some recent unethical behavior. Research, teaching and application of agricultural and animal science, especially of biotechnology, need to be reshaped into a new "Quality of Life Agricultural Era" to replace the "Era of Intensification." This new era will need fresh assumptions, beliefs and leadership to match the emerging social agenda of the 21st century. Animal scientists have a special role in implementing this new plausibility structure.     

What are animal science departments doing to address contemporary issues?

Animal science departments are principle progenitors and disseminators of scientific information relating to the production of agricultural animals and their food products. The Land-Grant university missions of teaching, research, and extension are conduits designed to advance and enhance scientific knowledge within agriculture and to make this knowledge available to the public. I conducted an electronic survey to determine whether animal science departments are addressing contemporary issues through the traditional missions of the Land-Grant university system, which issues they are addressing, and how they are addressing these issues. Sixty-three animal science department administrative heads (AH) were contacted through an E-mail listserve maintained through Michigan State University. An introductory letter described the goals of the survey and asked the AH to submit contact information for faculty coordinators of teaching, research, and extension within their departments. Forty-nine percent of the administrative heads responded and submitted contact information for 72 faculty members. Survey questions were sent to the identified faculty. The total survey return was 38.9%, 37.7% of the respondents answered questions for teaching, 31.1% for research, and 31.1% for extension. Animal waste, animal welfare, and food safety are examples of issues where all three missions have concentrated efforts. However, graduate student education on issues was identified as lacking emphasis. Animal science departments are responding to contemporary issues in all three of the Land-Grant mission components.