Discipline: Ethology

Routledge Handbook of Animal Welfare

Andrew Knight, Clive Phillips, Paula Sparks

Published in 2022

Book offering a comprehensive review of animal welfare and the law. It explores the biological basis for the consideration of animals within a moral framework and traces changes in how we conceptualize animal welfare. It takes a detailed look at the welfare issues associated with many different uses of animals. It includes recent issues such as climate change, pandemics and antimicrobial resistance.

Document Types: Scientific work

Animal categories:Cattle, Goats, All animals

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Enrichment, Environment, Euthanasia, Brain integration, Living environment, Human-animal relationships, Stress, Livestock farming system, Transport

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Environmental enrichment improves cognitive flexibility in rainbow trout in a visual discrimination task: first insights

Valentin Brunet, Thomas Lafond, Aude Kleiber, Léa Lansade, Ludovic Calandreau, Violaine Colson

Published in 2023

Scientific article studying the impact of environmental enrichment on the cognitive abilities of rainbow trout as a model aquaculture species. Using an operant conditioning device, after an acquisition phase in which the fish learned to discriminate between two colors, they all successfully completed four inversion learning tasks, demonstrating the cognitive flexibility of rainbow trout. They all passed the generalization task. Fish raised in an enriched environment performed better in the acquisition phase and in inversion learning.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords: Learning, training, Enrichment, Memory, Cognitive processes

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Zoo Animal Welfare Assessment: Where Do We Stand?

Oriol Tallo-Parra, Marina Salas, Xavier Manteca

Published in 2023

Scientific review providing a critical analysis of the main approaches to zoo animal welfare assessment and describing the most relevant animal-based welfare indicators for zoo animals, with a particular focus on behavioral and physiological indicators.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Wildlife

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Societal issues, Welfare indicators, Living environment, Stress

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Les animaux, ces inventeurs de génie

Mathilde Tahar

Published in 2023

Article summarizing the scientific evidence to demonstrate the presence of invention and creativity in animals, particularly in play situations. According to the author, play fosters individual adaptability by developing inventive abilities.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: All animals

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Learning, training, Cognitive processes, Human-animal relationships

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Do Insects Feel Joy and Pain?

Lars Chittka

Published in 2023

Article summarizing the current state of knowledge on cognition, emotions and pain perception in insects, and the ethical consequences of such knowledge for our relationship with insects, particularly in their breeding and use for scientific purposes.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Insects

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Pain, Experimentation, Memory, Human-animal relationships

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Reducing Weaning Stress in Piglets by Pre-Weaning Socialization and Gradual Separation from the Sow: A Review

Céline Van Kerschaver, Diana Turpin, Joris Michiels, John Pluske

Published in 2023

Scientific review of alternative piglet management strategies to reduce weaning stress. These include the pre-weaning grouping of piglets from different litters and intermittent suckling. Their effects on post-weaning pig behavior, performance, mortality, gastrointestinal function and immunocompetence are described.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Aggression, Aggressivity, Animal-based measurements, Enrichment, Housing, Weaning, Stress

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The Science and Social Validity of Companion Animal Welfare: Functionally Defined Parameters in a Multidisciplinary Field

Lauren I. Novack , Lauren Schnell-Peskin, Erica Feuerbacher, Eduardo J. Fernandez

Published in 2023

Scientific review on the importance of including ways to measure animal welfare indicators during behavioral interventions for dogs so that the animal's feelings can be better taken into account and to make these interventions more acceptable to animals and owners.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Canine

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Education, Behavioural disorders, Human-animal relationships, Welfare indicators

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Chapter Three - Can insects feel pain? A review of the neural and behavioural evidence

Matilda Gibbons, Andrew Crump, Meghan Barrett, Sajedeh Sarlak, Jonathan Birch, Lars Chittka

Published in 2023

Systematic literature review using 8 previously validated animal sentience criteria to assess whether 6 insect orders are capable of feeling pain. Adult Diptera and Blattodea meet 6 of the 8 criteria, constituting "strong evidence for pain", while the adults and some juveniles from the other orders tested meet 3-4 criteria, constituting "substantial evidence for pain".

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Insects

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Brain integration, Pain, Welfare indicators, Stress

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Is it time for insect researchers to consider their subjects' welfare?

Andrew Crump, Matilda Gibbons, Meghan Barrett, Jonathan Birch, Lars Chittka

Published in 2023

Scientific article defining pain, differentiating it from nociception, and recalling work that has led to the conclusion that most of the 6 largest insect orders are very likely capable of feeling pain. It concludes that this fact should be taken into account by entomologists, and suggests extending the 3Rs rule (replace, reduce, refine) to insect research.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Insects

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Brain integration, Pain, Welfare indicators, Stress

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Welfare of Decapod Crustaceans with Special Emphasis on Stress Physiology

Sven Wuertz, David Bierbach, Mirko Bögner

Published in 2023

Scientific review of current knowledge on sentience in decapod crustaceans. It presents scientific evidence for nociception and pain perception in these animals, and highlights the lack of markers for chronic stress detection that could be used in the routine work of aquaculture businesses.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Crustaceans

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Brain integration, Pain, Welfare indicators, Stress

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