Keywords: Animal-based measurements

Review: castration - animal welfare considerations

Gabriela A. Marquette,Stephanie Ronan, Bernadette Earley

Published in 2023

Scientific review of scientific assessments of the impact of castration on cattle welfare, including pain and injury, stress, inflammation, effects on the immune system and on production levels. It describes the different methods of castration, the pain responses associated with each, and how age and pain mitigation strategies affect these responses.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Pain, Welfare indicators, Human-animal relationships, Stress

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The use of animal-based measures at slaughter for assessing the welfare of beef cattle on farm: EFSA AHAW Network exercise

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Marika Vitali, Gizella Aboagye, Sean Ashe, Chiara Fabris, Yves Van de Stede, Denise Candiani

Published in 2023

Report listing those animal-based measures that the AHAW network considers useful to record and monitor in abattoirs as a means to assess the on-farm welfare of cattle. The information contained in this report will be used to draw up EFSA's scientific opinion on the welfare of cattle on farm, due in 2025.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Animal-based measurements, Welfare indicators, Carcass quality, Stress, Livestock farming system

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Assessing human attention as a reinforcer for dog behavior

E. E. Chrysafis, S. W. Payne, A. Salazar

Published in 2023

Scientific article comparing two common procedures to evaluate human attention as a means of reinforcing dog behaviors.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Canine

Keywords:Abandonment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Adoption, Animal-based measurements, Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Stress, Behavioural disorders

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Comment les volailles perçoivent et interprètent leur environnement : recherche scientifique et exemples d’application

Rachel Degrande, Vitor Hugo Bessa Ferreira, Vanessa Guesdon, Ludovic Calandreau

Published in 2023

Scientific review emphasising that poultry have varied and well-developed senses, that they interact with each other, that they are capable of learning, and that they have  a much wider repertoire of cognitive skills than is often assumed.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Learning, training, Enrichment, Memory, Living environment, Cognitive processes

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Sheep Welfare Strategy

Ruminant Helath & Welfare

Published in 2023

Presentation of the 6 objectives that make up the cattle welfare strategy designed by Ruminant Health & Welfare in conjunction with the entire British cattle industry.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Ovines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Enrichment, Welfare indicators, Living environment, livestock farming system

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On-pasture and On-farm Welfare Measurement Protocol for Horses

Federica Raspa, Emanuela Valle,Alessandro Necci, Laura Ozealla, Lorenzo Bertocchi, Nicoletta d'Avino, Marta Panicciaà, Pasquale de Palo, Domenico Bergero, Martina Tarantola, Clara Borin, Claudio Forte

Published in 2023

Article on the development and testing of a specific protocol for measuring the welfare of horses known to be reared in either extensive or confined systems, and assessing whether the  welfare indicators selected for it were influenced by the type of system (extensive or confined).

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Societal issues, Welfare indicators, Housing, Living environment, Livestock farming system

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Volitional activation of remote place representations with a hippocampal brain-machine interface

Chongxi Lai, Shinsuke Tanaka, Timothy D. Harris, Albert K. Lee

Published in 2023

Scientific article on the development of a brain-machine interface to study rats' abilities to voluntarily navigate and direct objects in a virtual reality arena, solely by activating and sustaining appropriate hippocampal representations of remote locations.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Rodents

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Learning, training, Consciousness, Brain integration, Living environment, Modelling

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The use of animal-based measures at slaughter for assessing the welfare of turkeys on farm: EFSA scientific NCPs Network exercise

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Marika Vitali, Gizella Aboagye, Denise Candiani, Cristina Rojo Gimeno, Yves Van der Stede, Chiara Fabris

Published in 2023

Report on work, carried out by the network of national contact points providing scientific support on animal welfare at the time of killing, on turkey welfare. This work produced a list of animal-based measures considered by the experts to be useful for on-site recording and monitoring activities in abattoirs to retrospectively assess the on-farm welfare of turkeys .

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Carcass quality, Welfare indicators

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Feline Faces: Unraveling the Social Function of Domestic Cat Facial Signals

Lauren Scott, Brittany N. Florkiewicz

Published in 2023

Scientific article documenting the various facial signals produced by cats during affiliative and non-affiliative intraspecific interactions. It demonstrates that cats produce a great number of expressions by combining a set of facial muscle movements in different ways. Affiliative and non-affiliative signals are notably different, and it is possible for humans to distinguish between some of them. 

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Felines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Human-animal relationships, Stress

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Measuring dairy cow welfare with real-time sensor-based data and farm records: a concept study

A.H. Stygar, L. Frondelius, G.V. Berteselli, Y. Gómez, E. Canali, J.K. Niemi, P. Llonch, M. Pastel

Published in 2023

Scientific article presenting an algorithm designed to assess the welfare of dairy cows based on sensor data (accelerometer and/or lactometer) and farm records. It concludes that the algorithm alone cannot not provide a sufficiently sensitive and specific assessment of cow welfare, but that there is merit in combining it with farm-based welfare measurement visits.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Animal-based measurements, Precision farming, Welfare indicators

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