Keywords: Human-animal relationships

Bien-être animal – Les coopératives agricoles et le « One Welfare »

Coopération agricole

Published in 2021

Thematic dossier from the Coopérative Agricole, based on three fundamental principles: improving understanding of animal welfare, putting it into practice in a practical and pragmatic way in France and its territories, and providing a sustainable picture of the pride the agricultural professions take in their work. The dossier emphasises the close links between the welfare of animals and of those who work with them and highlights the benefits of the approaches it describes.

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Livestock farming system, Welfare indicators

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Therapeutic Riding Horses: using a hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis measure to assess the physiological stress response to different riders

Cristina Cravana, Esterina Fazio, Adriana Ferlazzo, Pietro Medica

Published in 2021

Scientific paper showing that stress hormone levels are lower in equine therapy horses ridden by mentally-impaired riders, presumably due to their lesser control over the horses, than by non-mentally impaired riders.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords: Human-animal relationships, Stress

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Evaluating Horse Owner Expertise and Professional Use of Auxiliary Reins during Horse Riding

Heidrun Gehlen, Julia Puhlmann, Roswitha Merle, Christa Thöne-Reineke

Published in 2021

A scientific article investigating whether horse owners use auxiliary reins correctly. It reports that while most of the horse owners surveyed used reins responsibly, they need clarification and information on the functions of the different auxiliary reins.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Stress

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Contemplating the Five Domains model of animal welfare assessment: UK horse owner perceptions of equine well-being

K.A. Fletcher, L.J. Cameron, M. Freeman

Published in 2021

Scientific paper demonstrating that a simple educational infographic based on the five domains model had a significant impact on riders' assessment of equine welfare, despite the fact that they still found it difficult to assess their horses' emotions objectively.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Welfare indicators, Human-animal relationships

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Development and Validation of a Test for the Classification of Horses as Broken or Unbroken

Laura Menchetti, Emanuela Dalla Costa, Michela Minero, Barbara Padalino

Published in 2021

Scientific paper presenting and validating a behavioural test based on the animal's reaction to approaching, haltering and leading, to describe a horse as broken in or not. This test could be used to determine the status of horses prior to transport, given that transport regulations are stricter for unbroken horses.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

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

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Cognition and the human-animal relationship: a review of the socio-cognitive skills of domestic mammals towards humans

Plotine Jardat, Léa Lansade

Published in 2021

Scientific review of 5 social-cognitive abilities possessed by domestic mammals in relation to humans: ability to distinguish between humans and recognise individuals;  perception of human emotions; interpretation of our attentional states and goals; use of referential communication (recognising human signals or sending signals to humans); and engagement in social learning with humans.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Keywords:Cognitive processes, Human-animal relationships

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Dairy farmer, hoof trimmer, and veterinarian perceptions of barriers and roles in lameness management

E.M. Wynands, S.M. Roche, G. Cramer, B.A. Ventura

Published in 2021

Scientific paper reporting on the perceptions of farmers' hoof trimmers and vets concerning the management of lameness in dairy cows. Lameness is perceived as a complex, multi-factorial problem that is poorly understood and whose contributing factors are difficult to change. Those involved are resigned, believing that lameness is inevitable. Participants suggested that hoof trimmers and veterinarians should work together to send a consistent message to farmers.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Pain, Human-animal relationships

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Animal Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the Welfare of Animals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kimberly Ekstrand, Amanda J. Flanagan, Ilyan E. Lin, Brendon Vejseli, Allicyn Cole, Anna P. Lally, Robert L. Morris, Kathleen N. Morgan

Published in 2021

Scientific review of the levels of susceptibility to the Covid-19 virus of various animal species that have contact with humans. Dogs and pigs appear to have low susceptibility levels. Ferrets, mink, some hamster species, cats and non-human primates show high susceptibility levels.

Document Types: Scientific review

Keywords:Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Pathogen transfer

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Detecting Welfare in a Non-Verbal Species: Social/Cultural Biases and Difficulties in Horse Welfare Assessment

Martine Hausberger, Clémence Lesimple, Séverine Henry

Published in 2021

A scientific review investigating the reasons why most domestic horses have unsatisfactory welfare levels despite being very close to humans. It identifies human subjectivity, human misinterpretation of signals sent by horses, and human desensitisation to welfare situations as the main contributing factors. It proposes the promotion of validated indicators to allow horse welfare to be assessed objectively. 

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Welfare indicators, Human-animal relationships

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Dogs distinguish human intentional and unintentional action

Britta Schünemann, Judith Keller, Hannes Rakoczy, Tanya Behne, Juliane Bräuer

Published in 2021

Scientific article on whether dogs are able to distinguish between situations where a human intentionally withholds a reward and those where the lack of reward is unintentional, resulting either from a mistake or a physical obstacle that prevents the reward being given. The results show that dogs clearly distinguish between intentional and unintentional behaviour.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Canine

Keywords:Learning, training, Consciousness, Human-animal relationships

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