The vocalisations of animals are results of particular emotional states. For example, the stress screams of pigs may be indicators of disturbed welfare. Our objective was to develop a system to monitor and record levels of stress calls in pigs, which could be employed in environments of breeding, transportation and slaughter. Using a combination of sound analysis by linear prediction coding and artificial neural networks, it was possible to detect the stress vocalisations of pigs in noisy pig units with few recognition errors (<5%). The system (STREMODO: stress monitor and documentation unit) running on PCs is insensitive to environmental noise, human speech and pig vocalisations other than screams. As a stand-alone device it can be routinely used for the objective, non-invasive measurement of acute stress in various farming environments. The system delivers reliable, reproducible registrations of stress vocalisations. Its detection quality in commercial systems was found to correlate well with that of human experts. STREMODO is particularly well-suited for comparisons of housing and management regimes. Since the system can be trained to recognise various animal vocalisations, its use with other species is also well within its scope.

UK legislation requiring pre-slaughter stunning has certain exemptions for religious slaughter. Supporters of both Muslim (Halal) and Jewish (Shechita) slaughter methods claim that the efficiency of the bleed out is adversely affected by stunning. In this study, electrical stunning followed by neck cutting, and captive bolt stunning followed by neck cutting, were compared with the Muslim slaughter method (neck cutting without stunning) in sheep. Total blood loss and percentage blood loss, expressed as a percentage of live weight, were calculated and compared between groups. In addition, the time taken to reach 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% of total blood loss was calculated and compared. There was no apparent difference in the packed cell volume levels between groups. Slaughter method did, however, affect meat pH and colour. The results show that the bleed out after neck cutting is not adversely affected by electrical or captive bolt stunning; nor is an improved bleed out achieved by neck cutting without stunning.

The paper presents the method and findings of a Delphi expert survey to assess the impact of UK government farm animal welfare policy, farm assurance schemes and major food retailer specifications on the welfare of animals on farms. Two case-study livestock production systems are considered, dairy and cage egg production. The method identifies how well the various standards perform in terms of their effects on a number of key farm animal welfare variables, and provides estimates of the impact of the three types of standard on the welfare of animals on farms, taking account of producer compliance. The study highlights that there remains considerable scope for government policy, together with farm assurance schemes, to improve the welfare of farm animals by introducing standards that address key factors affecting animal welfare and by increasing compliance of livestock producers. There is a need for more comprehensive, regular and random surveys of on-farm welfare to monitor compliance with welfare standards (legislation and welfare codes) and the welfare of farm animals over time, and a need to collect farm data on the costs of compliance with standards.

The aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship between qualitative categories of sheep welfare and associated quantitative behavioural observations. Most scientific studies rely on quantitative measures, however to interpret those measures in terms of an animal's experience of welfare, the use of qualitative terminologies denoting various emotional states (eg fear, pain, distress) seems hard to avoid. This is especially so in cases where the same behavioural or physiological indicator could have different meanings for welfare; high levels of locomotion, for example, could indicate fear, aggression, or both. To resolve such dilemmas, scientists often resort to judging an animal's most likely state through direct observation; indeed qualitative characterisations are often intertwined with reported quantitative results. This paper reviews frequently used qualitative categories of sheep welfare and the behavioural context in which these categories are applied. Qualitative judgements of welfare tend to habitually be regarded as ‘subjective’, ie as anthropomorphic and unreliable; however from this review it appears that such judgements reflect the overall demeanour of an animal's behaviour, and as such may provide a useful empirical basis for the investigation of emotional expression in sheep. Further development of a qualitative behavioural approach may provide a more complete picture of the expressive repertoire of sheep, and enhance our understanding of ways in which these animals experience well-being or distress.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) currently uses imprecise indicators of death to evaluate the welfare consequences of whaling. A recent independent meeting of animal welfare scientists proposed a series of tests to determine the states of sensibility/insensibility/death of whales. As a precursor to assessing these tests in the field, conjoint analysis was used to evaluate expert opinion and to identify tests deemed most suitable for establishing insensibility and death. The results of this study indicated that experts considered measurement of breathing rate, cardiac activity, coordinated swimming and ocular temperature to be among the most useful for determining that animals were not dead. Furthermore, experts considered that judgements that an animal was dead should be made only after application of a series of different tests. The tests identified may be valuable for assessing stranded whales or animals taken as part of whaling operations.

To use behaviours as indicators of stress it is important to understand their underlying causation. For a prey animal in the wild, such as a sheep, behavioural responses have evolved to evade detection and capture by predators. The behavioural responses of the wild ancestors of domestic sheep to the threat of predation are characterised predominantly by vigilance, flocking, flight to cover and behavioural inhibition once refuge has been reached. Some limited defensive behaviours are seen, mainly in females with young against small predators. Vigilance and flight distance are affected by the animal's assessment of risk and are influenced by the environment, social group size, age, sex and reproductive condition, as well as by previous experience with potential predators. Under conditions of stress, domestic sheep show similar behavioural reactions to wild sheep, although the threshold at which they are elicited may be elevated. This is particularly evident when comparing less selected hill breeds with more highly selected lowland breeds, and suggests that a continuum of responsiveness exists between wild and feral sheep, through hill breeds to the lowland sheep breeds. However, this may be confounded by the previous experience of the breeds, particularly their familiarity with humans. Behavioural and neurobiological evidence suggests that, although the behavioural response to predators (vigilance, flight) is innate, the stimuli that elicit this behavioural pattern may have a learned component. Since vigilance and flight distances are affected by the animal's perception of threat, they may be useful indices of stress in sheep and, as graded responses, give some indication of the level of threat experienced by the sheep. Thus they may indicate the amount of fear or distress experienced by the sheep and hence have the potential to be used in the assessment of welfare states.

Rather than construct lists of many different welfare indicators and give each of them the same weight, I argue that the assessment of animal welfare should be directed at answering two key questions: I) Are the animals healthy? 2) Do they have what they want? Behaviour has a major role in answering both. Behaviour is currently used to help answer the first question through its use in the clinical and pre-clinical assessment of pain, injury and disease, and potentially could have an even greater role, particularly if used in conjunction with new technology. Behaviour is also of crucial importance in gauging what animals want, most obviously in the use of choice and preference tests, but also through other methods that are particularly suitable for on-farm welfare assessment. These include quantitative observations of the spatial distribution of animals and of behavioural ‘indicators’ of what animals want, such as vocalisations.

Predation of sheep and cattle by the dingo (Canis lupus dingo) is implicated in significant stock losses throughout much of mainland Australia. Leg-hold traps are commonly used for dingo control and ways are sought to improve the humaneness of these devices. We evaluated the performance of the tranquilliser trap device (TTD) attached to Victor Soft-Catch® traps for their ability to deliver a sedative and anxiolytic drug to trapped dingoes. A trapping programme was conducted in south-west Queensland where traps were set alternatively with a TTD containing either 800 mg of diazepam (drug TTD) or a placebo (placebo TTD). All TTDs included 20 mg of the bait marker iophenoxic acid (IPA) to ascertain dosing success. Each trap was fitted with an activity-monitoring data logger that recorded time of capture and subsequent dingo activity. In 41 out of 48 (85.4%) captures the TTD was ruptured and released its contents. No elevation in serum iodine levels above I mg ml-1 resulting from the ingestion of IPA occurred in 8 out of 36 (22.2%) captures, which suggests a higher rate of dosage failure. Dingo activity was highest in both groups immediately after capture, but declined after the first hour in each. The activity of dingoes that accepted a drug TTD was significantly reduced compared to those that took the placebo. However, tooth and limb damage scores did not differ significantly between the drug and placebo group. Much of the physical trauma may have occurred within the first hour of capture when activity was intense and before drug onset in the TTD drug group. The use of TTDs containing sedative and anxiolytic drugs has the potential to reduce anxiety and distress associated with prolonged captivity, but the delivery of a lethal agent that is rapidly acting and humane may result in better welfare outcomes.

Visitors to zoos can be a potential source of stress to captive-housed primates, resulting in increased abnormal behaviour and intra-group aggression. Finding a way to screen primates from human visitors may be one method of decreasing stress and enhancing animal welfare. For this study, the behaviour of six zoo-housed gorillas was studied for one month during standard housing conditions (control condition) and for a further month following the installation of a camouflage net barrier to the viewing area of the exhibit (barrier condition). Visitors’ (n = 200) perceptions of the animals and the exhibit were also recorded during each condition. The net barrier had a significant effect on some components of the gorillas’ behaviour. The gorillas exhibited significantly lower levels of conspecific-directed aggression and stereotypic behaviours during the barrier than the control condition. The net barrier also had a slight effect on visitors’ perceptions both of the animals and of their exhibit. The gorillas were considered to look more exciting and less aggressive during the barrier than the control condition. The exhibit was also considered to be more appropriate for visitors following the introduction of the camouflage netting. Overall, the addition of a screen such as camouflage netting could be considered a positive change, resulting in a reduction in those behaviours typically induced by large groups of visitors and an improvement in public perceptions of the animals and their environment.

Commercially reared ostrich chicks are typically kept in barren, indoor environments. This experiment investigated the effects of environmental enrichment on the pecking behaviour, exploration, food consumption and novelty responses of ostrich chicks aged 10 to 21 days. Four groups of 20 randomly selected ostrich chicks were housed in heated huts at one day of age (Day 1), and at Day 10 were allowed access to sand-covered areas (30 m2) that were either barren (control: n = 2 groups) or enriched with cabbage, coniferous cones and sticks (enriched: n = 2 groups). Pecking behaviour was recorded by focal sampling the behaviour of five chicks per group for four 5 min periods per day on Day 10 and Day 13. All enriched chicks pecked at the cabbage, of which they consumed considerable amounts (26 ± 3 g/chick/day). The enriched chicks did not have higher overall pecking frequencies but tended to peck less at fixtures in the pen, compared to control chicks. Additionally, the enriched chicks showed increased exploration in terms of the percentage of chicks observed outside the heated huts. In a novel object test, enriched chicks stayed closer to and delivered more pecks at sorrel (Rumex acetosa) than did control chicks, whereas there was no difference between the treatment groups in their response to adult ostrich feathers. Enriched chicks consumed more food (79 ± 0.4 g/chick/day) than did control chicks (67 ± 09 g/chick/day) during the experimental period. We suggest that environmental enrichment improves the welfare of ostrich chicks in terms of increasing exploration and reducing pecking at fixtures in the pen, without compromising food consumption.

Standard cages for laboratory animals are often small, minimalist and barren. Such cages can compromise animal welfare, indicating that there are welfare-based reasons for improving their designs. However, a second issue, that is, whether animals from standard laboratory housing and husbandry conditions provide valid research data, also indicates that cage designs and husbandry methods need to be improved. This paper reviews various influences of standard laboratory cage design and husbandry. These include their effects on the repeatability of studies, models of neuro-degenerative disease, sensory development, physiology, and behaviour, the effects of standard social housing and standard handling, and the effects of maternal experience on the responses of offspring. These studies show that the development and responses of animals from standard laboratory housing and husbandry conditions are often unrepresentative and idiosyncratic, indicating that data are likely to have reduced external validity. An underlying question is whether animals from standard, barren laboratory cages are ‘abnormal’ and therefore might not provide valid baseline data. In terms of animal welfare, these studies indicate that standard laboratory housing may sometimes be associated both with reduced welfare and with reduced benefits gained from research. It is suggested that in a similar manner to the use of production measures when assessing cages for production animals, laboratory cages could be assessed in terms of their suitability to provide valid research data.

This paper discusses the potential for using observations of behaviour to recognise distress in sheep. The term distress is used to describe situations in which an animal is likely to be suffering, and is indicating this by overt behavioural signs. Literature on the behavioural responses of sheep to procedures that induce a physiological stress response is reviewed. This approach is based on human analogy and the assumption that physiological changes can be used to differentiate between stimuli that induce an emotional response in sheep and those that do not. The degree to which the behaviour of sheep in certain situations represents, at least in part, an expression of emotional behaviour, or whether it can be fully explained as a functional response to a specific situation, is a fundamental and unresolved question in ethological and psychological studies. Therefore, the validity of compiling a list of objective common behavioural indicators of distress in sheep will be contentious. However, it is important to be able to recognise and deal with suffering, and the use of behavioural methods for the identification of distress in sheep is a practical welfare issue. There is a need for further research to identify indicators of distress in sheep, but in the meantime it would be reasonable to make the judgement that, in some circumstances, sheep that are found to be vocalising, panting, and/or showing markedly increased locomotory activity could be experiencing distress.

The ability to measure objectively how an animal perceives its home environment is essential for improving the housing and husbandry conditions of laboratory animals. Chewing at cage bars by a rodent may reflect the animal's desire to escape from its home cage and thus provide a measure of the relative aversiveness or inadequacy of different housing conditions from the animal's viewpoint. To assess whether bar chewing by laboratory mice is an escape behaviour, adult male and female ICR-(CD-1) mice were housed individually or in same-sex groups of three in modified shoebox-type cages. Cages had two sets of external bars in the side walls, an equivalent set of bars fixed internally and a Perspex lid. One set of external bars opened daily, allowing the mice to escape into a larger arena. All mice showed a strong preference for chewing at external bars over those that were internal to each cage. After one week of experience, mice also preferred the external bars that opened daily to those that did not open. Behaviour directed towards the cage lid declined over time as the mice experienced the new escape route in the cage side. Interest in the external bars correlated positively with time since last escape. Results confirm that bar chewing reflects an attempt to escape the cage and explore the surrounding area and may provide a suitable behavioural measure of perception of the cage environment for use in welfare assessment.

The M-44 ejector (‘ejector‘) has proven to be a highly target-specific means of delivering toxicants to the exotic European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in south-eastern Australia. Para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) is a potent methaemoglobin (MetHb) forming compound in canids. A formulation of PAPP, dimethylsulphoxide (DMS0) and condensed milk was investigated as a new toxicant formulation for delivery by the ejector. Dosage of eight foxes in the laboratory with a sequential dose demonstrated that the formulation caused a dose-dependent and rapid elevation of MetHb. A strong inverse correlation between MetHb and oxyhaemoglobin concentrations was detected in each case. The symptoms of the toxicosis in the laboratory included progressive cyanosis, lethargy and then collapse when MetHb levels reached 56-76%. A polynomial model was a good fit for describing the relationship between sub-lethal doses of PAPP and the resulting peak MetHb levels. In a pen trial, an ejector was fitted with a bait and loaded with a standard dose of 226 mg PAPP in the same formulation and set at one end of a pen. After voluntarily triggering the ejector, all five foxes in this trial became progressively more lethargic and either lay prostrate or collapsed after 14-25 min, and death was confirmed after a mean of 43 min. We compared some clinical features of PAPP toxicosis with 15 cases of lethal sodium fluoroacetate (1080) poisoning using 0.5 mg kg-1 1080. PAPP produced a mean time to death that was 7.7 times faster than 1080, with the onset of first symptoms being 15 times faster. It was associated with much less activity prior to death and convulsions, spasms and paddling commonly associated with 1080 poisoning after collapse were not detected during PAPP toxicosis. We conclude that the PAPP formulation appears to be a rapidly acting and apparently humane lethal agent for fox control when used in conjunction with the ejector.

The assumption that animals are conscious and capable of experiencing negative sensations and emotions is at the core of most people's concerns about animal welfare. Investigation of this central assumption should be one goal of animal welfare science. We argue that theory and techniques from cognitive science offer promising ways forward. Evidence for the existence of conscious and non-conscious cognitive processing in humans has inspired scientists to search for comparable processes in animals. In studies of metacognition and blindsight, some species show behaviour that has functional parallels with human conscious cognitive processing. Although unable to definitively answer the question of whether the animals are conscious, these studies provide fresh insights, and some could be adapted for domestic animals. They mark a departure from the search for cognitive complexity as an indicator of consciousness, which is based on questionable assumptions linking the two. Accurate assessment of animal emotion is crucial in animal welfare research, and cognitive science offers novel approaches that address some limitations of current measures. Knowledge of the relationship between cognition and emotion in humans generates a priori frameworks for interpreting traditional physiological and behavioural indicators of animal emotion, and provides new measures (eg cognitive bias) that gauge positive as well as negative emotions. Conditioning paradigms can be used to enable animals to indicate their emotional state through operant responses. Although evidence for animal consciousness and emotion will necessarily be indirect, insights from cognitive science promise further advances in our understanding of this fundamentally important area in animal welfare science.

Chronic stress occurs when animals are unable to deal with a persistent stressor with species-typical responses, or when several stressors are present concurrently. Chronic stress is most frequently considered in intensive systems, but it may also be a welfare concern for extensively managed species, such as the sheep. Here we review behavioural and physiological responses of sheep to experimentally induced chronic stressors to determine relevant indicators of chronic stress. Neuroendocrine responses to chronic stress are difficult to interpret because initial responses are followed by an apparent normalisation. Thus, cortisol or catecholamines may be at or below pre-stress levels during chronic stress, but this varies with different stressors. Chronic stress can also affect reproductive function, impair body and wool growth and meat quality, reduce immune function, and is associated with greater parasite burdens in sheep. Chronic stress induces alterations in behaviour patterns, particularly activity and feeding, and circadian rhythms of behaviour. Stereotypic behaviours, however, are infrequent in sheep and may occur only in experimental conditions of social isolation. Behavioural and physiological data suggest that rough handling and sheepdogs may be sources of chronic stress for sheep. Social subordination and weaning also act as chronic stressors, leading to higher parasitism in these animals and a greater response to additional stressors. Lameness and parasitism are associated with physiological and behavioural responses indicating that these are severe forms of chronic stress in sheep. It is unclear whether environmental stressors, such as weather and food availability, induce chronic stress in sheep. Under-nutrition may, however, be a welfare concern through its impact on lamb survival. The existence of many sources of chronic stress in the management of sheep suggests that the welfare of this species requires more attention than it has currently received.

Elements of husbandry procedures, such as handling, may disrupt rodent social behaviour. Such effects may be contingent upon the familiarity between individuals and upon the quality and quantity of the disruption. We investigated this issue using laboratory rats. We placed 36 rats into groups of three. At the point of group formation, and at 24 h, 7 days and two weeks afterwards, individuals received one of three treatments: ‘handling’, exposure to novel conspecific ‘urine’, or ‘control’ (undisturbed), for a duration of either 5 or 15 mins. We used a social recognition test to measure the ability of the rats to recognise the urine of group members of increasing familiarity following the implementation of these treatments. The ‘control’ treatment did not appear to disrupt social recognition. The 5 min ‘urine’ treatment appeared to disrupt recognition only when the rats had received the briefest experience of the ‘familiar’ urine (5 mins). The 5 min ‘handling’ treatment, however, appeared far more disruptive, with an apparent disruption of social recognition even when familiarity with the urine donor was high (eg 7 days of group housing). Both the ‘handling’ and ‘urine’ treatments appeared more disruptive when presented for an increased duration (15 mins). There was also some evidence that increased experience of the handling procedure might reduce its disruptive effect. The results of this study have several implications for the welfare of laboratory-housed rats, and these are discussed.

Six commercial hatcheries were visited in the United Kingdom, three of which processed laying hen chicks and three of which processed broiler chicks. The accelerations experienced by the chicks passing through the handling systems were evaluated using miniature data logging accelerometers, which were sent through the systems. The lengths, speeds, and heights of drops of the pathways within each system were also measured. The response of the chicks to the handling was measured in terms of mortality, orientation, righting time (as a measure of disorientation) and tonic immobility. The study showed there to be a range in the physical severity of handling across the hatcheries that could also be seen in terms of differences in the measurements made on the chicks. Nonetheless, the welfare of the chicks passing through the automated systems appeared to be generally acceptable. However, given the velocities and accelerations within these handling systems, there is scope for considerable damage to the chicks, and for poor welfare, if systems are not properly set up or maintained.

The needle teeth of piglets are often cut shortly after birth to prevent damage to littermates and the sow's udder. This practise is, however, contested because the pain it inflicts to piglets may counterbalance its benefits. The purpose of this experiment was to assess the consequences of tooth resection over the subsequent days and weeks by histological examination. Two techniques were compared: tooth clipping with clippers, and tooth grinding with a rotating grindstone. Twenty piglets received each of three treatments (one treatment per half-jaw): clipping, grinding, and control (teeth left intact). Four piglets were slaughtered at each of the following stages: 3, 6, 13, 27 and 48 days after tooth resection. Their teeth were then collected and prepared for histological examination. The analysis revealed that both clipping and grinding induce lesions such as pulp cavity opening, fracture, haemorrhage, infiltration or abscess, and osteodentine formation. Wost of these effects appeared sooner and were of greater magnitude after clipping than after grinding. Because most of the observed histological alterations are known to cause severe pain in humans, it is likely that tooth resection — even when achieved through grinding — induces severe pain in piglets. Thus, the rationale of this practice should be re-evaluated.