A more fine-grained measure towards animal welfare: a study with regards to gender differences in Spanish students

The environmental issue is nowadays taking more importance in the environmental awareness all around the world, and in this field, animal consideration is more and more spread. A highlighted part in globalisation is the animal welfare awareness. This article presents a study comparing attitudes towards animals among secondary and university students in reference to gender. It was carried out on 1394 Spanish participants from 11 to 26 years. The instrument used in the study is the reviewed version of the Animal Welfare Attitude Scale which was renamed as “Animal Welfare Attitude-Revised Scale” (AWA-R Scale), with a Cronbach a reliability value of 0.85. It is subdivided into four components namely C1: animal abuse for pleasure or due to ignorance; C2: leisure with animals; C3: farm animals; and C4: animal abandonment. These components have been deeply detailed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which highly contributes to define the position of participants for the different dimensions of animal welfare. It is concluded that significant differences exist between males’ and females’ attitudes in all components of the AWA-R Scale. It is also suggested that two social characteristics—people’s attitudes towards animals and towards environmental protection—are, at the very least, coexistent and may indeed be interdependent. These differences between gender in matters of socialisation could thus be reflected in environmental attitudes, and also in others related to them, i.e. animal welfare attitudes

24-h sheltering behaviour of individually kept horses during Swedish summer weather

Provision of shelter for horses kept on summer pasture is rarely considered in welfare guidelines, perhaps because the benefits of shelter in warm conditions are poorly documented scientifically. For cattle, shade is a valued resource during summer and can mitigate the adverse effects of warm weather on well-being and performance. We found in a previous study that horses utilized shelters frequently in summer. A shelter with a roof and closed on three sides (shelter A) was preferred and can reduce insect pressure whereas a shelter with roof and open on three sides was not utilized. However, shelter A restricts the all-round view of a horse, which may be important for horses as flight animals. Therefore, we studied whether a shelter with roof, where only the upper half of the rear wall was closed (shelter B), would be utilized while maintaining insect protection properties and satisfying the horses’ sense for security. A third shelter was offered with walls but no roof (shelter C) to evaluate whether the roof itself is an important feature from the horse’s perspective. Eight Warmblood horses were tested each for 2 days, kept individually for 24 h in two paddocks with access to shelters A and B, or shelters A and C, respectively. Shelter use was recorded continuously during the night (1800–2400 h, 0200–0600 h) and the following day (0900–1600 h), and insect defensive behaviour (e.g., tail swish) in instantaneous scan samples at 5-min intervals during daytime

What Difference Does a Visit Make? Changes in Animal Welfare Perceptions after Interested Citizens Tour a Dairy Farm

Citizens’ concerns about farm animal welfare are often dismissed on the assumption that they are not well informed about farming practices. We conducted exploratory surveys of interested citizens (n = 50) before and after a self-guided tour of a 500-head dairy farm. ‘Before’ survey questions explored perceptions, concerns, and values about dairy cattle farming and welfare, in addition to a short knowledge-based quiz on dairy cattle husbandry. An ‘after’ survey explored the extent to which these constructs shifted after the tour. Before, most participants correctly answered quiz questions about general feeding and housing practices, but scores were low on questions about specific practices such as cow-calf separation. Participants considered several elements as necessary for a ‘good’ life for dairy cattle: fresh food and water, pasture access, gentle handling, space, shelter, hygiene, fresh air and sunshine, social companions, absence of stress, health, and safety from predators. These elements reflect a diverse conception of animal welfare that incorporates values for physical and mental well-being, natural living, and humane care. The visit had a mixed effect on perceptions of whether dairy cows had a ‘good’ life, improving perceptions for a quarter of participants, worsening perceptions in a third, with no shift in the remaining participants. The visit appeared to mitigate some concerns (e.g., provision of adequate food and water, gentle humane care) while reinforcing or eliciting others (e.g., lack of pasture access, early cow-calf separation). Moreover, animal welfare-relevant values held by participants (e.g., natural living, care) appeared to play an important role in influencing perceptions of farm practices. These results suggest that education and exposure to livestock farming may resolve certain concerns, but other concerns will likely persist, especially when practices conflict with deeply held values around animal care

Could Work Be a Source of Behavioural Disorders? A Study in Horses

Stress at work, as shown by a number of human studies, may lead to a variety of negative and durable effects, such as impaired psychological functioning (anxiety, depression…). Horses share with humans this characteristic of working on a daily basis and are submitted then to work stressors related to physical constraints and/or more “psychological” conflicts, such as potential controversial orders from the riders or the requirement to suppress emotions. On another hand, horses may perform abnormal repetitive behaviour (“stereotypies”) in response to adverse life conditions. In the present study, we investigated whether the type of work the horses are used for may have an impact on their tendency to show stereotypic behaviour (and its type) outside work. Observations in their box of 76 horses all living in the same conditions, belonging to one breed and one sex, revealed that the prevalence and types of stereotypies performed strongly depended upon the type of work they were used for. The stereotypies observed involved mostly mouth movements and head tossing/nodding. Work constraints probably added to unfavourable living conditions, favouring the emergence of chronic abnormal behaviours. This is especially remarkable as the 23 hours spent in the box were influenced by the one hour work performed every day. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of potential effects of work stressors on the emergence of abnormal behaviours in an animal species. It raises an important line of thought on the chronic impact of the work situation on the daily life of individuals

The structure and regulation of the Irish equine industries: Links to considerations of equine welfare

The equine industries in Ireland are vibrant and growing. They are broadly classified into two sectors: Thoroughbred racing, and sports and leisure. This paper describes these sectors in terms of governance, education and training in equine welfare, and available data concerning horse numbers, identification, traceability and disposal. Animal welfare, and specifically equine welfare, has received increasing attention internationally. There is general acceptance of concepts such as animal needs and persons' responsibilities toward animals in their care, as expressed in the 'Five Freedoms'. As yet, little has been published on standards of equine welfare pertaining to Ireland, or on measures to address welfare issues here. This paper highlights the central role of horse identification and legal registration of ownership to safeguard the health and welfare of horses

Current Welfare Problems Facing Horses in Great Britain as Identified by Equine Stakeholders

Despite growing concerns about the welfare of horses in Great Britain (GB) there has been little surveillance of the welfare status of the horse population. Consequently we have limited knowledge of the range of welfare problems experienced by horses in GB and the situations in which poor welfare occurs. Thirty-one in-depth interviews were conducted with a cross -section of equine stakeholders, in order to explore their perceptions of the welfare problems faced by horses in GB. Welfare problems relating to health, management and riding and training were identified, including horses being under or over weight, stabling 24 hours a day and the inappropriate use of training aids. The interviewees also discussed broader contexts in which they perceived that welfare was compromised. The most commonly discussed context was where horses are kept in unsuitable environments, for example environments with poor grazing. The racing industry and travellers horses were identified as areas of the industry where horse welfare was particularly vulnerable to compromise. Lack of knowledge and financial constraints were perceived to be the root cause of poor welfare by many interviewees. The findings give insight into the range of welfare problems that may be faced by horses in GB, the contexts in which these may occur and their possible causes. Many of the problems identified by the interviewees have undergone limited scientific investigation pointing to areas where further research is likely to be necessary for welfare improvement. The large number of issues identified suggests that some form of prioritisation may be necessary to target research and resources effectively

Aggression in working mules and subsequent aggressive treatment by their handlers in Egyptian brick kilns—Cause or effect?

Mules found working in Egyptian brick kilns are often faced with poor welfare from being over worked, overloaded, having multiple lesions from ill-fitted harnesses, poor body scores, and receiving aversive treatment by handlers. Reports have frequently revealed aggressive responses by mules toward their handlers. The main goal of this study was to investigate whether mule aggression is an innate act toward people or is a reactive response to rough handling procedures by their handlers. A total of 374 mules from 50 different kilns were assessed and their handlers were interviewed. The handler's questionnaire recorded the following parameters: handler's age, experience, and common beliefs about the aggression of brick kiln mules, and also data regarding load weights, working hours, and husbandry procedures carried out by the handlers were collected. The data were analyzed and correlations between parameters were tested using SPSS 17.1. Handlers’ data showed that 79% of participants believed that mules are inherently difficult to handle, 65% used nose ropes/metal chain for driving their mules, and 67% responded that mules must be beaten to work properly. Behavioral assessment revealed that 66% of mules were alert. Approach tests indicated that 30% of the mules exhibited signs of aggression (e.g., bite threat) when approached by an unfamiliar handler and only 16% showed signs toward their handlers (familiar). The assessment of body lesions showed that mistreatment-induced lesions (42%) were more predominant than other categories of body lesions. Significant correlations (P ≤ 0.05) were found between mules’ aggressive responses toward observers and the following parameters; body condition score (rs = 0.42), along with the handler's age (rs = −0.53), level of experience (rs = −0.34), handler's common beliefs about mule aggression (rs = 0.64), and the nature of the work they were involved with at the kilns (work hours, rs = −0.63; load weight, rs = 0.38). Based on the results of this study, we concluded aggressive interactions exhibited by mules were most likely initiated by harsh, violent handling

Can teaching veterinary and animal-science students about animal welfare affect their attitude toward animals and human-related empathy?

Attitudes toward animals are important in influencing how animals are treated. Few studies have investigated attitudes toward animals in veterinary or animal-science students, and no studies have compared attitudes to animals before and after a course teaching animal welfare and ethics. In this study, students enrolled in veterinary (first-year) or animal-science (first- and third-year) programs completed a questionnaire on attitudes toward different categories of animals before and after the course. Higher attitude scores suggest a person more concerned about how an animal is treated. Normally distributed data were compared using parametric statistics, and non-normally distributed data were compared using non-parametric tests, with significance p<.05. Attitudes toward pets (45.5–47.6) were higher than those toward pests (34.2–38.4) or profit animals (30.3–32.1). Attitude scores increased from before to after the course in the veterinary cohort on the Pest (36.9 vs. 38.4, respectively, n=27, p<.05) and Profit (30.3 vs. 32.1, respectively, n=28, p<.05) subscales, but not in the animal-science cohorts. Attitude scores in all categories were higher for women than for men. Currently having an animal was associated with higher pet scores (46.8 vs. 43.8, ns=120 and 13, respectively, p<.05), and having an animal as a child was associated with higher profit scores (31.0 vs. 26.6, ns=129 and 8, respectively, p<.05). Students electing to work with livestock had lower scores on the Pest and Profit subscales, and students wanting to work with wildlife had significantly higher scores on the Pest and Profit subscales. This study demonstrates attitudinal changes after an animal-welfare course, with significant increases in veterinary but not animal-science students.Susan J. Hazel, Tania D. Signal, Nicola Taylo