Good Practices for Animal Welfare in Agriculture Development

The 2030 Agenda envisages a development model “in which humanity lives in harmony with nature and … other living species are protected[i].” While the relationship between animal welfare, environmental well-being and human development is starting to be discussed and evidenced, there remains very little recognition of this relationship and the crucial role animal welfare plays in sustainable development for people and planet in UN discussions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper discusses this further, with specific reference to the development of good practice for animal welfare in agricultural development. However, it is recognized that there are also broader issues of human-animal relationships and animal welfare of relevance to the achievement of the SDGs which are outside the scope of this paper. [Prepared for the “Wageningen Project” on “Guidance on the Implementation of Good Practices for Animal Welfare in Agriculture Development Projects” comprising the following partners: World Bank, Wageningen University and Research (WUR), World Animal Net (WAN)/now World Federation for Animals (WFA), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

Animal Welfare - Environment - Sustainable Development Nexus: Scoping Study

A detailed report on the links between animal welfare, environmental health and global sustainability. Issues discussed include climate change, biodiversity, pollution and waste management, one health, sustainable development and just transitions

Operationalising One Health-One Welfare

The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes One Health as an approach to designing and implementing programmes, policies, legislation and research in which multiple sectors communicate and work together to achieve better public health outcomes. WHO considers the ‘One Health’ approach to be “critical to addressing health threats in the animal, human and environment interface”

Handbook for NGO Success with a Focus on Animal Advocacy

This handbook has been divided into four parts: Animal Protection Issues, Ways of Tackling an Issue, Running an Animal Protection Society and Essential Skills. Part 1 looks at the welfare issues affecting companion animals, farm animals, wildlife, working animals, animals in entertainment and experimental animals, and offers practical strategies to tackle these issues. Part 2 of the handbook considers the various ways of raising the status and improving the treatment of animals. The two main routes, legislation and education, are examined first, followed by practical advice on how to campaign, lobby and use the media to your benefit. Part 3 discusses the main components of running an animal protection society. It outlines the key considerations for establishing a society, as well as how to develop a strategy, manage projects and fundraise. Finally, the importance of support services, libraries and publications is examined. Part 4 gives an overview of many of the professional and personal skills required to run an effective animal protection society: leadership, team building, time management, holding effective meetings, giving presentations, stress management, dealing with compassion fatigue, continuous learning and maintaining motivation.https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/ebooks/1029/thumbnail.jp

Wild Birds: Human & Animal Welfare, Environment, and Global Sustainability

Birds provide many ecosystem services and contribute to human well-being, but their numbers are falling worldwide

Doughnut Economics - Incorporating Animal Welfare

Doughnut Economics is a ground-breaking system developed to change an outdated development paradigm based on endless economic growth, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), replacing this by a new paradigm that is fit for the 21st century context and challenges, and which meets the needs of all people within the means of the living planet. Doughnut Economics provides an excellent model for charting our post-COVID-19 economics future. We have only one cause for concern. Among its 21 planetary boundaries and societal objectives there is currently no room for animal well-being. COVID-19 has taught us that ignoring how we treat animals is dangerous (as well as unethical). Accordingly, we make the case for the addition of animal welfare/animal issues to Doughnut Economics, as set out in our paper

Aquaculture in Africa: Aquatic Animal Welfare, Impact on the Environment and the Sustainability of the Sector

The African aquaculture sector recorded the fastest growth in the world between 2006-2018, averaging 10% or more, and is expected to partially fill the growing fish supply-demand gap up to 2063. In 2018, there were about 1.2 million aquafarmers across the continent, an increase from 920 thousand in 2014. According to the African Development Bank, expansion of aquaculture in Africa is hampered by the overwhelming predominance of tilapia farming, which relies heavily on the production of fingerlings from a limited number of genetically improved strains that are resistant to the many diseases affecting this species, and on the production of feed that is still largely imported . The Bank cited projections that African aquaculture would grow far more dramatically if it rapidly diversified, rather than remaining dominated by tilapia farming. The review also noted that the sector now generates products not only for direct consumption, but also used in food processing, feed, fuels, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and a variety of other industrial products

Long Duration Testing of a Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator Prototype

The Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME) is a heat-rejection device that is being developed to perform thermal control for advanced spacesuits. Cooling is achieved by circulating water from the liquid cooling garment (LCG) through hollow fibers (HoFi s), which are small hydrophobic tubes. Liquid water remains within the hydrophobic tubes, but water vapor is exhausted to space, thereby removing heat. A SWME test article was tested over the course of a year, for a total of 600 cumulative hours. In order to evaluate SWME tolerance to contamination due to constituents caused by distillation processes, these constituents were allowed to accumulate in the water as evaporation occurred. A test article was tested over the course of a year for a total of 600 cumulative hours. The heat rejection performance of the SWME degraded significantly--below 700 W, attributable to the accumulation of rust in the circulating loop and biofilm growth. Bubble elimination capability, a feature that was previously proven with SWME, was compromised during the test, most likely due to loss of hydrophobic properties of the hollow fibers. The utilization of water for heat rejection was shown not to be dependent on test article, life cycle, heat rejection rate, or freezing of the membranes

Transforming Activity of the Rho Family GTPase, Wrch-1, a Wnt-regulated Cdc42 Homolog, Is Dependent on a Novel Carboxyl-terminal Palmitoylation Motif

Wrch-1 is a Rho family GTPase that shares strong sequence and functional similarity with Cdc42. Like Cdc42, Wrch-1 can promote anchorage-independent growth transformation. We determined that activated Wrch-1 also promoted anchorage-dependent growth transformation of NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. Wrch-1 contains a distinct carboxyl-terminal extension not found in Cdc42, suggesting potential differences in subcellular location and function. Consistent with this, we found that Wrch-1 associated extensively with plasma membrane and endosomes, rather than with cytosol and perinuclear membranes like Cdc42. Like Cdc42, Wrch-1 terminates in a CAAX tetrapeptide (where C is cysteine, A is aliphatic amino acid, and X is any amino acid) motif (CCFV), suggesting that Wrch-1 may be prenylated similarly to Cdc42. Most surprisingly, unlike Cdc42, Wrch-1 did not incorporate isoprenoid moieties, and Wrch-1 membrane localization was not altered by inhibitors of protein prenylation. Instead, we showed that Wrch-1 is modified by the fatty acid palmitate, and pharmacologic inhibition of protein palmitoylation caused mislocalization of Wrch-1. Most interestingly, mutation of the second cysteine of the CCFV motif (CCFV > CSFV), but not the first, abrogated both Wrch-1 membrane localization and transformation. These results suggest that Wrch-1 membrane association, subcellular localization, and biological activity are mediated by a novel membrane-targeting mechanism distinct from that of Cdc42 and other isoprenylated Rho family GTPases