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Ethology applied to animal ethics
Posted in: Production, Welfare by admin on July 25, 2011 | No Comments
According to modern animal welfare legislation, animals should be protected from suffering and lasting harm not for the benefit of us humans as in earlier anthropocentric conceptions, but in their own interest. The driving force behind animal protection is our empathy with animals which triggers feelings of compassion. Empathy with animals most likely is a psychological side-effect of adaptive empathy among humans, and its expression is largely determined by the degree of similarity between animals and us in morphology and behaviour. As a result, compassion with animals is vulnerable to anthropocentric bias, prejudice, and deception, and animal protection based on compassion is likely to be unfair towards animals. Moreover, from an ethological perspective, protecting animals in their own interest represents true altruism which places considerable ethical demand on us. However, there may be hidden selfish intentions that question the altruistic nature of animal protection, while at the same time facilitating its implementation. For example, animal protection could help to avoid unpleasant feelings induced by witnessing cruel actions towards animals. Alternatively, exhibiting a caring personality towards animals could represent human social behaviour that pays off indirectly through building up a caring reputation. It is, therefore, important to distinguish between our intention to protect animals (which may be partly selfish) and true animal protection that needs to be justified biologically by values that apply to the animals. Based on the sentientist nature of animal welfare legislation, the greatest challenges to applied ethologists, and important ones as testified by this special issue, are to determine sentience in animals and to establish valid and reliable measures of affective states such as suffering and well-being. Moreover, the integrity concept would relieve scientists from solving the ‘hard problem’ of animal consciousness first, or from establishing valid measures of demand or aversion that are notoriously difficult to establish. In particular, measures of behavioural integrity could offer an opportunity for applied ethology to strengthen its impact on ethical and legal decision-taking, thereby advancing animal welfare without compromising scientific credibility.
For more information the full article can be found at http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/issues
Investigations on genetic disease resistance in swine—A contribution to the reduction of pain, suffering and damage in farm animals
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This review deals with genetic disease resistance in pigs as a prospective opportunity to reduce pain, suffering and damage in swine production. Even under favourable terms of housing and management, infectious diseases are wide-spread, and have to be ranked among the major sources for suffering in international pig production. There is abundant variability in resistance/susceptibility of pig populations and breeds to a number of pathogens, including several viruses, bacteria, and parasites, even at similar performance levels. Practical applications of disease resistance in farm animals and established knowledge on disease resistance in swine are presented. The difficulty lies in the identification of carriers of favourable gene variants. With tools and technologies developed in the context of genome projects, new opportunities to dissect the genetic control of host response to infection are presented with QTL analysis of Sarcocystis miescheriana resistance given as an exemplary parasite model: this model demonstrates the existence of outstanding gene loci and their role for polygenic trait variability. It further provides evidence for common mechanisms involved in resistance to different pathogens. Although a long way from the model to markers for disease resistance, pain, suffering, and damage might be reduced by the applications of genetic disease resistance in pig production in the future.
For more information the full article can be found at http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/issues
The effect of sampling strategy on the estimated prevalence of welfare outcome measures on finishing pig farms
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The effect of sampling strategy on the estimates of prevalence of some welfare outcome measures was investigated as part of a larger project examining the feasibility and benefits of incorporating some on-farm welfare outcome assessments into UK Pig Farm Assurance Schemes. All finishing pigs (>40 kg) on 6 farms that had pens of 25 pigs or less were assessed for dirtiness, body lesions, tail lesions, bursae, lameness, oral behaviour and pigs requiring hospitalisation. A statistical sampling methodology was applied to the data to generate 10,000 random samples for each measure, on each farm and for every possible number of sampled pens on that farm. The 95% confidence interval range, the proportion of samples outside a ‘tolerance’ range and the proportion of samples that would wrongly classify the farm with respect to a ‘threshold’ were calculated for each measure on each farm for every possible sample size. It was found that even large sample sizes were unable to accurately reflect the whole farm for measures with very low prevalences (lameness and pigs requiring hospitalisation). For the other measures, as the number of pens sampled increased, the confidence interval range and the proportion of samples outside the ‘tolerance’ range reduced. The differing inter-pen variation in prevalence on a farm gave rise to differences in accuracy of prevalence estimates between the farms. Those farms with a true farm prevalence close to the threshold required more pens to be sampled to achieve the same level of accuracy of classification as other farms with similar confidence intervals but a more extreme prevalence. The effect of sampling on the estimate of prevalence should be considered when an accurate prevalence of the whole population is required.
For more information the full article can be found at http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/issues
Interdependence of welfare outcome measures and potential confounding factors on finishing pig farms
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The factors influencing the observed prevalence of some welfare outcome measures were investigated as part of a larger project examining the feasibility and benefits of incorporating on-farm welfare outcome assessments into UK Pig Farm Assurance Schemes. All finishing pigs (>40 kg) on six farms that had pens containing 25 pigs or less were assessed for dirtiness, body lesions, tail lesions, bursitis, lameness, oral behaviour and pigs requiring hospitalisation. The overall small number of significant correlations between the measures across all farms (29 out of a possible 120) and the lack of a significant correlation between any pair of measures on all six or even five farms suggests that no measure can be reliably replaced by another. On the three farms with the highest farm prevalence of dirtiness there were significant negative correlations between pen prevalences of dirtiness and recorded tail and/or body lesions. The prevalence of pigs requiring hospitalisation was positively correlated with lameness on four farms and tail lesions on three farms. Using a univariate general linear model the time of observation was only found to correlate with one measure, the dirtiness of the pigs, with the prevalence of dirtiness in pens on the three ‘dirtiest’ farms increasing as the day progressed. There was no effect of the stocking density, group size, time since feeding and time since straw provision on the prevalence of any of the outcome measures. It is recommended that to prevent bias in the recording of tail and body lesions farm assurance assessments are conducted on pigs with a prevalence for dirtiness of less than 17%. Lower prevalences of dirtiness are more likely to occur on some farms first thing in the morning.
For more information the full article can be found at http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/issues
Effects of exposing pigs to moving and odors in a simulated slaughter chute
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Pigs in the finishing stage are infrequently handled and can be difficult to handle when experiencing novel situations. This study sought to determine the effects of minimal training and a novel odor/taste reward on the ease of handling finishing pigs in a novel environment. Pigs were assigned to one of four treatments organized in a factorial arrangement: training and odor exposure at the barn or not (trained or non-trained, respectively) and provision or not of maple syrup in the simulated pre-stun area of a slaughter plant (reward or no reward, respectively). 14 pens of trained pigs were let out of their home pens and onto a trailer for 10 min/day for 10 days and could chew on maple syrup soaked flags. 14 pens of non-trained pigs were not handled or exposed to maple syrup. After the 10 days, trained and non-trained pigs were transported, unloaded and then experienced a novel simulated pre-stun area. A maple syrup-soaked flag (reward) was dragged through the simulated pre-stun area and put in a simulated CO2 stun box. Nonrewarded pigs were not exposed to maple syrup. Trained pigs unloaded the trailer and reached the resting pen faster than non-trained pigs. Trained pigs had fewer blood neutrophils and more lymphocytes than non-trained pigs. Rewarded pigs received fewer taps before reaching the simulated CO2 stun box than non-rewarded pigs. Cortisol concentration increased when the total time to reach the simulated CO2 stun box increased. Pigs that were allowed to exercise out of their home pen and were given access to an odor/taste reward moved faster and the neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio was decreased when exposed to a novel environment containing the same odor/taste reward.
For more information the full article can be found at http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/issues
Measuring cutaneous thermal nociception in group-housed pigs using laser technique—Effects of laser power output
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Nociceptive testing (the testing to evaluate the perception of pain) is a valuable tool in the development of pharmaceutical products, for basic nociceptive research, and for studying changes in pain sensitivity is investigated after inflammatory states or nerve injury. However, in pigs only very limited knowledge about nociceptive processes are available, especially methodology which is applicable for pigs kept in group-housing without disturbing the daily routines of the animals. To validate a laser-based method to measure thermal nociception in group-housed pigs, we performed two experiments observing the behavioural responses toward cutaneous nociceptive stimulation from a computer-controlled CO2-laser beam applied to either the caudal part of the metatarsus on the hind legs or the shoulder region of gilts. In Exp. 1, effects of laser power output on nociceptive responses toward stimulation on the caudal aspects of the metatarsus were examined using 15 gilts kept in one group and tested in individual feeding stalls after feeding. Increasing the power output led to gradually decreasing latency to respond and affected the types of responding (less non-responding, less moving leg, less lifting leg, and more kicking). Furthermore, the occurrence of tail flicking during laser stimulation was increased. In Exp. 2, effects of laser power output on nociceptive responses toward stimulation on the shoulder region were examined in 10 gilts kept under the same conditions. Again, increasing the power output led to gradually decreasing latency to respond and affected the types of responding (less non-responding, less moving shoulder, less moving body, higher occurrence of muscle twitch, and higher occurrence of rubbing shoulder). In conclusion, the results of the two experiments suggest that behavioural responses to nociceptive cutaneous laser stimulation are a valid measure of nociception in grouphoused gilts which are tested with a minimal disturbance of daily routines, and both when applied to the hind legs and to the shoulder region. Furthermore, pig nociceptive responses appear to be graded, to include new types of behaviour as the nociceptive input increases and to show elements of site-specificity.
For more information the full article can be found at http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/issues
A note on genetic parameters of gilt responses to humans
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In livestock production pigs are handled frequently by humans from their first day of life. Negative experiences with humans result in chronic stress and may have an influence on oestrus behaviour, prolonged parturition and a higher number of stillborn piglets. In this study, a response test towards a stockperson was evaluated for improved maternal behaviour and increased piglet survival. Records were available from 638 German Landrace gilts with 860 observations tested for the response to an observer in the familiar environment of the mating centre. The degree of response was scored in five ordered categories. Fertility information (number of piglets born alive and stillborn) was available from 293 sows. The figures for survival rate and crushing by the sow were used from 2408 piglets. The estimated heritability in the human response test was h2 = 0.09. Gilts which displayed only low response to humans showed fewer stillborn or crushed piglets in their first litter. The conclusion of this study was that the measurement of gilts responses to humans could be collected under production conditions since the gilts were tested in their home pens. The estimated additive genetic variance indicates that there is enough variance for selection. The scoring gives some evidence that sows with low responses to an observer have an improved piglet survival rate. The data also indicated that totally unresponsive sows had a higher number of stillborn piglets.
For more information the full article can be found at http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/issues
Pain and discomfort in male piglets during surgical castration with and without local anaesthesia as determined by vocalization and defence behaviour
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Surgical castration of male piglets without anaesthesia is routine in domestic pig production causing serious distress and impairment of welfare. Thus, the EU is seeking alternatives, with local anaesthesia being one of the possible candidates. The aim of the present study was to compare surgical castration without anaesthesia (castration by cutting the spermatic cords (C) with castration under local anaesthesia (CL), the act of intratesticular anaesthesia (L), and the combined effect of local anaesthesia and the following castration (L + CL) under practical field conditions on a commercial farm. Distress was estimated according to a set of behavioural indicators derived from vocalisation and defence movements of the piglets. C had the overall worst effects on the indices, made up assumingly by the pain due to the intensity and duration of the procedure, although it was not possible to separate the effects of handling and the procedure of castration. Local anaesthesia reduces the intensity of pain experienced during castration as assessed by changes in the behavioural indicators used here. But this positive effect was partly obscured by additional distress due to prolonged handling. It is concluded that the welfare benefits of local anaesthesia for castration of piglets, as carried out and assessed here, may not fully meet expectations, and that further research is needed to find ways to reduce the suffering of male piglets, that it is necessary to castrate.
For more information the full article can be found at http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/issues
Autonomic reactions indicating positive affect during acoustic reward learning in domestic pigs
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Cognitive processes, such as stimulus appraisal, are important in generating emotional states and successful coping with cognitive challenges is thought to induce positive emotions. We investigated learning behaviour and autonomic reactions, including heart rate (HR) and its variability (standard deviation (SDNN) and root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) of a time series of interbeat intervals). Twenty-four domestic pigs, housed in six groups of four, were confronted with a cognitive challenge integrated into their familiar housing environment. Pigs were rewarded with food after they mastered the discrimination of an individual acoustic signal followed by an operant task. All pigs quickly learned the tasks, while baseline SDNN and RMSSD increased significantly throughout the experiment. In reaction to the signals, pigs showed a sudden increase in HR, SDNN and RMSSD, and a decrease in the RMSSD/SDNN ratio. Immediately after this reaction, the HR and SDNN decreased, and the RMSSD/SDNN ratio increased. During feeding, the HR and the RMSSD/SDNN ratio stayed elevated. The pigs showed no cardiac reaction to the sound signals for other pigs or their feeding pen mates. We concluded that the level of cognitive challenge was adequate and that the observed changes in the autonomic tone, which are related to different dimensions of the affective response (e.g. arousal and valence), indicated arousal and positive affective appraisal by the pigs. These findings provide valuable insight into the assessment of positive emotions in animals and support the use of an adequate cognitive enrichment to improve animal welfare.
For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00033472
Domestic pigs, Sus scrofa, adjust their foraging behaviour to whom they are foraging with
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Subordinate domestic pigs show behavioural tactics similar to the ones described as tactical deception in primates and corvids (i.e. crows, ravens and jays) when foraging with scrounging dominants for a single monopolizable food source. Here we investigated further whether they can learn deceptive tactics to counter a scrounger by first retrieving the smaller of two hidden food baits, and whether they can discriminate between different types of co-forager. Seven subordinate pigs were tested with co-foragers, and also alone, when foraging for two differently sized food baits hidden in two of 12 buckets in a foraging arena. Unlike their co-foragers, the subordinates already knew where the foods were located; co-foragers differed in whether they were scroungers or not. Subordinates did not respond to scrounging with the predicted deceptive tactic of visiting the small bait first. They did, however, lose their overall preference for retrieving the large bait first and increased their foraging speed compared to when foraging with nonscroungers or on their own. The findings suggest the ability to discriminate between different individual co-foragers in domestic pigs, and increasing foraging speed as a way of responding to exploitation by scrounging dominants in competitive foraging situations with several food patches.
For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00033472