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Why is There no Simple Way of Measuring AnimalWelfare?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

G Mason  and
M Mendl
G Mason*
Affiliation:
Sub-department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA, UK and Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge
M Mendl
Affiliation:
Sub-department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA, UK and Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge
*
† Contact for correspondence and requestsfor reprints
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Abstract

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Although the physiological and behavioural changes that can indicate poor welfareare generally agreed upon, using these measures in practice sometimes yieldsresults that are hard to interpret. For example, different types of measure maysuggest quite different things about an animal's welfare. Suchcontradictions are often due to the differing properties of the variables beingmeasured. How each variable responds to a stressor can be affected by severalfactors - the type of unpleasant stimulus to which the animal is exposed; whenand for how long exposure occurs; the animal's psychological state, egdoes it feel that it is in control?; and the time at which the measurement ismade, relative to the stressor. Typical responses also often differ betweenspecies and between individuals, and may even change in a single individual overtime. Furthermore, some responses used to assess welfare lack specificity: theycan be elicited by neutral or even pleasant events as well as by aversive ones.Appreciating these factors is vital when designing experiments, when choosingwhat to measure along with each welfare variable, and when interpreting results.Even after taking these factors into consideration, interpreting a result canstill be difficult. One approach then is to consider the effects on welfare ofthe changes measured, eg if there is immunosuppression, does the animal succumbto disease? Another is to use the animal's behaviour to indicate itspreference for, or aversion to, particular environments. Ultimately, however,interpreting welfare measures involves subjective judgements which will beinfluenced by the nature of our concern for the animal under consideration. Byraising these problems, we hope that this review will highlight and clarify theapparent contradictions that sometimes emerge in scientific studies of animalwelfare, and help researchers improve the designs of their experiments for thebenefit of the animals concerned.

Keywords

animal welfareexperimental designmeasurementstress
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 2 , Issue 4 , November 1993 , pp. 301 - 319
Copyright
© 1993 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Footnotes

1

Present address: Scottish Agricultural College, Edinburgh, UK

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