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 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.

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 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.

Tests of emotionality conducted outside the home-cage show that rodents from standard laboratory housing are more anxious than animals from enriched housing; however, it is not known if this also indicates increased anxiety within the home-cage. We used a novel method, recording the self-administration of a psychoactive anxiolytic, to examine home-cage anxiety levels of laboratory mice (three per cage) in Standard (n = 10 cages), Unpredictable (n = 10 cages) and Enriched (n = 6 cages) housing. The mice were given a choice of drinking either non-drugged water or a solution of the benzodiazepine Midazolam. There was a significant effect of housing on the proportion of total fluid consumed from the bottle containing Midazolam solution (P = 0.02). Mice from Standard and Unpredictable cages drank a greater proportion than mice from Enriched cages. This indicates that mice from the Standard and Unpredictable laboratory caging may have been experiencing greater anxiety than mice from the Enriched cages. There was also a significant effect of bottle position (P = 0.002). Mice from the Standard and Unpredictable cages drank a greater proportion of total fluid from the bottle containing Midazolam solution when this was toward the rear of the cage rack, ie in a location that was less susceptible to extraneous disturbance. Monitoring self-administration of psychoactive drugs as a method of welfare assessment could be applied to a wide variety of housing conditions, husbandry practices, or experimental procedures that putatively induce negative mental states. The major finding is that standard cages for laboratory rodents may induce greater anxiety than enriched cages. This is discussed in terms of animal welfare and the validity of data from animals housed in minimalistic environments.

The behaviour and serum Cortisol concentrations of three captive female African elephants (Loxodonta africana) were studied to determine whether their stereotypic swaying was more prevalent before regularly scheduled events in the elephants’ routine, and whether the elephants that exhibited more stereotyped swaying had lower mean serum cortisol concentrations. Behavioural data were collected during hour-long observations balanced across three periods, and during 15-min observations prior to the elephants being moved to different portions of their enclosure. Observational data were collected using instantaneous focal sampling of behaviours every 30s. Serum cortisol measures were obtained through weekly blood withdrawal from the elephants’ ears. Of the three elephants, two exhibited stereotyped swaying, which accounted for a mean of 0.4% of the scans during the hour-long observations and a mean of 18% of the scans prior to the elephants being moved between different parts of the enclosure. Swaying was highly variable among the individual elephants during both categories of observations. Additionally, both elephants swayed more prior to moving in the afternoon than prior to moving in the morning. Analyses of serum cortisol concentrations indicated that each elephant had a different mean cortisol level, which did not clearly correspond with the expression of swaying. The findings indicate that a rigidly scheduled management event may elicit stereotyped swaying in the studied elephants. Future research should document the behavioural and physiological effects of an altered management routine to improve captive elephant welfare.

During summer and autumn of 1994-1997, we determined the movements and mortality of 38 adult male Eastern grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) that had been captured in urban-suburban backyards and translocated to a large forest. The squirrels did not fare well. Squirrels not found dead or classified as ‘probable mortality’ disappeared from the forest with a median time to disappearance of II days. Ninety-seven per cent (37 of 38) of the squirrels either died or disappeared from the release area within 88 days.

Six veterinary practices participated in a study of cats involved in road accidents. Of 127 cats, 93 survived, of which 58 had moderate to very severe injuries. The mean period of hospitalisation was five days and the mean length of veterinary treatment was 23 days. The cost of treatment was less than £400 for 84% of cats. Owners of 51 surviving cats completed questionnaires within three to five months of the accident. The mean time it took for their cats to recover was 47 days (n = 41; range 1-150 days). Eight cats had not recovered within five months, four of which had had a limb amputated. The severity of the cats’ injuries correlated positively with the cost of treatment, length of hospitalisation and treatment, and time to recovery (rs > 0.69, P < 0.001). Behavioural changes were noted in 34 cats; 23 were described as being more nervous, going outdoors less, or being more fearful of cars, roads or going outdoors. Half of the owners treated their cat differently: 17 restricted the time their cat spent outdoors and II worried more about their cat. The effects of the accident on the owner's emotions and finances were measured using a scale from I (minimum) to 7 (maximum). Most owners registered a score of 5, 6 or 7 for effect on emotions and I, 2 or 4 for effect on finances; the scores were not correlated. Road accidents are an important cause of poor welfare in cats and their owners.

The motivation of juvenile rabbits to graze was tested by offering a choice of coarse mix or grass as rewards to rabbits fed a nutritionally adequate diet of carrots and hay. Before measuring the motivation of the 16 rabbits, eight were offered access to grass for 16 days and the remaining eight were kept in outdoor hutches. An initial preference test was then conducted using a Y-maze apparatus, in which the rabbits were offered a choice of grass or coarse mix for 3 min. The rabbits that had not previously been offered grass had a strong preference for the grass reward, whereas those that had chose coarse mix and grass equally. Measurement of rabbits’ behaviour during the reward period revealed that rabbits spent longer eating if their reward was grass; this difference was particularly notable toward the end of the 3 min period. If they received a coarse mix reward, they spent more of the 3 min self-grooming, standing still and chewing the wire of the cage. Feeding rabbits with a coarse mix diet may therefore increase the likelihood of problem behaviours including inactivity and trichophagia. The rabbits were also trained in a novel operant test of motivation for the two rewards, in which they were required to circumnavigate an object several times before receiving a reward. The number of circumnavigations before a reward was offered was progressively increased, and rabbits were offered two opportunities to take the reward at each level. Although the rabbits were prepared to circumnavigate the object up to II times on average, there was little evidence that they would work harder for a grass reward than for a coarse mix reward. This may have been because they had previously had experience of grass during the preference tests. It is concluded that juvenile rabbits show a strong initial preference for a grass reward, compared with coarse mix, but that this preference disappears after brief exposure to grass. There was no strong evidence that rabbits will work harder to receive a grass reward than to receive a coarse mix reward.

Historically, pet dogs were trained using mainly negative reinforcement or punishment, but positive reinforcement using rewards has recently become more popular. The methods used may have different impacts on the dogs’ welfare. We distributed a questionnaire to 364 dog owners in order to examine the relative effectiveness of different training methods and their effects upon a pet dog's behaviour. When asked how they trained their dog on seven basic tasks, 66% reported using vocal punishment, 12% used physical punishment, 60% praise (social reward), 51% food rewards and II% play. The owner's ratings for their dog's obedience during eight tasks correlated positively with the number of tasks which they trained using rewards (P< 0.01), but not using punishment (P = 0.5). When asked whether their dog exhibited any of 16 common problematic behaviours, the number of problems reported by the owners correlated with the number of tasks for which their dog was trained using punishment (P< 0.001), but not using rewards (P = 0.17). Exhibition of problematic behaviours may be indicative of compromised welfare, because such behaviours can be caused by— or result in — a state of anxiety and may lead to a dog being relinquished or abandoned. Because punishment was associated with an increased incidence of problematic behaviours, we conclude that it may represent a welfare concern without concurrent benefits in obedience. We suggest that positive training methods may be more useful to the pet-owning community.

The objective was to evaluate the welfare implications of electrical stunning prior to gill-cutting of farmed African catfish as an alternative to live chilling in combination with gutting. Electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings, in combination with observation of behaviour and responses to noxious stimuli, were used to assess brain and cardiac function in African catfish (body-weight 1571 ± 362 g [mean ± standard deviation], 32 males and 26 females). In the first experiment, the minimum electrical current required to induce a general epileptiform insult by head-only stunning was determined. The individual catfish were fixed in a specially designed restrainer, and applied voltages of 150 V, 200 V, 250 V, 300 V or 350 V (50 Hz AC) were delivered via scissor-model stunning tongs for approximately I s. A general epileptiform insult was observed in 31 fish, for which a successful EEG recording was obtained using 362 ± 32 V, 629 ± 180 mA for 1.2 s. The durations of the tonic, the clonic and the exhaustion phases were 8 ± 3 s, 12 ± 7 s and 7 ± 5 s as measured by EEG, respectively; a distinct exhaustion phase was not clear in II fish. The total duration of the insult was 23 ± 8 s. After the insult the fish recovered. The heart rate was 63 ± 29 beats min I prior to stunning. After stunning, the ECG revealed extrasystole and was irregular. By using an average current of 629 ± 180 mA (at approximately 360 V, 50 Hz AC), at least 91% of fish are effectively stunned with a confidence level of 95%. In the second experiment, the behaviour of 10 individual catfish, which were able to move freely in water, was observed following head-only stunning (370 V). The durations of the tonic, clonic and exhaustion phases in free-swimming fish were II ± 8 s, 20 ± 5 s and 23 ± 20 s, respectively. All fish recovered. In the third experiment, a group of seven catfish was head-only stunned followed by gill-cutting to kill them as a second procedure (ie after recovery from head-only stunning). No brain activity was seen on the EEG 12 ± 5 s after stunning. However, two fish showed responses to noxious stimuli after 2 min and 5 min. A second group of seven catfish was gill-cut only. They responded to noxious stimuli for at least 15 min. The blood loss was 1.2% and I.0% of live weight for the first and second group, respectively. It may be concluded from our results that African catfish are effectively stunned for 23 ± 8 s with a current of 629 ± 180 mA for 1.2 s, after which they recover. Since evoked responses may remain for at least 5 min after stunning and gill-cutting, we recommended that the stunning and killing procedure should be optimised.

Traditionally, game-keepers and agriculturalists have controlled predators using lethal methods, but there are circumstances under which these may be ineffective or inappropriate for animal welfare or conservation reasons. Generalised aversion is potentially a form of non-lethal control, in which predators are conditioned to avoid foul-tasting bait, causing them subsequently to generalise this avoidance to similar, but untreated, prey, thereby affording it protection. In this exploratory study, a group of captive red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) was successfully conditioned to avoid untreated milk after drinking milk containing BitrexTM, a bitter substance that they were unable to detect except by taste. Our foxes were members of a family group and so housed together to reduce stress, and therefore the individuals’ responses to the various treatments may not have been independent. As a result, we combined data from the three animals, and our most conservative analyses consider the sampling population to be this fox group; we do not make inferences about foxes in general, but confine them to this fox-group. This trial was a pilot to reveal the potential for future work on wild animals. Successful application of generalised aversion to non-lethal predator control has far-reaching implications for the sport hunting industry, nature reserve management and the conservation of threatened predators requiring control, as well as clear animal welfare benefits.

Fast-growing broiler chickens use pen-space heterogeneously and have low activity levels, related in part to leg problems. The aim of this study was to test the effects of the addition of string and sand trays to rearing pens on the use of space, levels of activity and leg problems. Broiler chickens were reared in 12 pens (40 birds per pen). Drinkers and feeders only were present in the six control pens (C group), whereas the six other pens were enriched (E group) with two sand trays and string. Behaviour was recorded by scan and focal sampling on days 2-3, 13-14, 23-24 and 34-35. Bodyweight, the occurrence of tarsal deformities and the composition of tibiotarsi were measured on day 37. Chickens from the E group spent more time and stood more often in the area enriched with sand than did the g group birds. ghickens in the E group foraged in the sand throughout the rearing period, and their foraging activities were greater than those of the C group birds. They had little interest in the strings. Locomotor activity during standing bouts was enhanced in the E group on days 2-3 only. Bodyweight at day 37, the occurrence of tarsal deformities and the composition of tibiotarsi were not significantly different between groups. These results indicate that sand could attract chickens into areas that are usually rarely used, which may reduce problems resulting from their heterogeneous distribution. However, the results also indicate the difficulty of stimulating locomotion.