With this issue, Animal Welfare enters its fifth year. The format has not changed since the journal was inaugurated in 1992: the material published is still essentially refereed scientific/technical articles and signed book reviews. There has, however, recently been an increase in the number of pages per issue. This enlargement not only means that the journal is better ‘value for money’, it is becoming necessary now that Animal Welfare is attracting a rising number of quality manuscripts.

There has been increasing policy debate about farm animal welfare over the last 5-10 years in a number of countries, particularly concerning the need for government intervention, for example by means of legislation. Assessment of farm animal welfare policy requires some evaluation of the associated relative costs and benefits involved. When considering the benefits, it is desirable not only to collate scientific evidence about the effects of policy on the welfare of animals but, also on the extent to which citizens in society want such a policy and the benefits that they perceive to result from it. This paper describes an exploratory survey which tests the application of a technique, contingent valuation, to estimate, in money terms, the benefits that people perceive to be associated with specific measures to improve farm animal welfare through eliciting their willingness to pay for welfare legislation (a case-study relating to the banning of battery cages in egg production is used). The study shows that the methodology could provide very useful information to policy makers and others interested in public perceptions and concerns about animal welfare, and public support for animal welfare policies.

It is commonly assumed that animals suffer if they cannot perform behaviours seen in wild conspecifics. Although comparisons with the behaviour of wild conspecifics are a popular method of assessing the welfare of captive animals, their validity has not been fully assessed. Homeostatic models of motivation suggest that many behaviours are stimulus driven rather than internally generated. Thus, it is possible that the non-performance of some wild-type behaviours does not necessarily compromise animal welfare, unless welfare is defined as being compromised by such non-performance. The flexibility of wild animal behaviour and the fact that animals free to perform the complete range of wild behaviours can suffer, must also put into the question the validity of such comparisons. Technical criticisms also arise when one considers the difficulty of constructing accurate and unbiased time budgets for wild animals. It is possible that the expressions of wild-type behaviours correlate with enhanced welfare, rather than cause enhanced welfare. Thus, if the consequences of behaviour are more important than the expression of behaviour itself, environmental enrichment does not necessarily need to rely upon the performance of wild-type behaviours for the improvement of animal welfare. Therefore, although behavioural comparisons with wild animals can be considered as potentially useful indicators of behavioural differences, they cannot always be relied upon to give an objective assessment of animal welfare. To make an assessment of welfare, behavioural comparisons with wild animals should be used in conjunction with other techniques to demonstrate that the consequences of non-performance of wild behaviours results in impoverished welfare.

In the Family Pen System piglets and fatteners grow up in species-specific family groups that correspond to the normal social organization of domestic pigs. The feasibility of a technologically improved version of this alternative housing system, originally designed by Alex Stolba, was tested on a commercial farm for two and a half years. Eighty-one litters were born in three family groups within this period. Average cycle length was 170 ± 24 (SD) days, resulting in 2.15 litters per sow per year. All piglets were suckled for at least seven weeks. In 53.8 per cent of the cycles lactational oestrus occurred before the piglets were seven-weeks-old. The litters of sows which did not show lactational oestrus were artificially weaned and returned to the family group as soon as the sow had been served. At the beginning there were problems with piglet health and crushing, but in the last 21 months of the study there was a stable reproductive performance of 19.5 piglets (28-days-old) reared per sow per year (n = 53 litters). Sows that had been raised themselves in the Family Pen System reared 21.4 piglets per year (n = 25 litters). In conclusion, the technologically improved version of the Family Pen System was found to be practicable on a commercial farm.

Eight baboon groups (Papio sp.) were observed for over one hundred scan samples both before and after the provision of structural enrichment. Additions to their home-cage included a galvanized ladder suspended horizontally by chains and a plastic drum hung from the ladder. Observations were conducted for three weeks before and three weeks after the structures were added to determine changes in space use. The baboons ‘ age-sex class and location were recorded at 10 minute intervals over a 60 minute time period. Groups were categorized as small, medium or large for analysis. The baboons spent most of their time on the floor and the bench and this pattern did not change with the addition of the new structures. The female baboons used the new structures an average of 16.5 per cent of the observation time, the males used them 13.6 per cent of the time, and the infants used them 10.1 per cent of the time. Of the new structures, males, females and infants all used the ladder the most. Females and infants used areas that were inaccessible to males and no group size differences were found.

The effects of food and/or water deprivation at different ambient temperatures (7 or 35 °C) on stress hormone release in sheep (n = 8), were studied to provide background data for research into the effects of road transport. Blood samples were taken from catheterized animals at the start and, at 6h intervals, during 48h tests in an environmental chamber. Cortisol release was unaffected by temperature or deprivation state but was stimulated by introduction to the chamber. Prolactin secretion showed a similar tendency and levels of this hormone were generally higher in the first test, whichever chamber was used. Heat exposure also had a prolonged stimulatory effect on prolactin release, especially in the first test. Growth hormone concentrations were rather variable but tended to be greatest when the animals were deprived of food. Measurements of plasma osmolality indicated that sheep remained in water balance, even when water was withheld for 48h, unless they had access to food. The results suggest that under laboratory conditions, and over a wide thermal range, withholding food and water for 48h does not induce Cortisol or prolactin release in sheep. However, exposure to novel situations seems to have a stimulatory effect.

Observations on the external locations of harpoon wounds were made on 127 minke whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata taken during Japanese commercial whaling operations in the 1978/79 Antarctic season. The numbers of wounds per whale did not vary between catcher boats, the average being 1.2. Although the cranio-thoracic region seemed to be the target of choice (bearing 60.5% of all wounds examined), the proportion of wounds in this region varied significantly between catcher boats, ranging from 43.6 to 75.7 per cent. It is suggested that this variation arose because to hit the cranio-thoracic region, the first section of the whale to surface, requires considerable skill on the part of the gunner.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether running an alleyway can be used to measure the motivation of lizards. Six, eyed skinks, Chalcides ocellatus, were trained to run an alleyway to reach sand in which to hide. Each skink was deprived of sand for 0, 1, 5 or 15 minutes on four occasions and the times to run the alleyway and the latencies to move were recorded. When the sand was 38cm from the start, the three deprivation periods resulted in decreased latencies and increased speed (P < 0.01), but there was no difference between the speeds or latencies for any of the deprivation periods. In a second experiment, the sand was moved to 94cm from the start. Latencies to move did decrease (p < 0.05) as in the first experiment, but speed did not increase. Within certain constraints, this methodology appears to be a good way of assessing motivation of reptiles.

The severity of respiratory distress occurring prior to loss of posture during exposure to: 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 or 90 per cent carbon dioxide in air; 2 or 5 per cent residual oxygen in argon; 30 per cent carbon dioxide in argon with either 2 or 5 per cent residual oxygen; or 40 per cent carbon dioxide in argon with either 2 or 5 per cent residual oxygen, was subjectively determined in pigs from their behaviour. The results indicated that exposure to 2 per cent oxygen in argon (anoxia) induced minimal respiratory distress, 30 per cent carbon dioxide in argon with 2 per cent residual oxygen induced a moderate distress and exposure to all the concentrations of carbon dioxide in air induced severe respiratory distress in the pigs. From the animal welfare point of view, using 2 per cent oxygen in argon (anoxia) appears to be the optimum choice for gas stunning pigs. Secondly, a mixture of 30 per cent carbon dioxide in argon with 2 per cent residual oxygen is preferred to 90 per cent carbon dioxide in air.

Each year now since 1991 the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has produced a review of the involvement of the Society with scientific matters. The 1994 Review has now been published and contains an account of the research, development and technical work carried out by the RSPCA Science Division ie the Farm Animal Department, the Research Animal Department, the Wildlife Department and the RSPCA Veterinary Division. There are detailed lists of the meetings and events attended by the staff of these two divisions, of RSPCA scientific publications, of reports and papers presented during 1994 and of grants awarded to outside individuals and organizations for scientific investigatory work and for technical developments.

This report provides a very easily read summary of the techniques and welfare problems involved in the creation and maintenance of transgenic farm animals. The author suggests that the motive for carrying out this type of biotechnological research is largely financial, and that there has been little regard for the welfare of the animals used. The stated view of The Compassion in World Farming Trust, given in the conclusion to the report is that ‘it is unethical for us to impose suffering on other sentient beings either for monetary gain or for medical “advancement”, human or nonhuman’. It is therefore not surprising that the report is categorically opposed to the genetic engineering of farm animals.

In April 1995 the Animal Health Trust, The British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare Foundation and The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals held the first of a proposed series of joint one-day symposia on welfare problems of food animals and horses. The first of the series was subtitled The Foot. This was a good choice, for foot conditions are an important welfare and economic problem in farm animals and horses.

The Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand in July 1993 requested the Sub-Committee on Animal Welfare to undertake a review process in relation to an Australian policy for the housing of laying hens. This request was driven by a need to address the issue and its animal welfare aspects at the national level, and to consider community views as well as the scientific and commercial aspects of the problem. A working group was set up with members from a wide range of interests. There were animal welfarists, animal scientists, behaviourists, veterinarians and representatives of the Australian egg industry. The lengthy and detailed report was published in December 1994. It is essentially a critically argued account of the interplay of the various scientific, ethical, social and economic factors which impinge on the real and perceived welfare of laying hens. It does largely take account of Australian conditions but the approaches to the welfare of layer hens elsewhere in the world are considered in detail. The conclusions which are numerous and in most cases realistic, are applicable to most situations under which egg laying poultry are kept and used. This authoritative report is essential background reading for all who are seriously interested in the welfare of the layer hen.

The broiler bird is the most commonly kept farm animal in the UK. Each year some 650 million of these animals are produced and eaten. The vast majority are reared intensively in, what many people would consider, overcrowded conditions. They have such a high growth rate of muscle tissue that, in some ways, they often overgrow the ability of their legs to support their body weight. Many of the birds consequently suffer from painful leg disorders in the latter part of their brief lives. They are collected, often in a somewhat rough manner, transported to the poultry slaughterhouse, suspended upside down on a hanging rail and stunned/killed by a sometimes inefficient electrical process. Broiler production is thus probably the biggest single animal welfare problem in the UK.

In New Zealand the law states that no person can conduct any scientific research or use animals in teaching, other than in accordance with a code of ethical conduct drawn up by his or her research institute. The code must be approved by the Minister of Agriculture and one of the main requirements is that the institute must establish an Animal Ethics Committee to oversee the use of animals within that Institute. In effect animal experimentation in New Zealand is controlled by ‘statutory’ local animal ethical committees. This is in contrast with the UK situation where statutory control is centrally organized by the Home Office using the powers conferred on it by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. It is possible that the standards set in the two countries are very similar but are arrived at by different legal/administrative processes.

There has always been a difficulty in finding out possible funding sources for scientific work on refinement, reduction or replacement of animal experiments - the 3R alternatives. Barbara Orlans in her book In the Name of Science: Issues in Responsible Animal Experimentation (Oxford University Press, 1993) started a list of possible sources; this list was amplified and presented by Amelia Tarzi at the First World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences, held in 1993 in Baltimore (USA). A new and expanded list under the authorship of Orlans and Tarzi has now been published as a directory by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It contains the names, addresses, policies and sometimes indications of monies available of 59 organizations scattered across some 16 countries.

Over the last 30 or so years the selection pressures put upon farm livestock have been such that we now have a number of vastly ‘improved’ animals - improved in the sense that they have changed in size and shape, grow faster, produce more and are more economical to keep. The speed at which these changes have been brought about has increased as techniques such as artificial insemination and embryo transfer have been developed and used.

Each year large numbers of puppies and kittens are taken to animal shelters and veterinary groups for euthanasia. These unwanted young animals are largely the result of the indiscriminate breeding of household dogs and cats. The surplus animals not killed by shelter personnel and/or by veterinarians are often abandoned or escape, and are the root cause of the stray and feral, dog and cat problem.