Animal Behaviour, Welfare, and Ethics

Environmental Enrichment

"A concept which describes how the environments of captive animals can be changed for the animals' benefit." - Goals: 1. increase behavioural diversity. 2. decrease abnormal behaviour. 3. increase no. of normal behaviour patterns. 4. increase ability to cope with changes. - Evaluation: should be useful and pertain to species specific behaviours. - Many forms: nutritional, sensory, physical, occupational, and social.

Group

"Any set of organisms, belonging to the same species, that remain together for a period of time interacting with one another to a distinctly greater degree than with other cospecifics." (Wilson, 1975)

Anthropomorphism

- "Attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behaviour to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena."

Social Behaviour

- "Behaviour of an animal or group of animals in response to others of the same or of different species."

Welfare of humans during the Industrial Revolution

- "Factory system" predominant. - One side: caused people to live miserable and unwholesome lives, cramped, unhealthy, no contact with nature, injuries, erosion of human nature and moral character. - Other side: step in the natural progression from a time of human labour to a time when automation would make labour unnecessary, ensure happy and healthy workers = increased productivity.

Konrad Lorenz

- "Instinctive" activities of birds. - Wrote King Soloman's Ring (1949) - Described imprinting and "fixed action patterns"

Audit Procedure

- % of animals stunned correctly on first attempt (95%) - % of animals remaining insensible and unconscious on the bleed rail (fail if <100%) - % of cattle that vocalise during movement through the chutes and stunning. - % of animals prodded with electric prod. - % of animals that slip or fall.

Private ownership

- 12% of Aus. households keep fish. - Low cost to enter. - Also a significant amount of high value fish.

Richard 'Humanity Dick' Martin

- 1809: Lord Erskine of Scotland presented a bill to prevent cruelty to horses, pigs, oxen, and sheep which failed. - 1822: Martin successful in passing the Martin Act which applied to large domestic animals. - 1824: Martin established the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Improving handling and stunning practices in beef

- 1996: Temple Grandin surveyed 10 beef packing plants. - 30% stunned 95% of cattle with a single shot. - In 30% of plants, there was severe abuse of cattle. - 1996: McDonalds started auditing handling and stunning practices in beef supply plants. - Used a scoring system developed by Temple Grandin for the American Meat Institute. - Food safety auditors trained by Temple Grandin to do handling and stunning audits.

Preference testing

- 2+ choices provided: how many times do they choose one option over other? - Used to determine preferences for housing conditions. - Preferences vary with time of day, physiological state, and experience of animal. - Potential disadvantages: 1. Animal will not always choose option best for long term health. 2. Relevance of results is dependent on knowing and providing the right options. 3. Results may not be very generalisable.

David Hume (1711-1776)

- A Scottish philosopher and one of the most prominent figures in the field of skepticism during the Enlightenment. - Hume took religion to task, asking why a perfect God would ever create an imperfect world, and even suggested that our own senses are fallible, bringing all observations and truths into question. - Hume's skepticism proved very influential to others, such as Immanuel Kant, and was instrumental in the shift away from rationalist thought that ended the Enlightenment.

Classical Conditioning

- A response to a new stimulus is acquired through association with an old stimulus.

The Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA)

- Accreditation standards. - 87 member organisations. - Coordinates breeding programs and sets the level of professional standards and practice. - Insurance populations and return of some species to the wild. - Holds 200 native sp and over 150 exotic sp IUCN Red list for endangered sp. - 27 species extinct in the wild but maintained by zoos. - Wildlife hospitals. - Biosecurity surveillance of disease in native wildlife.

Which physiological measures are the most reliable?

- Activity of the SNS and HPA systems. - Measurement of the biological effects of stress.

First order neuron (or primary afferent fibre)

- Actual or potential tissue trauma occurs: information received by the free superficial (peripheral) nerve endings. - These free nerve endings are pain receptors or nociceptors. - Nociceptors transmit impulses to the 1st order neuron. - The pain impulses travel up the 1st order neuron to the spinal cord.

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis

- Acute and chronic responses to stress. - Response takes longer (mins vs sec) than the SNS. - Consists of the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland, plus the adrenal cortex. Hypothalamus (CRH- stress, sleep/wake, blood cortisol) -> pituitary (beta-endorphin) (ACTH- adrenocorticotrophic hormone) -> adrenal cortex (cortisol- humans, pigs, sheep, cattle, fish; carbohydrate, fat, protein metabolism, inflammation) (corticosterone- birds and rats) *Cortisol and corticosterone circulate in the blood in both a free and a protein-bound form, but in saliva only the free form is present*

Affiliative behaviour

- Affiliates can be same or different spp. - Animals within groups more likely to be found near each other.

Counter Conditioning

- Aims to change the association that the animal makes with a fearful stimulus.

William Morton Wheeler

- American entomologist, myremecologist (study of ants), and Harvard professor. - Studied social behaviour of ants. - Instrumental in development of ethology.

Phenotypic adaptation

- An animal's observable characteristics. - Provides the ability to respond to changing circumstances by learning or physiological adaptation. - Important feature of animals living in variable environments.

Peter Singer (1946-)

- Animal Liberation (1975) helped to begin the animal rights movement. - Rejected 'speciesism.' - Interests of all beings capable of suffering are worthy of equal consideration.

Animal Welfare vs. Animal Rights

- Animal welfare: e.g. how can we improve the lives of animals in zoos? - Animal rights: e.g. zoos should not exist.

Animal Rights View

- Animals have inherent rights. - Debate about what these rights are: human rights (not to be killed for human benefit); to be respected; to be treated humanely (which may allow livestock production)

What constitutes harm?

- Any form of damage, pain, suffering, or distress (including unconsciousness) whether arising from injury, disease, or any other condition. - Reliance on Vet to prove harm.

Transport

- Approx. 10% of juvenile salmon are lost in the first months post-transport from freshwater to saltwater due to disease, wounds, or lack of "smoltfication" - Use of sedation of the juvenile salmon = 8% reduction in mortality 16 days post-transport. - Primary stress responses = plasma cortisol. - Secondary stress responses = osmoregulation. - Tertiary stress responses = mortality.

Shaping

- Approximations to the final behaviour wanted are progressively rewarded until the final behaviour results.

Assessing good animal welfare (health)

- Assumptions made: 1. good quality medical records. 2. risk assessed preventative medicine programmes incl. parasite control, vaccination and quarantine programme. 3. a timely provision of competent and experienced veterinary services to prevent prolonged distress. 4. the provision of continuous professional development to ensure knowledge is updated and used to provide improved best practice.

Aggression

- Behavioural patterns which serve to intimidate or damage another organism. - May be used during establishment of dominance hierarchies, but not essential to maintain dominance. DOMINANCE DOESN'T = AGGRESSION

Sympathetic nervous system

- Branch of ANS. - Acute response to a stressor. - 'Fight or flight response' - Based in hypothalamus, - Connects with the adrenal medulla: secretes the catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine. - The medulla is the inner layer of the adrenal gland.

William Wilberforce (1759-1833)

- British politician and philanthropist. - Worked to abolish the slave trade. - One of the reformers responsible for forming the SPCA.

Welfare issues- models

- Cancer: can lead to tumours (S/C and internal). - Transgenics/KO: wastage (ethics) and spontaneous disease, immunodeficient, unknown phenotypes (welfare). - Neurological, stroke, and pain models. - Toxicology: testing of products before they go onto market, rodent and non-rodents used, large numbers, aim to get clinical signs with high dose group animals. - Surgical models: orthopaedic models, good techniques but questionable ethics, analgesic sometimes withheld.

Environmental enrichment (feeding)

- Carnivore species. - Many wild animals spend most of their active hours feeding and foraging, while captive animals on the other hand receive food frequently and often as a single daily serve. - Scattering or hiding the feed through the exhibit or hanging feeder tubes which drop small feed items at random into the enclosure.

Welfare concerns in aquaculture

- Catching and releasing a live fish with minimal harm. - Terminating a live fish. - Housing: water quality, interactions, stocking density. - Nutritional needs. - Physiological needs. - Transport and handling. - Health management (disease control)

Recreational Fishing - welfare concerns

- Catching and releasing the fish without harm. - Terminating the live fish.

How do we measure the response of the sympathetic nervous system?

- Catecholamine levels peak within 5min and return to baseline within 10min: samples must be taken quickly! - Activity of SNS more often measured indirectly by the activity of organs responding to sympathetic activation. e.g. increased HR, cardiac muscle contraction, blood flow to muscles, peripheral vasoconstriction, spleen contraction, RR and relaxation of bronchioles, core body temp, release of glucose, amino acids, and free fatty acids from muscle, fat tissue, and liver; decreased blood flow to digestive system, food digestion, storage of glucose and fatty acids, protein synthesis, secretion of growth stimulating hormones, and sex hormone secretion. - Since measures mostly reflect rapid responses and because of difficulties in their measurement, the SNS is not used as much in the assessment of animal welfare as the HPA axis.

Member composition of AEC

- Chair - Category A: Vet. - Category B: Experienced scientist. - Category C: Someone committed to animal welfare (independent). - Category D: Lay person (independent). - Category E (not mandatory): Member of professional animal care staff.

Genotypic adaptation

- Changes in the genetic blueprint. - Changes to animal genetics over time occur through natural selection.

Peter Singer (b. 1946)

- Claims: it's impossible to identify a difference between human beings and animals that separates them morally. - Concludes: that when no one imagines that animals have no moral standing, or lower moral status than human beings, one is labouring under a moral prejudice.

Factors to consider when designing a zoo/enclosure - needs of the public

- Clear view. - Does the enclosure cater for all? - Aesthetically appealing. - Reflection of habitat. - Educational value.

What are the different groups of fish species?

- Cold freshwater e.g. goldfish. - Cold saltwater e.g. salmon. - Tropical freshwater e.g. discus. - Tropical saltwater e.g. blue tang.

Stress response

- Consists of the physiological, behavioural, and psychological changes that occur in the face of a challenge to the individual's wellbeing.

Factors to consider when designing a zoo/enclosure - needs of the staff/zoo

- Contact = safe and desirable? - Enclosure security. - Enclosure ease of access. - Ease of viewing for health checks. - Restraint opportunities. - Suitable off limits with appropriate holding facilities. - Breeding programs provided for. - Pest management.

Who is the owner?

- Control and custody. - Ownership not proven simply by microchip or registration details.

Domestic animals don't live in 'natural' groups

- Controlled. - Likely to be different to those found in nature. - Animals can't leave out of free choice.

Measurement of cortisol/corticosterone

- Cortisol= can be measured in most body fluids. - Follows a diurnal pattern- higher levels at night or in the morning (species dependent) - Some potential methodological problems: 1. May increase for reasons other than negative welfare. 2. Diurnal rhythm: if measures are taken at different times of the day, any differences can be simply due to this natural rhythm. 3. Uncertain whether total or free cortisol is the most biologically meaningful measure. 4. Limited evidence re: threshold level. - Response to an ACTH challenge may also be measured: ACTH injected, level and duration of cortisol measured.

How can we analyse social behaviour?

- Cost-benefit analysis: the cost of a certain behaviour vs. the benefit the individual will obtain from the behaviour. - Optimality theory: used to predict the strategy a particular animal will adopt to maximise its fitness irrespective of what other animals are doing. Need to- determine all possible strategies, assess the costs and benefits of each strategy, account for intrinsic and extrinsic constraints on the animal. - Game theory: the study of conflicts of interest where the value of a specific action depends not only on the individual, but also on what other individuals are doing. Works best when: the characteristic affects the survival of the population differently from that of the individual, the characteristic affects the survival or reproduction of relatives of the individual, the fitness of a genotype is changed depending on what other genotypes are present in the population and their frequencies.

Punsishment

- Decreases likelihood of the behaviour. - Positive e.g. increasing pressure on a lead increases neck pain. - Negative e.g. no food is given when a dog begs at the table.

Deontology

- Deon= Greek for duty. - The form of moral philosophy that supports the notions of duty and principle and the supremacy of conscience. - Inherent value. - Set of rules. - Oppose the use of animals in research.

Cognitive bias testing

- Derived from studies of humans in which changes in information processing can be reliable indicators of emotional state. - When ambiguous stimuli are presented, depressed people are more likely to perceive them more negatively than happier people.

BF Skinner

- Developed behavioural studies of rats. - Studied pigeons and developed ideas of operant conditioning nd shaping behaviour.

Five Freedoms

- Devised by the Farm Animal Welfare Council in the UK. 1. Freedom from hunger, thirst, and malnutrition. 2. Freedom from discomfort. 3. Freedom from pain, injury, and disease. 4. Freedom to express normal behaviour. 5. Freedom from fear and distress. - Useful benchmark to assess the main requirements of an animal affecting its welfare. - Major weakness = aspirational and impossible to provide.

Descartes (1596 - 1650)

- Difference between humans and animals was of kind and not of degree. - Animals compared to machines. - "There is no prejudice to which we are all more accustomed from our earliest years than the belief that dumb animals think." - Allowed early scientists to experiment on live animals without pain relief.

Animal welfare and science

- Different criteria of animal welfare provided the rationale for some of the different scientific approaches. - Scientists use basic health and functioning as a basis for assessing and improving animal welfare. - Some focus on natural behaviour and living conditions. - Others base animal welfare research on affective states. - Different scientists adopt the different value-based views of animal welfare.

The Ethical Review Process

- Each licensed premise must have an AEC. - Utilitarian framework. - Functions include: review license applications; ensure the best standards of care and accomodation, and monitor management systems; authorise emergency treatment or euthanasia.

Humane slaughter

- Early 1990s = icing. - Late 1990s = carbon dioxide. - Since 2000s = percussive stunning.

What do zoos do?

- Educate. - Entertain. - Conserve. - Research.

JB Watson

- Emphasised study of observable behaviour. - Rejected theories of the unconscious mind.

Sustainable agriculture vs. animal welfare

- Environmental issues | Animal welfare Why are they dissociated? - Different philosophical positions: 1. Environmentalists: concerned with the well-being of habitats, landscapes, species and ecosystems, and especially with natural or semi-natural systems. 2. Animal welfarists: concerned with sentient animals. - Different basis in science: 1. Environmentalists: deeply embedded in science. 2. Animal welfare: viewed with suspicion for discussing subjective states in animals. Sustainable development: - Social justice, environmental protection, economic development. New Paradigm: - Animal welfare as the 4th point. - Systems can be sustainable, but if other living things valued only as resources or commodities = shallow environmental ethics. - Humans need to see themselves as members of a living ecological community in which others are treated with respect.

Why is pain in fish important?

- Ethically, are we obligated to treat fish as if they feel pain in the absence of a definitive? - How normalised is poor welfare of fish in society due to the acceptance that fish don't feel pain?

Five Domains

- First developed by Mellor and Reid in 1994. - Each may be rated according to a positive or negative scale of welfare, making it a more practical system for evaluating animal welfare scientifically. 1. Nutrition. 2. Health and disease. 3. Environment. 4. Natural behaviours. 5. Affective states.

Different views of animal welfare

- First major criticism of confinement systems was in Ruth Harrison's book Animal Machines. - Aus philosopher Peter Singer: actions should be judged right or wrong of the basis of the pain and pleasure that they cause, focused on affective states, - British committee formed to evaluate the welfare of farm animals concluded that: "in principle we disapprove of a degree of confinement of an animal which necessarily frustrates most of the major activities which make up its natural behaviour. - Astrid Lindgren and Bernard Rollin: primarily concerned about the degree of "naturalness" in the lives of animals. - Farmers and veterinarians: concerned with the basic health and functioning of the animals. - The different areas of emphasis are sufficiently independent that the pursuit of any one does not necessarily improve animal welfare as judged by the other criteria.

Charles Darwin

- First modern ethologist. - Influential.

Environmental enrichment (conditioning)

- Form of enrichment which promotes close keeper-animal interactions through implementing training exercises to facilitate certain husbandry routines.

Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

- Formed in 1824 by a group of 22 reformers led by Richard Martin. - Became the RSPCA in 184.

Animal Welfare Act- legislative background

- Formerly the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. - Significant amendments in 2008. - Name change reflected a duty of care which exceeds merely preventing animal cruelty. - Objective is now to promote animal welfare. - Doubled maximum penalties for breaches. - Created the offence of aggravated cruelty.

Ontogeny of behaviour

- Genes, environmental conditions, and starting phenotype are all integral to normal development. - Learning also takes place and may alter the phenotype.

Water quality

- Good water quality = healthy fish. - Typically tested water parameters: 1. Salinity- important for saltwater. 2. Chloride- toxic to fish, but present in mains/tap water. 3. Dissolved gas- oxygen too low= suffocation, too high= gas bubble disease. 4. pH- low tolerance for acidity/alkalinity. 5. Nitrogenous compounds- toxic. 6. Temperature- rely on environment to maintain temperature homeostasis. 7. Hardness- measure of salts dissolved particularly Ca and Mg.

Non-associative learning

- Habituation: repeated presentations of the same stimulus results in a decrease in the response. Occurrence depends on: nature of stimulus, rate of presentation, regularity of exposure. Response to an irrelevant stimulus is reduced. - Sensitisation: the response to a stimulus increases as the stimulus is presented multiple times. Stimulus= intrinsically unpleasant or aversive. Emotional response to a stimulus is introduced.

What constitutes serious harm?

- Harm that endangers an animal's life; or - Harm that results in an animal being so severely injured, so diseased, or in such physical condition that it would be cruel not to destroy the animal; or - Harm that consists of, or results in, serious and protracted impairment of a physical or mental function.

Antiquity

- Humans and animals related. - Some groups e.g. Pythagoreans practised vegetarianism.

Fear Aggression in dogs

- If avoidance behaviour not possible, will likely lead to aggression. - If aggression results in the other dog going away, confidence to display aggression may be learnt.

Animal welfare offences - s13

- Ill treatment of animal = offence: maximum penalty is $20,000 fine or 2 years imprisonment. - What constitutes ill treatment? Intentionally, unreasonably, or recklessly causes the animal unnecessary harm; uses the animal in an organised fight; releases the animal from captivity for the purpose of it then being harmed or killed; etc (all positive acts).

Aggravated cruelty

- Ill treats an animal; and - Ill treatment results in death or serious harm; and - The person intends to cause, or is reckless about causing, the death of, or serious harm, to the animal. - Maximum penalty: $50,000 fine or 4 years imprisonment.

Kantianism

- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) - Dictum that a human being should never be used as a mere means to an end.

Nitrogen cycle

- Inappropriate equipment and poor husbandry knowledge = major cause of poor welfare and mortality in ornamental fish. - NH3 (waste product): excreted through the gills. - Accumulation = toxic. - Bacteria in nitrogen cycle: NH3 (ammonia) --> NO2 (nitrite) --> NO3- (nitrate) (most to least toxic) - N2 cycle takes approx. 6 weeks to establish in a new system. - N2 cycle not established = deaths due to "New Tank Syndrome" or NH3 toxicity.

Environmental enrichment (social)

- Increased group size or mixed (intra specific) species exhibits in compatible groups. - Effective in providing complex, dynamic, and long term benefits.

Reinforcement

- Increases likelihood of the behaviour. - Positive e.g. giving food to a dog that sits. - Negative e.g. releasing pressure on a lead takes away the neck pain.

Late 1700s

- Industrial Revolution in Britain approx. 1760+ - Greater interest in animal welfare occurred at the same time as interest in other social norms.'

Fish Barotrauma

- Injury caused by a decrease in water pressure when the fish moves up the water column. - In Physoclistous species (swim bladder not connected to the oesophagus), the swim bladder expands due to pressure changes and the excess gas volume can not be released. - Can cause stomach or intestine inversion, exophthalmia (protrusion of eyeball/s, haemorrhage (blood escaping from damaged blood vessels), and emboli (a sudden blocking of a blood vessel). - Terminate fish humanely. - Treat using a descending device. - Prevent by not fish at a depth >10m.

Oskar Heinroth and Julian Huxley

- Instinctive behaviours. - Constructed ethograms: a description of the main types of natural behaviour with their frequencies of occurrence.

Assessing good animal welfare (husbandry)

- Keeper experience and skill base. - Animal body weight and condition. - Diet and nutrition. - Stocking levels. - Food storage and preparation. - Identification of the animal. - Restraint facilities for the animal. - Separation facilities. - Transport. - Pest control. - Hygiene.

Catching and releasing a fish with minimal harm

- Large in line circle hooks cause fish to be hooked in the mouth rather than the gut. - They also reduce the change of catching undersized fish and causing unnecessary harm of juveniles. - Shorten the duration of the "fight" to reel in the fish. - Fish friendly landing nets: reduce damage to scales, eyes, fins, etc. - Wet hands and gloves: reduce damage to slime coat. - If fish are caught from a depth >10m, expect barotrauma and slaughter.

Are there group roles?

- Leader: in front during an orderly procession. - Initiator: first to react to elicit new group activity. - Pacifier: reduces conflict. - Controller/'Police': determines whether, when, and which activity occurs.

What is the optimal group size?

- Less aggression in smaller groups and very large groups. - Group members recognised: 50-70 in cattle, 20-30 in pigs, 50 in sheep.

Ethogram

- List of observed behaviours. - Starting point for research on animal behaviour. - Objective and discrete categories. - Observations are clear, detailed, and distinguishable from each other.

A (Western) History of Use of Animals in Society

- Lively debates have occurred over three time periods: 1. Antiquity 2. Late 18th century during the Enlightenment 3. 1960s-

Welfare issues- housing

- Main welfare issue in lab/research animals. - Single housing. - Unnatural social groupings. - Housing size. - Little complexity/enrichment. - Metabolic caging. - IVCs (individually ventilated cages)

Why treat pain?

- Negative experience: to improve animal welfare we need to recognise and treat pain. - Morbidity and mortality are significantly reduced when we provide adequate pain relief. - Improves clinical outcome. - Demands from society.

Points of action along the pain pathway (physiology)

- Nociception: The process that occurs from the point of injury or trauma up to perception of pain. - Transduction: Nociception begins with a noxious or painful stimulus. Process in which the nociceptors transform that painful stimulus into electrical impulses. - Transmission: The electrical impulses are carried to the CNS. - Perception: Involves processing and recognition of sensory input. - Modulation: Modulation (suppression/reduction or amplification/increase) of pain (nociception) begins in the spinal cord of the CNS and has an effect of altering pain perception; dorsal horn of the spinal cord; suppression and amplification are both mediated by neurotransmitters and receptors in the brain and spinal cord. - Antinociception = reducing sensitivity to pain stimuli.

Inherently aggressive dog breeds??

- Not the behaviour itself which is changed, but the threshold required to elicit the behaviour. - Aggression levels vary widely between breeds, but also within individuals of the same breed.

Evidence of higher level animal cognition

- Object permanence: make a mental image of something even when it's absent, studied by Piaget. - Episodic memory: declarative (semantic and episodic) and procedural, observed in lab rats and scrub jays. - Self recognition: possess a sense of self. - Categorical learning e.g. Alex the grey parrot. - Complex behaviours e.g. Assassin bug. - Theory of mind: ability to understand what another animal knows or intends to do. - Tool use: use and crafting of hooks (appreciation of tool functionality), metatool use, cumulative changes in tool design. - Complex grammar: e.g. starlings use complex grammar in their songs.

Russell and Burch: 'The Principles of Human Experimental Technique' (1959)

- Observed some experimental procedures were inhumane. - Analysed the 'humanity' or 'inhumanity' of experiments to try to limit pain and distress caused to animals. - Hoped to promote development of humane experimental techniques and reduce pain and fear inflicted on lab. animals.

Stress

- Occurs when there is a challenge to the homeostasis of an individual. - An animal may feel stress when it is either directly threatened, or perceives a potential threat.

Third order neuron

- Once the impulse reaches the thalamus within the brain, it connects with the 3rd order neuron which projects into the higher brain structures (somatosensory cortex). - This is where perception of pain occurs.

Utilitarianism

- One needs to consider not just the interests of all affected humans, but of all affected sentient beings. - The strongest interest should prevail i.e. one should seek to produce the great total fulfilment of interests. - Interests of every individual affected by an action count morally and deserve equal consideration. - Interest = 'the capacity for suffering and/or enjoyment or happiness.' (Singer, 1989) - Individuals have an interest in acts that will enhance their enjoyments or reduce their suffering. - All sentient beings have interest. - Impact of one's actions on all sentient creatures = matter of moral concern. - Drastic changes should be made to the way in which farm animals are treated. - Right vs. wrong and better vs. worse. - Prefer the best i.e. most cost-benefit efficient alternative.

Contractarianism

- Only considers human self-interest. - When making moral decisions, one only have to consider what is in it for oneself (and for those fellow humans on whose collaboration one depends). - Only one's own long-term interests count. - Underlying outlooked = generalised egoism. - When one is obliged to show consideration for other people this is really for one's own sake. - Morally relevant difference between our relationship to other human beings and our relation to animals. - Neither animal suffering nor the killing of animals is an ethical problem. - Highly anthropocentric.

Utilitarian

- Outcome leads to maximum happiness. - Can override individual rights. - Basis of legislation.

What are some ethical issues associated with zoos?

- Peoples perceptions on welfare vary. - Peoples ethics vary. - Should we keep animals in captivity? - How should we keep animals in captivity?

Social Groups

- Physical structure: size, age, sex, relatedness. - Social structure: relationships. - Group cohesion: duration of the association, rate of entering/leaving the group.

Refinement - humane endpoints

- Point in an experiment where enough information has been obtained to predict outcome, but adverse effects can be alleviated. - Choice of humane endpoints scoring schemes e.g. Morton and Griffiths, EAE scoring scheme, UKCCR guidelines.

Morals

- Popular attitudes on acceptable and unacceptable conduct within a community. - Regarded as the standard of behaviour by the majority. - Vary between cultural groups, countries, and over time.

Alpha male or female

- Powerful or in a higher social position. - In animal societies, may be the only animal to breed. - Often incurs costs.

Impact of predictability and controllability of a stressor

- Predictable + controllable = optimism. - Predictable + uncontrollable = frustration. - Unpredictable + controllable = anxiety. - Unpredictable + uncontrollable = depression, learned helplessness.

Where are the fish in our lives?

- Private ownership. - Recreational fishing. - Aquaculture.

Pro-industrialist world view

- Product of the Enlightenment: people looked to reason and science to replace superstition and ignorance. -Two concepts: productivity and progress. - Good life for animals as (primarily) a healthy life: preventing disease, value rationality and science, productivity, confinement systems= form of progress.

Karl von Frsich

- Proved fish could distinguish colour and brightness. - Showed bees have colour vision and distinguish tastes and odours. - Best known for studying communication in honey bees: circling dance and wagging dance.

Brambell Report

- Published 1965 - Vindicated Ruth's findings and set a course for reform. - Groundwork for development of animal welfare science.

Categories of social behaviour

- Recipient +ve and Actor +ve = mutual benefit. - Recipient -ve and Actor +ve = selfishness. - Recipient +ve and Actor -ve = altruism. - Recipient -ve and Actor -ve = spite.

Stability of social relationships requires

- Recognition between individuals. - Established social position. - Memory of social encounters that established social status. - Memory of observations of the behaviour of social group members.

Recognition of pain

- Recognition in animals = basis in self. - Delves into empathy, sensitivity, and understanding. - Allow anthropomorphism to thrive. - Relies on a sound understanding of normal animal behaviour and physiology.

How do standards of animal welfare change? Animal Welfare Legislation

- Regulation = state/territory based. - Animal Welfare Act 1985 in SA. - Standards and Guidelines for specific animal uses. Advantages: - Easily enforced. - Consistent COP. - Accountability if law not followed. Disadvantages: - Laws different across states/territories. - Costly. - Time consuming. - Laws aren't well enforced. - Based on a majority view and not always right long term. - Minimum standard.

Welfare issues- routine procedures

- Routine sampling: blood, injections, etc and their associated volume/frequency. - Circadian rhythm disturbance. - Handling. - Predator/prey species housed together. - New methods e.g. submandibular?

Prophylaxis

- Salmon are injected intraperitoneally with an oil adjuvant based multivalent (designed to immunise against 2+ strains of the same microorganism or 2+ microorganisms) vaccine. - Side effects include: anorexia and deep swimming, granulmatomatus peritonitis (60%) causes adhesions and melanin deposits, anecdotally causes spinal deformities and granulmatomatus uveitis (eye inflammation).

Ethology

- Scientific study of animal behaviour as a branch of zoology. - Wheeler (1902) first used term. - Donald Broom: "the observation and detailed description of behaviour with the objective of finding out how biological mechanisms function." - Famous ethologists include Charles Darwin, George Romanes, William Morton Wheeler, Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen, Karl von Frisch, Oskar Heinroth, and Julian Huxley.

Methods of pain assessment - Visual Analogue Scale

- Semi-objective scoring system used to quantify pain intensity. Use of VAS in animals: - Potential observer bias = over- or under-diagnosing pain. - Variability between observers in their ability to pick up details of pain behaviours may affect accuracy. - Sensitivity not determined. - Only measures one aspect of the experience, the intensity of pain: doesn't consider pain as a multidimensional experience. Advantages of VAS: - Simple to use. - A quantitative mechanism for providing general assessment of improvement or worsening pain in people.

Motivation/Instrumental conditioning tests

- Set up in a similar way to preference tests, but animals have to work to achieve their preference. - Can gain information not just on whether the animal wants the resource or not, but also on how strongly the animal is motivated to achieve a desired performance. - Usually set up using instrumental conditioning. - Assessment of motivation may be made using the types of analysis used in economics: * Hence animals will gain resources with an inelastic demand no matter how high the cost is to acquire them (e.g. food), whereas as the cost goes up they will no longer work to gain resources with an elastic demand.

Romantic/Agrarian world view

- Simple, natural life valued. - Nature= ideal state. - Emotional experience and freedom. - Living in harmony with nature. - Good life for animals as (primarily) a natural life: free-range, outdoor access, emphasise emotions, freedom important, traditional non-confinement systems.

Factors to consider when designing a zoo/enclosure - needs of the animal

- Size of animal. - Level of activity. - Social groupings. - Natural habitat. - Shelter from the elements. - Feeding and water. - Holding facilities. - Retreats from public.

Assessing good animal welfare (behaviour)

- Social behaviour. - Abnormal behaviours: stereotypies/anticipatory behaviours; self injurious; excess allo and autogrooming; failure to mate; failure to produce offspring; abnormal aggression within species/killing of offspring/infanticide; abnormal aggression across species; escape behaviours; displacement behaviours; apathy; begging from/interaction with visitors; avoidance behaviour from other species; avoidance behaviour from humans. - Foraging behaviour: wild vs. captive. - Reproductive behaviour.

Social hierarchy

- Social r/ships create 'rules' that control social hierarchies. - Dominance hierarchy or 'pecking' order = sum of all social relationships within a group. - Network theory is used being used to analyse social r/ships in animals.

How do standards of animal welfare change? Assurance Programs led by companies

- Some cooperations include animal welfare in their policy = rapid and effective method in wide scale changes in animal welfare standards w/o need for legislation. e.g. McDonalds: - healthy animals = safe food. - the 5 freedoms. - using cage-free eggs.

Pain in fish

- Some teleost (bony) fish have been shown to have similar pain receptors as mammals. - Changes to behaviour have been noted following "painful" stimulus and the frequency of these behaviours were reduced with pain relief medication. - Learned adverse response in some fish. - Fish species vary wildly in how they experience a "painful" stimulus.

Behavioural measures to assess animal welfare

- Starting point = knowledge of their normal behaviour. - Ethograms and time budgets used. 1. Behavioural measures of good animal welfare: - Full expression of normal behaviour: time budgets can also be used when you have baseline data on the normal proportions of time a species will spend displaying specific behaviours. - Expression of positive affective states e.g. play behaviour. 2. Behavioural measures of poor animal welfare: - Abnormal body posture/movement. - Injurious behaviour. - Stereotypic behaviours: invariant, repetitive, no apparent goal/function; more likely to occur in poor husbandry conditions, start from an attempt to control environment, if you expose an animal to a stressor it is more likely to show a stereotypic behaviour. - Sham behaviours: indicate a high motivation to display a specific behaviour, which if denied may lead to frustration. - Suppression of normal behaviour. - Learned helplessness: stress= extreme, uncontrollable, unpredictable; exhibit passivity; no attempt to escape when exposed to a stressor.

Environmental enrichment (physical)

- Structures that increase the SA over which an animal can move. - Objects or toys that may be manipulated or novel items that offer visual stimulation. - It can create opportunities for the performance of species specific activities and allow a degree of choice and control over daily activities.

Niko Tinbergen

- Studied gulls. - Wrote The Study of Instinct (1951)

Comparative Psychology

- Study of animal behaviour as a branch of psychology. - Famous comparative psychologists: C. Lloyd Morgan, JB Watson, BF Skinner.

Assessing good animal welfare (environment)

- Substrates: suitability. - Drainage. - Shelter. - Chutes. - Containment. - Hides/retreats. - Separation facilities. - Environmental parameters. - Disturbance. - Environmental enrichment.

Teleology

- Telos= Green for end. - Involves consideration of the motives and the consequences of a proposed action e.g. utilitarianism.

Why do emotions have survival value?

- Temperament: "the heritable and approx. stable bias in physiological responses to stimuli (e.g. punishment, novelty) giving rise to basic emotions. - Novelty seeking: curiosity, impulsivity, appetitive approach to novelty and reward. - Harm avoidance: fearfulness, low energy, pessimism, timidity. - Activity-impulsivity in dogs: polymorphisms in dopamine D+ receptor gene.

Second order neuron

- The 1st order neuron connects with the 2nd order neuron in the spinal cord and from there the impulse travels within the spinal cord up to the brain.

Tom Regan (1938-)

- The Case for Animal Rights (1938) - Each of us has a life that matters to use ("subject-of-a-life") and this also applies to non-humans. - Basic right is never to be treated merely as a means to the ends of others.

Agonistic behaviour

- The complex of aggression, threat, appeasement, and avoidance behaviour that often occurs during encounters between members of the same species (McFarland, 1981) - Includes all forms of behaviour by an animal associated with conflict with another animal (fight-or-flight and aggressive/passive behaviour) (Broon and Fraser, 2007)

Extinction

- The disappearance of a previously learned behaviour when it is not reinforced.

Stressor

- The factor causing the stress response.

Aquaculture

- The farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs, aquatic plants, etc.

Animal rights view

- The interests of all affected beings count, but other things are to be considered as well. What matters is respectful treatment, including respect for life. - Rights should be respected and one should not all interests to overrule rights. - Always unacceptable to treat a sentient being merely as a means to obtain a goal. - Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) and Tom Regan (b. 1938) (principle of dignity should be extended to animals) - No benefit can justify the violation of the rights of an individual, human or animal, so where a certain practice erodes an animal's rights there is no reason to look at its expected benefits. - Widespread forms of animal use = categorically unacceptable as they treat animals as a means to an end.

Relational view

- The nature of the human-animal relationship and the specific human-animal bond are the focus. - One version = one should act to promote one's own good, implying that the good of other beings is an integral part of one's own good. - One shouldn't view animals in the rather abstract and uniform way. - Can be a conflict between self-interest and the duties we owe to animals in our care. - Relations with animals become part of one's own good: when we look after animals well we are, in a way, looking after ourselves.

Respect for nature

- The protection of species, genetic integrity, ecosystems, and other collective entities matter. - Doesn't take sides regarding how to deal with value conflicts. - Existence of species = morally valuable. - One has a duties to species, not just to individual animals.

Instrumental (operant) Conditioning

- Thorndike first introduced- behavioural responses of cats in puzzle boxes. - Animal has to do something before it's reward. - Further developed by Skinner.

Certificates and labels

- To set up assurance and certificate/labelling programs we need to be able to measure Animal Welfare. What are the features of useful assessment tools? 1. Easily and rapidly measured. 2. Objective. 3. Balance of input (resource) or output (animal-based) measures. 4. Result in measurable improvements in animal welfare.

Is it necessary to theorise about ethics?

- Today's society = many different views about what one is entitled to do to animals. - However, this is often superficial and rarely thought through. - Three problems: 1. With being led by one's feelings rather than approaching matters through ethical theory, is simply that people's feelings about what is right or wrong in our dealings with animals are often unstable. 2. The ambivalence just mentioned encourages double standards, and these standards are both morally objectionable and logically indefensible. 3. It seems unlikely that Vets and other professionals taking part in the debate will be able to communicate effectively if they merely advance their own intuitively held beliefs. To be able to make themselves understood to people who hold different views, they must be able to understand the nature of their disagreement.

Health management

- Traditionally vets and other animal health professionals are used as damage control rather than for damage prevention in aquaculture- experts on diagnosis and treatment; played little role in preventative and husbandry management, thus had little impact on chronic and recurring conditions. - Result: >20% mortalities over the last 20 years. - Recently there has been a shift towards prevention.

Mouse passport

- Transgenics/KOs: small numbers produced by universities. - Often knowledge of phenotype there but not conveyed between institutions leading to welfare issues. - Idea for accurate knowledge transfer between institutions and give an idea of severity of protocol prior to start.

What are our duties to animals?

- Universal trend in the human-animal r/ship: animals = tools or resources available for human use; humans allow themselves to treat animals in ways that they would generally not treat fellow humans e.g. raised for slaughter, used for production, breeding and genetic modification, research tools, leisure and entertainment, hunting of wild animals, etc. - Underlying attitude = humans are justified in doing these things because animals matter less than human beings do. - View that human beings have a different moral status from animals.

Dominance hierarchies

- Unusual to have a linear ranking for all resources. - In a natural situation, usually a gradual move up the ranks as an animal matures.

Refinement

- Use of anaesthetic/analgesia. - Guidelines on maximum volumes/needle sizes for routine procedures. - Routine health screening.

Jeremy Benthan (18th century)

- Utilitarianism. - Why are animals denied moral rights that we ascribe to ourselves? - In this famous passages does two things: 1. embarrasses those who suggest human beings are morally superior to animals as they possess intelligence and language. 2. suggests that it is the capacity to suffer that confers moral status.

C. Lloyd Morgan

- Views on objectivity inspired behaviourist school of psychology. - Improvements in experimental technique and interpretation of behavioural evidence.

How can altruistic behaviour survive?

- William Hamilton's kin selection theory. - Altruism is favoured when rb-c>0: c= fitness cost to altruist, b=fitness benefit to recipient, r= genetic relatedness.

George Romanes

- Wrote Animal Intelligence (1882) - Credited animals with mental abilities and feeling. - Not critical. - Work not accepted.

How do we know behaviour is inherited?

1. Artificial selection experiments: silver foxes, maze-bright and maze-dull rats. 2. Transgenics/knockouts: gene knockout experiments e.g. fosB gene. 3. Molecular genetics: OCD in dogs, genetics of canine behaviour.

Reinforcement schedules

1. Continuous: used initially, if used for too long boredom might result and the animal may not always display desired response. 2. Ratio: reinforcement provided at a fixed or variable ratio. 3. Interval (time): reinforcement can be provided either at a fixed interval or after variable lengths of time.

Common ways to improve animal movement

1. Install a lamp on a dark race entrance. 2. Move ceiling lamps to eliminate sparkling reflections. 3. Muffle air hissing. 4. Install shields and sides on races. 5. Eliminate air drafts that blow in the faces of approaching animals.

What 4 types of questions can preference and motivation tests be used to answer?

1. Is animal motivated to obtain or avoid a resource? 2. Does the animal have a preference amongst alternative resources? 3. How strong is the motivation or preference? 4. Is the preference or its strength affected by changes in the external or internal environment?

Mechanisms of aggressive behaviour

1. Reactive behaviour: appears only when an adequate stimulus for release is present e.g. territorial dog. 2. Inherent in animal: behaviour which will show even in the absence of an adequate releasing stimulus. 3. Learned behaviour: no innate disposition, but aggression is learned during the development of the animal.

Automatic audit failure

1. Sticking a prod or other object in a sensitive part of the animal. 2. Dragging non-ambulatory animals. 3. Driving other animals over the top of a downed animal on purpose. 4. Slamming gates on purpose on an animal. 5. Beating an animal.

Features of good animal trainers

1. Train 1 response at a time. 2. Train 1 response to 1 stimulus. 3. Consistent. 4. Have good timing. 5. Use shaping effectively. 6. Don't use fear in their training.

Inspectorate enforcement options

1. Verbal or written advice about the care of the animal and continue to monitor the situation. 2. Verbal or written caution and continue to monitor the situation. 3. Issue a written direction under section 31B of the Act outlining actions that must be completed within a set period of time. 4. Issue an expiation notice. 5. Pursue a criminal prosecution.

Common Morality

1. Wellbeing. 2. Autonomy. 3. Justice.

Tinbergen's 4 Questions

1. What are the mechanisms producing the behaviour? 2. How does the behaviour develop? 3. What is the survival value of the behaviour? 4. How did the behaviour evolve?

The three conceptions of animal welfare

1. basic health and functioning. 2. affective states. 3. natural living.

The dilemma of the welfare of intensively kept pigs

1997: - Scientific committee of the European Union reviewed the literature on the welfare of intensively kept pigs. - Focused on gestation status. - Concluded that "some serious welfare problems for sows persist even in the best stall-housing system." - Based review of welfare of sows in gestation stalls - Passed a directive to ban the gestation stall as of 2013. - Based review of welfare of sows in gestation stalls on affective states and natural living as well as basic health and functioning. Shortly after: - Group of Aus scientists reviewed much the same literature and asked much the same question, but reached a different conclusion. - "Both individual (i.e. stalls) and group housing can meet the welfare requirements of pigs." - Based review of welfare of sows in gestation stalls on basic health and functioning.

Behavioural testing

An invaluable tool for working out what animals want, how motivated they are to get it, and finally as window into their affective states.

Hierarchy/Rank

An order of individuals or groups of individuals in a social group based upon some ability or characteristic.

What is pain?

An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage.

Discrimination

Animals learn to differentiate between stimuli that might be similar, but only respond to one.

Animal behaviour

Any internally coordinated, externally visible pattern of activity that responds to changing external or internal conditions.

Learning

Any relatively permanent change in response/behaviour occurring as a result of experience.

Consumers

Barriers to stable ethical attitudes and behaviours in choosing animal products: - Lack of understanding of production systems (standards and labels) - Financial constraints - Limited availability - Situations in which individuals are not in control (eating out, processed foods, etc)

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

British theorist and philosopher who proposed utilitarianism, the principle that governments should operate on the basis of utility, or the greatest good for the greatest number.

Voltaire (1694-1778)

Championed the enlightened principles of reason, progress, toleration, and individual liberty.

Welfare issues- euthanasia

Considerations of method - physical: - Immediate loss of consciousness. - Most humane method. - Concussion: unconscious then killed by another method. - Dislocation of neck: need complete separation cervical vertebra. - Decapitation: probably humane for small animals (up to 8 day old mice). Considerations of method - chemical: - Less aversive and slower. - Overdose of anaesthetic: injectable (pentobarbitone), IV (quick, less pain, but practical issues), IP route in rodents. - Carbon dioxide: unconsciousness (direct narcotic effect then death by anoxia), humane?, alternatives - carbon monoxide, nitrogen, argon?

Ethical considerations: cost-benefit analysis

Costs: - severity of procedures. - number/species used. - adverse effects. - methods of control. Benefits: - objectives. - potential benefits to humans and animals.

What do the different criteria of animal welfare reflect?

Different sets of values that have been in conflict since the early debates about human welfare during the Industrial Revolution, with one side valuing a simple, natural life while the other values progress, productivity, and a life improved by science and technology.

Euthanasia of Aquarium Fish

Do not: - Flush fish (even if dead). - Slow chill/freezing/place into the freezer of anaesthetised fish. - Anoxia and desiccation (unable to breath and drying out) after removal from water. - Exposure to caustic chemicals. Recommended methods: - Overdose of anaesthetic using prolonged emersion in AQUI-S (leave for 10 minutes after opercular movements (gill flap)) - Clove oil (400mg/L): follow RSPCA guidelines. - Mechanical methods. - Hypothermic shock (ice slurry) for small bodied (>5cm) tropical fish only.

Emotions in animals (Panksepp 2005)

Evidence for emotions in animals: 1. other mammals are attracted to the same environmental rewards and drugs of abuse as humans (e.g. drugs that activate opiate receptors) 2. similar subcortical brain systems in deep brain regions responsible for emotions in humans and animals. 3. artificial activation of the brain systems that promote emotional actions are liked or disliked by animals.

Adaptation to stress

Full adaptation: - No overall cost to fitness. - Able to cope with the stressor. Incomplete adaptation: - Higher biological cost is paid. - Stressor of greater magnitude or continues over a longer time period. - Can lead to eventual biological exhaustion.

Biological effects of cortisol/corticosterone

Increased: - Blood glucose levels. - Protein breakdown in the muscles. - Gastric secretion. Decreased: - Protein synthesis. - Immune function. - Growth. - Reproductive activity.

Biological costs of stress

Increased: - Metabolic rate. - Susceptibility to disease. - Proportion of body fat. Decreased: - Growth rate. - FCR. - Reproductive performance. - Appetite. - Proportion of body muscle. - Immune function.

The Pain Pathway (anatomy)

Linked chain of three nerves, also referred to as a "three neuron chain."

Morals vs. Ethics

Morals focus mainly on what we decide actually are good or bad, or right or wrong thoughts and actions, whereas ethics deals mainly with how we decide what is right or wrong, good or bad.

Siamese fighting fish (Betta Splendens)

Myth vs. fact - Can survive in a small bowl vs require at least a 12L tank. - Don't require a filter, heater, or cleaning vs like all tropical fish, require a heater (temp. = 24-28) and a filter to prevent NH3 build up. - Can be kept next to other male fighting fish without a barrier vs. can be kept with other fish, but should be out of sight of other male fighting fish. - Don't need feeding if there are plant roots present vs. insectivores and don't eat vegetation. - Don't need a large SA vs. have a labyrinth organ and will breath air from the surface when they require oxygen.

Secondary reinforcers

Not inherently positive, but have been paired with primary reinforcers.

Ontogeny

Origin and development of an organism from the fertilised egg through to the mature form.

Animal emotional states

Panksepp et al define 7 emotional action-orientated states: 1. seeking (+) 2. fear (+) 3. rage-assertiveness (-/+ (rage)) 4. bonding (+/- (panic/grief)) 5. care (+) 6. play (+) 7. lust (+)

Ruth Harrison (1920-2000)

Published Animal Machines in 1964 after investigating farming practices.

The 3Rs

Replacement: - Are there any viable alternatives to the use of animals? Reduction: - Will the project involve the minimum number of animals required to generate statistically valid data? (Goldilocks factor) Refinement: - Have appropriate measures been taken to ensure that animals don't suffer pain or distress as a result of any procedures undertaken? Two overall aims: 1. Ensure the wellbeing of animals and therefore the integrity of scientific data. 2. Maintain the social license required for the scientific use of animals to continue.

Mandated science

Science that has been commissioned or undertaken in order to guide actions, decisions, and policy.

Types of animal perception

Sensory perception and pheromones.

Handling and management

Simple observations (subjective = difficult to compare and repeat0 - Appearance - Swimming behaviour - Feed intake and waste Objective indicators (requires good record keeping and assessment) - Video monitoring - Automatic feeders - Cumulative mortality - Processor report (injuries and deformities)

Polyphenisms

Species in which there are two or more distinct alternative phenotypes coexisting as a result of environmental differences i.e. a complex relationship between nature and nurture.

Humane slaughter of fish for food (mechanical methods)

Stun and bleed: - Apply blow to head with a club or "priest" - Bleed the fish by severing the gill arches while unconscious from stun. Pith and bleed: - Spike brain with a sharp instrument. - Bleed the fish by severing the gill arches while unconscious.

What is animal cognition?

The ability of an animal to remember, process, and assess information to meet their needs.

What is animal sentience?

The capacity of an animal to experience different feelings.

What is pain tolerance level?

The maximum intensity of a pain-producing stimulus that a subject is willing to accept in a given situation.

What is pain threshold?

The minimum intensity of a stimulus that is perceived as painful.

Generalisation

The tendency to respond in the same way to different but similar stimuli.

Primary reinforcers

Things the animal would inherently like.

Welfare assessment

Tools: - Scoring schemes: general distress and pain. - Five freedoms. - Mouse passort: transgenic phenotypes/ - Video analysis. Scoring schemes: - Classic distress scoring schemes like Morton and Griffiths 1985. - More specific for certain models e.g. cancer. - Aim to use number of parameters for assessment and get total score i.e. try to make objective. Objective and subjective parameters used.

What is an understanding of animal welfare based on?

Values and science

What are disagreements re: animal welfare generally about?

Values not facts

Environmental Monitoring

Water quality= crucial: - Temperature - Dissolved oxygen - Dissolved carbon dioxide - Heavy metal levels Stocking capacity: - Open, closed, or recirculating system - Volume and density - Water supply - Oxygen supply