Animal Welfare Flashcards
What are the five freedoms of animal behaviour?
Free from hunger and thirst
Free from discomfort
Free from pain, injury and disease
Free to express normal behaviour
Free from fear and distress
What are behavioural indicators of good animal welfare?
Engages in play
Interacts with humans
Performs a range of activities
Is curious
What are behavioural indicators of poor animal welfare?
Stéréotypies
Limited activity
Failure in sexual or parental behaviour
Fear of humans or aggression
Sickness/pain behaviour
What is a stereotypy?
A behaviour pattern that takes the form of repetitive movements lacking in variation
E.g. Pacing
What is Misdirected behaviour?
When a normal pattern of behaviour is directed inappropriately towards its self, another animal, or at surroundings
What are the costs, benefits and the ethical impact of good animal welfare?
Costs – expensive to uphold, more difficult to manage
Benefits – grow better and better breeding, high quality products
Ethical impact – better quality of life, Less stress
What are the costs, benefits and the ethical impact of poor animal welfare?
Costs – Lower yield/ quality of product, reduced breeding success
Benefits – less expensive to maintain, easier as fewer staff and resources required
Ethical impact – on ethical to cause pain and distress to provide to humans
What is an ethogram?
A list of animal behaviour that can be presented in different formats where observations are made in natural or semi natural settings
Information from these studies can be used to improve animal welfare
What can be used to assess animal welfare?
Preference tests and measurements of motivation
What must be taken into consideration when assessing animal welfare?
Care must be taken not to attribute human emotions to animals (anthropomorphism)
What is a preference test?
A test set up to give an animal a choice between two conditions and therefore determine which one it prefers
These results can be used to enhance living conditions and well-being of animals
What is a motivation test?
Example – a dog attached to the leash is presented with food, it takes effort to pull the leash so if the dog is not motivated will not extend the leash meaning it’s not that hungry
