Wk 2: Scientific Approaches to Welfare, Assessment, Motivation & Preferance

Question 1

What are the Five Freedoms of animal welfare?

Answer 1

Freedom from pain, injury or disease
Freedom from hunger and thirst
Freedom from discomfort
Freedom from fear and distress
Freedom to express normal behaviour - to avoid frustration

Question 2

When was the Five Freedoms established?

Answer 2

1965

Question 3

What are the two scientific approaches to the measure of animal welfare?

Answer 3

Motivation and Preference approach
Welfare Indicator approach

Question 4

What is the assumption of the Motivation & Preference approach?

Answer 4

animal suffer if denied resources that they are strongly motivated to obtain, or if exposed to stimuli that they will work hard to avoid

Question 5

How do you test the Motivation & Preference in practise?

Answer 5

Preference Test
- animals given a choice between two things (floor, bedding etc) and see which one the animal will go towards/use

Question 6

What are the problems with the Preference Test approach?

Answer 6

• animal may show short-term preferences for things which harm them in the long-term
• preference test can only evaluate a limited number of alternatives at any one time (least worst option)
• there is little cost in visiting alternatives or exploring during preference test, and visit for these reasons may be misinterpreted as preference

Question 7

Consumer demand theory

Answer 7

• based on human consumer behaviour
• we pay for more commodities that we price to be important
• we continue to pay for important commodities as the price rises
• we are more likely to suffer if we do not get important commodities

Question 8

How can ‘demand curves’ for commodities be constructed?

Answer 8

based on how much we purchase/use them as their price/costs goes up

Question 9

How can consumer demand theory be used for animals?

Answer 9

• pushing doors, levers, ect = the object
• more doors and levers the animal is willing to get through = the higher the object

Question 10

Problems with using short-term tests of consumer demand

Answer 10

Animals may be able to gain access to (some of) the resources under test when they are outside the test situation, and so their behaviour in the test may not reflect ‘true’ demand

The duration of the test / exposure to resources may not be adequate to allow full expression of the associated behaviour (e.g. is 15s long enough for ‘proper’ social contact?)

Question 11

What is an alternative approach to the short-term consumer demand test?

Answer 11

Make the test apart of the animals’ home environment (a ‘closed economy’)

Question 12

Inelastic demand

Answer 12

a bench-mark for an important resource (eg. food)

Question 13

Elastic demand

Answer 13

more flexible, less important (eg. social contact, an empty pen)