The Sciences of Animal Welfare (Universities Federation for Animal Welfare)

227 Pages·2009·1.78 MB·English

by  David Mellor

The Sciences of
Animal Welfare
David J. Mellor
Professor of Animal Welfare Science,
Professor of Applied Physiology and Bioethics,
Co-Director, Animal Welfare Science and
Bioethics Centre,
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Emily Patterson-Kane
Animal Welfare Scientist,
American Veterinary Medical Association,
Schaumburg, IL, USA
Kevin J. Stafford
Professor of Veterinary Ethology,
Co-Director, Animal Welfare Science and
Bioethics Centre,
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
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The Sciences of Animal
Welfare
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The Universities Federation for
Animal Welfare
UFAW, founded 1926, is an internationally recognized, independent, scientifi c and educational
animal welfare charity concerned with promoting high standards of welfare for farm, companion,
laboratory and captive wild animals, and for those animals with which we interact in the wild.
It works to improve animals’ lives by:
• Promoting and supporting developments in the science and technology that underpin
advances in animal welfare;
• Promoting education in animal care and welfare;
• Providing information, organising meetings, and publishing books, videos, articles, technical
reports and the journal Animal Welfare;
• Providing expert advice to government departments and other bodies and helping to draft
and amend laws and guidelines;
• Enlisting the energies of animal keepers, scientists, veterinarians, lawyers and others who
care about animals.
“Improvements in the care of animals are not now likely to come of their own accord,
merely by wishing them: there must be research … and it is in sponsoring research of
this kind, and making its results widely known, that UFAW performs one of its most
valuable services.”
Sir Peter Medawar CBE FRS, 8th May 1957
Nobel Laureate (1960), Chairman of the UFAW Scientifi c Advisory Committee (1951–1962)
UFAW relies on the generosity of the public through legacies and donations to carry out its work
improving the welfare of animal now and in the future. For further information about UFAW and
how you can help promote and support its work, please contact us at the address below.
Universities Federation for Animal Welfare
The Old School, Brewhouse Hill, Wheathampstead, Herts AL4 8AN, UK
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Website: www.ufaw.org.uk
Email: [email protected]
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The Sciences of
Animal Welfare
David J. Mellor
Professor of Animal Welfare Science,
Professor of Applied Physiology and Bioethics,
Co-Director, Animal Welfare Science and
Bioethics Centre,
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Emily Patterson-Kane
Animal Welfare Scientist,
American Veterinary Medical Association,
Schaumburg, IL, USA
Kevin J. Stafford
Professor of Veterinary Ethology,
Co-Director, Animal Welfare Science and
Bioethics Centre,
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
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This edition fi rst published 2009
© 2009 by UFAW
Series editors
James K. Kirkwood and Robert C. Hubrecht
Wiley-Blackwell is an imprint of John Wiley & Sons, formed by the merger of Wiley’s global
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mellor, David J.
The sciences of animal welfare / David J. Mellor, Emily Patterson-Kane, Kevin J. Stafford.
p. ; cm. -- (UFAW animal welfare series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4051-3495-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Animal welfare. 2. Veterinary medicine. 3.
Agriculture. I. Patterson-Kane, Emily. II. Stafford, Kevin J. III. Universities Federation for Animal
Welfare. IV. Title. V. Series: UFAW animal welfare series.
[DNLM: 1. Animal Welfare. 2. Animal Use Alternatives--methods. 3. Behavior, Animal. 4. Pain--
veterinary. 5. Veterinary Medicine--methods. HV 4708 M527s 2009]
HV4708.M45 2009
636.08′32--dc22
2009016432
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Set in 10/12.5 pt Sabon by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt. Ltd, Chennai, India
Printed and bound in Singapore
1 2009
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Contents
Foreword vi
Preface vii
Acknowledgements x
Part 1 Introduction 1
1 Focus of Animal Welfare 3
Part 2 Paths from the Past 13
2 Agricultural Sciences and Animal Welfare: Crop Production
and Animal Production 15
3 Veterinary Science and Animal Welfare 34
4 Genetics, Biotechnology and Animal Breeding: Mixed Blessings 53
Part 3 Assessment of Animal Welfare 69
5 Animal Welfare, Grading Compromise and Mitigating Suffering 71
6 Standardized Behavioural Testing in Non-Verbal Humans and
Other Animals 95
Part 4 Human Inputs and Animal Welfare 111
7 Human–Animal Interactions and Animal Welfare 113
8 Environmental Enrichment: Studying the Nature of Nurture 131
9 Social Contexts of Animal Welfare 146
Part 5 Thinking Outside the Box 159
10 Integrated Perspectives: Sleep, Developmental Stage and
Animal Welfare 161
11 The Wider Context of Animal Welfare Science 186
References 189
Index 209
v
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Foreword
From the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare’s (UFAW’s) very fi rst meeting
in 1926 at Birkbeck College in London, the organisation’s aim has been to har-
ness the power of science for the benefi t of animals’ welfare. This was expressed in
the rather indigestible original wording of one of its two objectives, which is: ‘To
encourage and promote, through the process of education, good management and
husbandry practices whereby the needs of animals are properly understood and
met, and, in advancement thereof, to contribute to the store of scientifi c knowledge
by funding and engaging in animal welfare research and by publishing the results
thereof.’
As David Mellor, Emily Patterson Kane and Kevin Stafford make clear in this
wide-ranging, fascinating and thought-provoking book, there are many scientifi c
challenges to be addressed in tackling the multitude of pressing animal welfare
problems of which we are aware and in attaining a proper understanding of ani-
mals’ needs and how these can be met. Although much has been learned already in
some fi elds, for a good, shared, science-based understanding of the needs of all the
species we keep, or with which we interact, there is still a long way to go. As the
book neatly outlines, attitudes to animals vary greatly among cultures and between
individuals, and have changed with time. Inventing and designing practical scien-
tifi c approaches to assess the importance to animals of various aspects (present or
absent) of their environments often requires great ingenuity. Sharp and open minds
are needed and, as the authors also intimate, drawing clear conclusions from the
fi ndings can sometimes be much less straightforward than was foreseen. However,
despite the diffi culties of the terrain, the book provides many instructive examples
of how scientifi c approaches have been able to inform policy decisions regarding
aspects of the handling, keeping and humane killing of animals.
I am most grateful to the authors for this excellent contribution to the UFAW/
Wiley-Blackwell Animal Welfare Series.
James K. Kirkwood
May 2009
vi
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Preface
It is only since the early to mid-1990s that animal welfare science has emerged as a
recognized discipline with dedicated degree courses, textbooks, journals, research
departments and specialists. Much of the present content of animal welfare science
therefore rests on foundations laid over many previous decades by behavioural,
nutritional, livestock, physiological, veterinary and other animal-based sciences.
Initial application of established methodologies led to substantial advances in
understanding relevant to animal welfare, although at that time the ideas were only
beginning to be framed in those terms. These advances in their turn gave impetus to
innovative methodological developments and further improvements in knowledge
within the animal welfare science arena itself, thereby enhancing the credibility of
its claim to be a discipline in its own right.
It is understandable that with the emergence of a new discipline its adherents
would wish to enhance its standing by encouraging publication of research fi nd-
ings and scholarly comment in newly formed or relevant existing journals. Animal
welfare scientists are no exception. Publishing in journals such as Animal Welfare,
fi rst issued by the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare in 1992, and in the
behavioural, laboratory animal and veterinary sciences literature, enables research
and other articles on welfare-related topics to be located easily, which is an advan-
tage. But this can also restrict the scope of reading on the subject, and that would
be a disadvantage if it precluded an outward-looking perspective and familiarity
with orientations and publications from other disciplines. Thus, although animal
welfare science is now an established discipline, its future vitality will depend on
continuing external contibutions from its progenitor disciplines and from others.
Accordingly, we, the authors, advocate a multi-disciplinary approach. A key theme
of this book, therefore, is that by operating widely within diverse disciplines, and
perhaps more importantly, at the margins between disciplines, fresh insights can be
obtained which will enliven thinking and improve animal welfare; hence the title of
our book with its focus on the sciences of animal welfare, not the science of animal
welfare. We have provided several examples of the benefi ts of this open thinking.
vii
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