At a slaughter plant, cattle are sometimes exposed to rough handling which may reduce animal welfare (AW). In an observational study at four Swedish commercial slaughter plants, AW-related behaviours of cattle and actions of abattoir stockpersons handling the same animals were recorded simultaneously. The objective was to estimate the occurrence of different behaviours and actions related to negative AW during driving and stunning at largescale cattle abattoirs, assess associations between such behaviours and actions, and analyse differences between plants and animal categories (dairy cows, beef cows, adult bulls and heifers/bullocks). Direct continuous observations of focal animals were made using laptops either in a section of the driving race to the stun box (132 animals) or in the stun box (313 animals), generating a total of 14.5 h of observations. The animals were stunned using a penetrating captive bolt gun or a rifle. Counts per animal of 14 behaviours and 16 stockperson actions were calculated. Sixteen percent of the observed animals displayed total behaviour counts >5 in the driving race, and 2% did so in the stun box; 32 and 8% of the observed animals received total counts >5 of stockperson actions in the race and stun box, respectively. We estimated that two-thirds of the animals were processed without displaying/receiving any of the behaviours/actions associated with severely negative AW. AW scores were acquired by adding together all observed behaviour counts (and action counts, separately) weighted by expert-assessed ratings denoting the degree of impaired AW. Spearman rank correlation was used to analyse associations between behaviour counts, action counts and AW scores. Only three moderate to strong correlations (ρ ≥ 0.4, P ≤ 0.001) between single behaviours/actions were found ("slapping rear" and "slapping front"; "prodding" and "shouting"; and "prodding" and "beating rear" in the driving race). The correlation between AW scores based on behaviours and actions was statistically significant but rather weak both in the driving race (ρ = 0.37, P < 0.0001) and stun box (ρ = 0.22, P = 0.0002). The effects of slaughter plant and animal category on behaviour counts and AW scores were estimated using standard or zeroinflated negative-binomial regression. The risks of most behaviours related to negative AW differed considerably between plants. In the stun box, adult bulls had a 2.5 times higher risk of "struggling-kicking" (P = 0.016) and a 2.0 times higher risk of displaying "backingturning" (P = 0.016) than had dairy cows, indicating poorer welfare for the bulls.

SummaryThe cage systems commonly used for housing laboratory rats often result in sedentary and overweight animals, as a consequence of restricted opportunities for physical activity combined with ad libitum feeding. This can have implications both for animal well-being and for the experimental outcome. Physical activity has several known positive effects on health and lifespan, and physical fitness might therefore be incorporated into the animal welfare concept. The aim of this study was to investigate if and how pen housing affects the physical activity and fitness of rats. Thirty-two juvenile male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to two different housing systems for a 4-week period. Sixteen rats were kept individually in standard Makrolon type III cages (42 ϫ26 ϫ18 cm) furnished with black plastic tubes (singly-housed, SI). The remaining rats were kept in groups of eight, housed in large floor pens (150 ϫ210 cm), which were furnished with various objects to increase environmental complexity (pen-housed, PH). The body weight gain, and food and water intake of the rats were measured. During weeks 3 or 4, home cage behaviour, urinary cortiosterone/ creatinine ratios (CO/CR), and muscle strength on an inclined plane, were measured. Enzyme activities and glycogen content were measured in tissue samples from m. triceps brachii taken after euthanization at the end of the study. There were no significant differences between groups for food and water intake, but PH rats weighed 14% less than SI rats after 4 weeks, and PH rats also had a more diverse behavioural pattern than SI rats. PH rats had significantly higher oxidative capacity (28% more citrate synthase (CS)) and greater glycogen content (28%) in their muscle samples than SI rats. The PH rats performed significantly better on the inclined plane, both in the muscle strength test (mean angle 75 Ϯ0.5°f or PH rats and 69 Ϯ0.4°for SI rats) and the endurance strength test (mean time 233 Ϯ22 s for PH rats and 73 Ϯ14 s for SI rats). There was a negative correlation between body weight and results on the inclined plane for the PH rats. There were no significant differences between housing types with respect to CO/CR ratios. In conclusion, the large pen represents an environment that stimulates physical activity and more varied behaviour, which should be beneficial for the welfare of the animal.

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Wild animals are used for research and management purposes in Sweden and throughout the world. Animals are often subjected to similar procedures and risks of compromised welfare from capture, anesthesia, handling, sampling, marking, and sometimes selective removal. The interpretation of the protection of animals used for scientific purposes in Sweden is based on the EU Directive 2010/63/EU. The purpose of animal use, irrespective if the animal is suffering or not, decides the classification as a research animal, according to Swedish legislation. In Sweden, like in several other European countries, the legislation differs between research and management. Whereas, animal research is generally well-defined and covered in the legislation, wildlife management is not. The protection of wild animals differs depending on the procedure they are subjected to, and how they are classified. In contrast to wildlife management activities, research projects have to implement the 3Rs and must undergo ethical reviews and official animal welfare controls. It is often difficult to define the dividing line between the two categories, e.g., when marking for identification purposes. This gray area creates uncertainty and problems beyond animal welfare, e.g., in Sweden, information that has been collected during management without ethical approval should not be published. The legislation therefore needs to be harmonized. To ensure consistent ethical and welfare assessments for wild animals at the hands of humans, and for the benefit of science and management, we suggest that both research and management procedures are assessed by one single Animal Ethics Committee with expertise in the 3Rs, animal welfare, wildlife population health and One Health. We emphasize the need for increased and improved official animal welfare control, facilitated by compatible legislation and a similar ethical authorization process for all wild animal procedures.

Objective: The aim of this study was to setup a rodent model for modest weight gain and an MRI-based quantification of body composition on a clinical 1.5 T MRI system for studies of obesity and environmental factors and their possible association. Design and Methods: Twenty-four 4-week-old female Fischer rats were divided into two groups: one exposed group (n ¼ 12) and one control group (n ¼ 12). The exposed group was given drinking water containing fructose (5% for 7 weeks, then 20% for 3 weeks). The control group was given tap water. Before sacrifice, whole body MRI was performed to determine volumes of total and visceral adipose tissue and lean tissue. MRI was performed using a clinical 1.5 T system and a chemical shift based technique for separation of water and fat signal from a rapid single echo acquisition. Fat signal fraction was used to separate adipose and lean tissue. Visceral adipose tissue volume was quantified using semiautomated segmentation. After sacrifice, a perirenal fat pad and the liver were dissected and weighed. Plasma proteins were analyzed by Western blot. Results: The weight gain was 5.2% greater in rats exposed to fructose than in controls (P ¼ 0.042). Total and visceral adipose tissue volumes were 5.2 cm 3 (P ¼ 0.017) and 3.1 cm 3 (P ¼ 0.019) greater, respectively, while lean tissue volumes did not differ. The level of triglycerides and apolipoprotein A-I was higher (P ¼ 0.034, P ¼ 0.005, respectively) in fructose-exposed rats. Conclusions: The setup induced and assessed a modest visceral obesity and hypertriglyceridemia, making it suitable for further studies of a possible association between environmental factors and obesity.Obesity (2013) 21, E388-E395.