&lt;b&gt;Measuring Animal Welfare: What Can Cognition Contribute?&lt;/b&gt;

Brydges, Nichola M.; Braithwaite, Valerie

doi:10.5016/1806-8774.2008.v10pt91

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…We believe that the time has come to consider cognitive enrichment practices as essential as the other more established types of environmental enrichment. Cognitive enrichment practices can consistently exercise the animal's species-specific needs that have little opportunity to be expressed in captivity [6,17,24,58]. Consistently exercising cognitive capabilities, in turn, creates long-term benefits, such as: reduced distress and associated stereotypical behaviors; enhanced sense of competence, agency, and problem-solving in general and increased neuroplasticity against cognitive decline and impairment [20,34,[59][60][61][62][63].…”

Section: Practical Implications and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Touchscreen-Based, Multiple-Choice Approach to Cognitive Enrichment of Captive Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Calapai,

Pfefferle,

Cassidy

et al. 2023

Animals

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Research on the psychological and physiological well-being of captive animals has focused on investigating different types of social and structural enrichment. Consequently, cognitive enrichment has been understudied, despite the promising external validity, comparability, and applicability. As we aim to fill this gap, we developed an interactive, multiple-choice interface for cage-mounted touchscreen devices that rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) can freely interact with, from within their home enclosure at the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory of the German Primate Center. The multiple-choice interface offers interchangeable activities that animals can choose and switch between. We found that all 16 captive rhesus macaques tested consistently engaged with the multiple-choice interface across 6 weekly sessions, with 11 of them exhibiting clear task preferences, and displaying proficiency in performing the selected tasks. Our approach does not require social separation or dietary restriction and is intended to increase animals’ sense of competence and agency by providing them with more control over their environment. Thanks to the high level of automation, our multiple-choice interface can be easily incorporated as a standard cognitive enrichment practice across different facilities and institutes working with captive animals, particularly non-human primates. We believe that the multiple-choice interface is a sustainable, scalable, and pragmatic protocol for enhancing cognitive well-being and animal welfare in captivity.

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Section: Practical Implications and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Touchscreen-Based, Multiple-Choice Approach to Cognitive Enrichment of Captive Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Calapai,

Pfefferle,

Cassidy

et al. 2023

Animals

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“…These experiences are often defined in terms of the affective states of an animal. Affective states are generally described as feelings, emotions, or moods and can include fear, pain, frustration, happiness, and satisfaction [ 24 , 25 ]. These affective states or experiences are explicitly included in the Five Domains model for animal welfare assessment [ 23 , 26 , 27 ] where animal welfare is considered a continuum of an animal’s affective states or experiences from positive, neutral, to negative [ 24 , 25 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Affective states are generally described as feelings, emotions, or moods and can include fear, pain, frustration, happiness, and satisfaction [ 24 , 25 ]. These affective states or experiences are explicitly included in the Five Domains model for animal welfare assessment [ 23 , 26 , 27 ] where animal welfare is considered a continuum of an animal’s affective states or experiences from positive, neutral, to negative [ 24 , 25 ]. Affective states incorporate behavioural, physiological, and cognitive components and are based on two dimensions: level of arousal, which indicates the level or strength of bodily activation (e.g., excited versus relaxed), and valence of the stimulus, which indicates the direction of the stimulus (e.g., positive versus negative) [ 24 , 25 , 28 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As highlighted by Fraser (2008), the assessment of animal welfare (or the type of welfare assessment model or tools used) can be influenced by different definitions of “animal welfare” and which aspects or concepts of animal welfare are emphasised within the definition [ 26 , 37 , 38 ]. For the purposes of this paper, this review will use the affective states approach as the primary determinant of animal welfare [ 25 ]. Despite there being no direct measures of affective states in animals, affective states can be used to infer animal welfare states.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Review of Rat (Rattus norvegicus), Mouse (Mus musculus), Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus), and Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Indicators for Welfare Assessment

Cohen

2023

Animals

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The monitoring and assessment of animals is important for their health and welfare. The appropriate selection of multiple, validated, and feasible welfare assessment indicators is required to effectively identify compromises or improvements to animal welfare. Animal welfare indicators can be animal or resource based. Indicators can be collated to form assessment tools (e.g., grimace scales) or animal welfare assessment models (e.g., 5 Domains) and frameworks (e.g., 5 Freedoms). The literature contains a wide variety of indicators, with both types needed for effective animal welfare assessment; however, there is yet to be an ideal constellation of indicators for animal-based welfare assessment in small mammals such as guinea pigs (Cavia Porcellus), mice (Mus musculus), rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), and rats (Rattus norvegicus). A systematic review of grey and peer-reviewed literature was performed to determine the types of animal-based welfare indicators available to identify and assess animal health and welfare in these small mammals maintained across a wide variety of conditions. The available indicators were categorised and scored against a selection of criteria, including potential ease of use and costs. This review and analysis aim to provide the basis for further research into animal welfare indicators for these species. Future applications of this work may include improvements to animal welfare assessments or schemes, guiding better management, and implementing future strategies to enable better animal welfare.

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“…When an animal is confronted with a stressful situation, cortisol is produced by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (Brydges and Braithwaite, 2008), the major stress system in the body (Frodl and O'Keane, 2013). The HPA axis is activated when the hypothalamus secretes corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), which travels to the anterior pituitary gland (Miller et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wool cortisol as putative retrospective indicator of stress in ewes during the third trimester of pregnancy, and their newborns: effects of parity and litter size — an exploratory study

Zeinstra,

Vernooij,

Bentvelzen

et al. 2023

Front. Anim. Sci.

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Stress is an important factor in animal welfare. Hair or wool cortisol concentrations are considered to be potential long-term indicators of stress experienced by an animal. Using Swifter sheep, we investigated whether ewe parity and litter size affect the wool cortisol concentrations in ewes and their offspring. We hypothesized that multiparous ewes and their offspring would have higher wool cortisol concentrations than primiparous ewes and their offspring, that ewes with larger litters and their offspring would have lower wool cortisol concentrations than ewes with smaller litters and their offspring, that male lambs would have higher wool cortisol concentrations than female lambs, and that the wool cortisol concentrations in the wool of ewes and their lambs would be correlated. Lamb wool grows in utero during the third trimester of pregnancy. In ewes, the shave–reshave method was used so that wool samples from ewes also covered approximately the last trimester of pregnancy. Our study confirmed that litter size affected ewe wool cortisol concentrations: ewes that gave birth to larger litters (i.e., 3 or 4 lambs) had higher wool cortisol concentrations than ewes that gave birth to smaller litters (i.e., 1 or 2 lambs). There was no evidence that the wool cortisol concentrations of the ewes and their lambs were correlated. Neither litter size nor parity of the ewe affected wool cortisol in the lambs. Our study confirms that wool cortisol can be reliably measured in ewes and their newborn lambs, and suggests that it may be useful as a retrospective indicator of stress during the last trimester of pregnancy.

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<b>Measuring Animal Welfare: What Can Cognition Contribute?</b>

Cited by 7 publications

References 61 publications

A Touchscreen-Based, Multiple-Choice Approach to Cognitive Enrichment of Captive Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

A Touchscreen-Based, Multiple-Choice Approach to Cognitive Enrichment of Captive Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Review of Rat (Rattus norvegicus), Mouse (Mus musculus), Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus), and Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Indicators for Welfare Assessment

Wool cortisol as putative retrospective indicator of stress in ewes during the third trimester of pregnancy, and their newborns: effects of parity and litter size — an exploratory study

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