The Psychology of Cows

Abstract

-Domestic cows (Bos taurus) are consumed worldwide as beef and veal, kept as dairy product producers, employed as draft animals in labor, and are used for a long list of other products, including leather and manure. But despite global reliance on cows for thousands of years, most people's perception of them is as plodding herd animals with little individual personality and very simple social relationships or preferences. Yet, a review of the scientific literature on cow behavior points to more complex cognitive, emotional and social characteristics. Moreover, when cow behavior is addressed, it is almost entirely done within the framework of and applied to their use as food commodities. Therefore, there is relatively little attention to the study of cow intelligence, personality and sociality at a basic comparative level. In this review, we examine the current state of scientific knowledge about cows within an objective comparative framework, describing their cognitive, emotional, and social characteristics. Our aim is to provide a more veridical and objective current summary of cow psychology on its own terms and in ways which will facilitate better-informed comparisons with other animals. Moreover, an understanding of the capabilities and characteristics of domestic cows will, it is hoped, advance our understanding of who they are as individuals.

Evaluating the temporal and situational consistency of personality traits in adult dairy cattle

“…Recently, there has been a growth in interest in the connections between personality, health, welfare, and productivity in farm animals [ 1 , 2 ]. It has been suggested that different personalities may vary in terms of their disease susceptibility [ 3 ], physiological response to stress [ 4 , 5 ] and production traits [ 6 – 11 ].…”

The Importance of Comparative Psychology in Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies

“…Although dogs demonstrate both behavioral and physiological indictors of social bonding with their owners (Berns, Brooks, & Spivak, 2015;Cook, Prichard, Spivak, & Berns, 2016;Konok, Nagy, & Miklósi, 2015), studies with lambs and cows show no obvious emotional bonds or connections with familiar humans, especially under stress conditions or potential opportunities for bonding (Coulon et al, 2013;Rushen, Munksgaard, Marnet, & DePassillé, 2001). There is evidence, however, to suggest conspecifics bond within herds of cows (Marino & Allen, 2017) and horses (Hartmann, Søndergaard, & Keeling, 2012) and additional support of interspecies social bonding in groups of mixed herbivores (Proops, Burden, & Osthaus, 2012). These studies suggest that domestic herbivores are capable of social bonding within and between species.…”

Knowing cows: Transformative mobilizations of human and non‐human bodies in an emotionography of the slaughterhouse

“…This contradiction between knowing and being is crystallized around the question I posed to lairage workers and farmers which was whether the cows know what is happening when they are brought to the slaughterhouse. I contend that an acknowledgement of the cow's ability to know that something bad is happening is indicative of a sentience beyond the immediate (see Marino & Allen, ), acknowledging their ability to smell the blood of conspecifics (Terlouw, Boissy, & Blinet, ), initiating fear and a desire to escape.…”