Search

Assistance dogs must manage stress efficiently because they are involved in challenging tasks. Their welfare is currently a fundamental issue. This preliminary study aimed to compare assistance dogs (AD, n = 22) with pet dogs (PD, n = 24), using blood neuromodulator indicators to help find biomarkers that can improve the AD breeding, selection, training, and welfare monitoring. Both populations originated from different breeds, are of different ages, and had different lifestyles. Basal peripheral concentrations of prolactin (PRL), serotonin (5-HT), free (fOT) and total (tOT) oxytocin were measured by immunoassays. Multiple linear regressions were performed to assess the effect of activity, age, sex, and their interactions on these parameters. Correlations between neurohormonal levels were analyzed. No interactions were significant. fOT and tOT concentrations were significantly influenced by age (p &lt, 0.0001 and p = 0.0002, respectively) and dogs’ activity (p = 0.0006 and p = 0.0277, respectively). A tendency was observed for age effect on PRL (p = 0.0625) and 5-HT (p = 0.0548), as well as for sex effect on tOT (p = 0.0588). PRL concentrations were heterogenous among AD. fOT and tOT were significantly but weakly correlated (Pearson’s r = 0.34, p = 0.04). Blood prolactin, serotonin, and oxytocin may represent biomarkers to assess workload and chronic stress-related responses in ADs and eventually improve their selection and training.

Positive welfare is more than the absence of negative experiences. Nevertheless, there are few feasible animal-based measures for positive welfare. This study aimed to investigate whether object and social play behaviours in pigs, which is believed to trigger positive emotions, is linked to peripheral oxytocin and/or serotonin changes over time. Moreover, the study examines the relationship between tail movement, play behaviour, and peripheral levels of oxytocin and serotonin in animals that have the possibility to play, along with the approach towards humans and the difficulty/ease of working with the animals. At six months old, 10 mini-pigs from the Play group participated in one or two play sessions per day for three weeks. Eight mini-pigs from a Control group did not participate in play sessions. For each first play session, blood was sampled before the play session (T0) and 5–10 min after the play session ended (T1). The same procedure was performed each day for three weeks. For the Control group, blood samples were drawn at the same times as the experimental group, the following day. Results showed a Play session effect on oxytocin, where a significant difference was observed for time (Chi-Square = 3.88, DF = 1, p = .05) and for group*time interaction (Chi-Square = 5.65, DF = 1, p = .02): in the Control group, T1 was significantly higher than T0 (p

Numerous studies have shown that providing straw to pigs can reduce undesirable behaviours such as aggression, tail biting and stereotypy. The measurement of various neuromodulators can be helpful in assessing the development of positive behaviours and overall animal welfare. The oxytocin release is frequently linked to positive emotions and positive welfare. It has been suggested that oxytocin modulates the serotoninergic system. This study aims to investigate the potential effect of straw provision in pigs on peripheral levels of oxytocin and serotonin. In total, 18 mini-pigs were involved in an exploratory study conducted in two parallel groups, Enriched (n=10) and Control (n=8) groups. Pigs were divided by group and housed in pens of two individuals. Straw was provided continuously only in Enriched group and renewed each day for 2 weeks. Two blood samples were drawn from each animal 5 to 10 min before providing the straw, and 15 min after providing straw, during the 1st week, to analyse peripheral changes in oxytocin and serotonin before and after straw provision, and determine the existence of a putative short-term effect. The same procedure was carried out for Control group, without straw provision. Long-term effects of straw provision were also examined using blood samples drawn at the same hour from each animal in the 2nd and 3rd weeks. During this time, animals had the permanent possibility to explore the straw in Enriched group but not in Control group. At the end of each week, one animal-keeper completed two visual analogue scales for each mini-pig regarding the difficulty/ease to work with and handle it and its trust in humans. Results showed peripheral oxytocin increases in both groups after 2 weeks (P=0.02). Results did not demonstrate any effect of providing straw to allow exploratory behaviour on peripheral serotonin. Other results were not significant. This preliminary study explored the relationship between peripheral oxytocin and serotonin and the presence of straw that allow pigs to perform exploratory behaviour, suggesting that there was no relationship between them. Some future studies may include crossing oxytocin and serotonin with other parameters, such as behavioural measures, to obtain more information about the true state of the animal and any possible relationship with pig welfare.

The screening of putative semiochemicals involved in the interaction between Lepeophtheirus salmonis copepodid and the Atlantic salmon could be used to develop methods to prevent infestation. A bioassay was designed to evaluate the attractiveness of Atlantic salmon for L. salmonis copepodids by counting the number of hooked parasites. A salmon was bathed in a tank with 60 copepodids during 45 min. The salmon was humanely killed and its body was scrubbed above a plastic bag. The content of the bag was filtered to count the number of hooked parasites. This procedure was tested at different water temperatures and for different body mass. The temperature significantly influenced the number of hooked copepodids (p

The welfare of farmed animals, and more recently of farmed fish, is a growing concern in current society. Changes in living conditions represent one of the most stressful situations in fish production. It is crucial to develop tools to evaluate welfare in farmed fish throughout the various situations observed during the production cycle. The present work aims to select relevant parameters in order to evaluate the welfare of trout, by describing the physiological and zootechnical profiles of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) populations during adaptation to a new environment. Ten days after transferring seven groups of farmed trout to a laboratory setting, a principal component analysis was performed on five parameters: plasma cortisol level (PCL), hepatosomatic index (HI), growth (G), food intake (FI) and food conversion ratio (FCR). PCL and FCR were positively correlated and were both negatively correlated with FI and G. FI and G were positively correlated. HI was not correlated with any other parameter. PCL was considered as being at basal levels. Descriptive statistics and the principal component analysis suggest measuring PCL, G, FI and FCR to be a relevant strategy for evaluating the welfare of trout when adapting to a new environment. The study demonstrates the relevance of this approach in evaluating specific profiles related to the welfare of farmed animals.