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The aim of this study was to assess the welfare of culled dairy cattle sent to an auction in the UK and identify associations between animal-based measurement and economic gain. The population of cull dairy cows sold at a Scottish livestock market were assessed on ten occasions for measures including body condition, mobility, hair loss and lesions, swelling, body cleanliness, claw conformation and total time in pre-sale pens. Details on breed, age, breeding status, farm, weight and price were gathered from market reports and cattle passports. Questionnaires sent to farms gathered information on reason for culling, retirement period (a finishing period to improve body condition), and number of lactations, among other variables. Measures such as bodyweight, breeding status, and breed type influenced price paid, with heifers and larger animals receiving higher prices. A negative effect over price paid was due to reduced mobility and hair loss scores, suggesting that some animal-based indicators of compromised welfare may be associated with a lower economic return from the cows sent to market. No influence of retirement length on price paid was noted. Reason for culling also did not influence price paid, but considering the association found between welfare and price paid, this suggests that the farmers’ reason for culling may not be necessarily revealed by the visual appearance of the cow. This study reveals reasons for culling and quantifies the welfare of dairy cows at market and demonstrates how measures of breeding status and body size, as well as measures of welfare, influence the buyers’ decisions and prices paid at auction.

The teaching of animal welfare in Indian veterinary education is limited. Current knowledge and attitudes to animal welfare and euthanasia, and the effect of a targeted educational intervention, were assessed in 84 Indian national and 49 non-Indian veterinarians attending a 2-week training course run by the Worldwide Veterinary Service in Tamil Nadu. A pre-intervention questionnaire, comprising knowledge and attitude questions on animal welfare and ethical issues, was completed. Fifteen students were then retained as a control group. The intervention group was exposed to a predesigned lecture and case studies (day 6). At the end of the course (day 12), another identical questionnaire was completed. Initially, there was no difference in knowledge of the control or intervention groups of Indian participants. Overall knowledge scores were lower in Indian participants compared with non-Indian participants ( p < 0.05). Both groups’ scores increased after the course ( p < 0.05), with the Indian participants improving the most. Indian participants’ attitudes were supportive of animal welfare and euthanasia prior to the intervention. Improvements in scores, with some reaching significance ( p < 0.05), were observed post-intervention. Non-Indian participants’ attitudes were more supportive of animal welfare and euthanasia with strongly agree/ strongly disagree chosen more frequently than Indian responses. Both groups’ self-assessment of their understanding of these topics improved post-intervention ( p < 0.01). No prominent differences were found in questionnaire responses in the control cohort. This study shows that a targeted educational intervention impacts on Indian veterinarians’ knowledge and attitudes toward animal welfare and euthanasia, and is relevant to organizations aiming to improve animal welfare standards in India.

Sleep is important for cow health and shows promise as a tool for assessing welfare, but methods to accurately distinguish between important sleep stages are difficult and impractical to use with cattle in typical farm environments. The objective of this study was to determine if data from more easily applied non-invasive devices assessing neck muscle activity and heart rate (HR) alone could be used to differentiate between sleep stages. We developed, trained, and compared two machine learning models using neural networks and random forest algorithms to predict sleep stages from 15 variables (features) of the muscle activity and HR data collected from 12 cows in two environments. Using k-fold cross validation we compared the success of the models to the gold standard, Polysomnography (PSG). Overall, both models learned from the data and were able to accurately predict sleep stages from HR and muscle activity alone with classification accuracy in the range of similar human models. Further research is required to validate the models with a larger sample size, but the proposed methodology appears to give an accurate representation of sleep stages in cattle and could consequentially enable future sleep research into conditions affecting cow sleep and welfare.

This chapter discusses the different ethical viewpoints and addresses why people make choices or behave in ways that may not seem rational or appropriate. Understanding science and human decision making, and how behaviour is influenced, are crucial in improving animal welfare. It also describes how animal welfare practitioners must require a scientific understanding of animal wants and needs, and an ability to carry out ethical reasoning and to advocate for animal welfare in legal and policy decisions.

Providing continuously-housed dairy cows with a loafing area may allow them space to express behaviours that are affected by the housing environment. The aim of this study was to investigate whether dairy cows had a preference for loafing area type and if loafing area type affected behaviour performed within it. Three groups of 12 and one group of 11 lactating cows (n=47) were housed in a cubicle shed with two nearby loafing areas 1) a concrete-floored roofed area and 2) a grassed paddock fenced to the same size as the concrete area. After 3d baseline period without access, cows were trained to access the loafing areas over 2 days. A 5d preference test followed, where cows had free access to the cubicle shed and both loafing areas from 08:45 until 12:45 and 15:30 to 18:30. Behaviour was observed via live observations (scan sampling) in the mornings and afternoons and activity sensors (IceTags) continuously recorded lying bouts 24 h/d until the end of the experiment. Results of the live observations showed that the cows were in the paddock area for more of the scans than the concrete area (P

Quality sleep is important for physical health and welfare in animals. However, we know little about dairy cow sleep, and how much they need. Practical techniques are needed to monitor sleep in cows to determine how different management practices affect their sleep and their welfare. It is impractical to use ‘gold standard’ electrophysiological - polysomnography (PSG) to identify sleep in cows. Previous work suggests lying postures are useful to identify sleep stages in calves, but the reliability of lying behaviour to identify these sleep stages in adult cows is uncertain. We compared the lying postures of adult dairy cows (deep bedded on straw or in a pasture) with PSG, to determine if lying postures could be used to accurately identify rapid eye movement (REM) and the different stages of non-REM (NREM) sleep. Lying in the typical “sleep” posture with the head turned and resting on the flank identified approximately 70 % of REM sleep in outdoor managed cows but was less accurate in indoor housed cows that showed REM sleep in numerous postures. Lying with the head still and low did not identify stages of NREM sleep in either group. Using the tucked ‘sleep posture’ to estimate total sleep would be an over estimation of REM sleep, but also an underestimation of total sleep as this posture would omit most NREM sleep. Lying postures are not useful indicators of sleep stages in dairy cows and additional research is required to identify efficacious alternative techniques.

This study aimed to identify the risk factors for aggressive behaviour in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) in Mainland China. This information has never been estimated before for owned dogs in China, therefore, there has been a lack of information to help guide veterinarians and dog behaviourists when giving advice to owners of dogs considered to have such behaviour problems. In order to establish this information, questionnaires were completed in electronic and paper format by dog owners: 2575 completed questionnaires were received. The majority of owners (2215, 86 %) reported that their dogs exhibited at least one behaviour they considered a problem: the main behaviour problem categories reported by owners were barking (871, 33.8 %), lunging and biting other dogs or people (586, 22.7 %), urinating inappropriately (566, 22 %), being destructive (537, 21.9 %), and eating non-food items (354, 13.7 %). When asked specifically about aggressive (any of growling, baring teeth, snarling, snapping or biting) and biting behaviours, 1578 owners (61 %) reported their dogs regularly being aggressive to other dogs or people, and 883 (34 %) reported that their dog had bitten other dogs or people. By using binomial logistic regression analyses, significant risk and protective factors were found for aggressive (X2(24, N = 2575) = 112.613, Nagelkerke R2 = .058, p 2.5) for being reported for aggressive behaviour include: terriers; and little time spent with the owner. Variable categories with the largest odds ratios (>2.00) for being reported for biting include: living with children older than 10 years of age; and being acquired from ‘other types’ of sources (compared to e.g. being found as a stray, which was protective). These results are very similar to those found in other geographical areas, for example in the USA, Sweden and Taiwan. The investigation of risk factors for aggressive behaviour will help veterinarians and dog behaviourists provide more appropriate advice to owners regarding their dogs’ aggressive behaviour, which will in turn improve dog welfare and public safety in China.

Cats of Australia Survey

Animal Behaviour and Welfare was a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) hosted on Coursera as a free introductory animal welfare course. Through interrogating Coursera data and pre-/post-course student experience surveys, we investigated student retention, student experience, changes in attitudes, and changes in knowledge. The course ran for 5 weeks, and 33,501 students signed up, of which 16.4% (n=5,501) received a Certificate of Achievement, indicating they had completed all assessments within the course. This retention rate is above the industry standard of 10%; however, the value of retention rate as a metric to judge MOOC success is questionable. Instead, we focus on demographics, with Coursera data estimating that 41% of learners came from Europe, 35% from North America, 11% from Asia, 6% from Oceania, 5% from South America, and 2% from Africa. Most learners had completed an undergraduate degree. Despite this wide range of backgrounds, 57.2% of post-course respondents (n=2,399) strongly agreed that the information presented was at the right level and 64.9% strongly agreed that the course was interesting. After completion, more students (χ2[4]=132.40, p2[4]=361.32, p

This paper presents a summary of results from a 2012 survey that investigated feeding and housing management regimens currently adopted by dairy farmers in Britain. Responses from 863 farms provide a snapshot of dairy industry structure and a description of the range of management systems currently in operation. Outcomes highlight a diversity of management practices, showing that 31% of farms maintained a traditional grazing system with no forage feeding indoors during the summer, whereas 38% of farmers indicated that all their milking cows received some feeding indoors during the summer. A system of housing dairy cows for 24 h/d while they are lactating was implemented by 8% of farms, whereas 1% of farms did not house their cows at any time of the year. Statistical analyses were carried out on 3 distinct groups identified from survey responses: (1) farmers who did not undertake any indoor feeding during the summer; (2) farmers who fed all their milking cows indoors during the summer; and (3) farmers who continuously housed their cows for 24h/d while lactating. Results showed a significant relationship between management type and herd size, and between management type and breed type; on average, herd sizes were larger within systems that feed indoors. No significant relationship was found between management type and farm location when classified by estimated grassland productivity. The results indicate that traditional all-summer grazing is no longer the predominant system adopted by dairy farmers and that other systems such as all-year-round indoor feeding and continuous housing are becoming more prevalent in Britain.

There is concern that cows that are continuously housed year-round may lack the opportunity to express a full range of natural behaviour. Providing these cows with a loafing or exercise area may allow them the space to express a greater behavioural repertoire. Little is known about the factors that affect the use of loafing areas. The aim of this study was to determine whether access to a view across the surroundings, dominance rank of the cow or weather conditions influence the use of a loafing area. Four groups of cows were housed in a cubicle house with an adjoining roofed, concrete floored loafing area, with a view out across adjacent fields. Each group was tested over a period of 16 days with 2 four-day periods in which the cows could see the area beyond the loafing area and two periods when they could not. The dominance rank of each cow was assessed prior to the testing period and weather and climatic conditions were recorded regularly throughout the observation period. Overall, cows spent 14% of the observation period in the loafing area. Low-ranking cows were more often in the loafing area during feeding times than high-ranking cows, with all cows using the area most once feeding was completed (P

This study examined the licensing system that permits seal shooting in Scotland, which was established under Part 6 Conservation of Seals of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Four approaches were used: data were collated and analyzed from both the Scottish Government and Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme; a survey was sent to current license holders and informal interviews were conducted with key stakeholder types. Between February 2011 and the end of October 2015, 1229 gray seals and 275 common seals were reported shot under license to the Scottish Government. The numbers of seals reported as shot has reduced year-on-year since the licensing system was put in place. While some license holders, notably fish farms, were using some non-lethal forms of deterrent to reduce seal-related damage, these were often used alongside seal shooting. Of the seals reported as shot to the Scottish Government, only a small percentage were also reported to the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, despite this being a licensing requirement. Only 2.3% of the shot gray seals and 4.5% of the shot common seals were necropsied. There is evidence from these necropsies that some seals had not died instantly or had not been shot in the manner recommended by the Scottish Seal Management Code of Practice. These preliminary results show that more carcasses need to be recovered and necropsied if the welfare implications of current seal shooting practice are to be properly assessed. The current legislation does not specify closed seasons to protect breeding seals and thirty-five per cent of necropsied seals were pregnant gray seals. Seals have also been shot during their lactation periods when pups are dependent on their mothers. This raises significant welfare concerns. The re-introduction of closed seasons specific to each species of seal is recommended along with greater effort to deploy non-lethal methods. Independent assessment of the number of seals being killed would also improve the credibility of the system.

Involuntary culling (IC) is where a cow is disposed of due to injury, poor health or infertility. The main reasons for IC are infertility, mastitis and lameness. These reasons have differing age profiles in when they affect cows, cost variable amounts to treat and have an effect on the value of the cow at market. They also reduce cow welfare in different ways. These factors influence the economically optimum cow replacement decision, which must balance the risks of future loss from the current cow against its future prospects and the net costs of a replacement. So the farmer's economic decision as to when to cull a cow may not occur at the same time as when the cow could, and sometimes should, be culled to maximise her welfare. To explore this dilemma, we developed a Dynamic Programme (DP) model to assess the optimum replacement policies for each of 180 possible cow states (12 parities and 15 milk-yield levels) under a simplified set of alternative husbandry systems and remedial practices. The DP was used to explore the relationships between financial outcomes, investment in improving welfare, lifespan and IC in dairy systems. There is a trade-off between dairy cattle lifespan and risk of suffering over which farmers have some control by the replacement and investment decisions they make. Our results show that improving cow welfare by reducing mastitis, lameness or infertility over the long term increases the mean longevity of the herd and also reduces the potential of long-term suffering resulting from chronic conditions. Additionally, it has the effect of increasing replacement opportunities and the annuities for each cow (£ per cow per year) mainly by increasing milk yield and reducing costly on-farm culls, creating a win-win situation for both farmer and cow.

Information on (changes in) standing and lying behaviour of cows can be used for oestrus detection, early diagnosis of disorders and to evaluate welfare consequences of changes in housing and management. Data sets on lying and standing behaviour were collected from cows with IceTag™ sensors fitted to the leg. Data were obtained with 10 late-pregnant indoor-housed beef cows (Exp. 1), 19 out-wintered beef cows (Exp. 2) and 44 housed lactating dairy cows that were milked three times daily (Exp. 3). During part of Exp. 1 video footage was recorded to validate the sensor records. Data were analysed with the aims of estimating objective lying and standing bout criteria and to test two hypotheses. These hypotheses were that (i) the probability of cows standing up would increase with the length of time the animal had been lying down and (ii) the probability of cows lying down would increase with the length of time the animal had been standing. A total of 10,814, 39,089 and 9405 lying episodes were recorded by the sensors in Exp. 1–3, respectively. On the basis of log–survivorship plots, frequency distributions of (log-transformed) lying episode lengths and analysis of the correspondence between recorded lying episodes and video footage of lying behaviour, a minimum lying bout criterion of 4 min was indicated. Application of this criterion reduced the number of lying episodes by between 62% and 88% in the three experiments, even though this had only minor effects on total estimated lying and standing time (changes between 0.5% and 3.2%). Out-wintered beef cows tended to have fewer but longer lying bouts than the other groups and dairy cows had the shortest total lying time. (11.6, 10.5 and 10.2 h/day in Exp. 1–3, respectively). The probability of cows standing up within the next 15 min increased (P

This study aimed to compare the prevalence of lameness on organic and non-organic dairy farms in the United Kingdom (UK) and to assess which cow and farm factors influenced lameness levels. Forty organic and 40 non-organic dairy farms across the UK were repeatedly visited over a 2.5 year period. On each visit all milking cows were locomotion scored, and information about farm housing, management and husbandry practices was recorded on-farm. Over the whole study, the mean herd lameness prevalence was 16.2%, 16.3% and 19.3% in the autumn, winter and spring observation periods, respectively. Lameness prevalence was lower (P=0.012) on organic farms compared to non-organic farms. Numerous specific factors were found to significantly influence the prevalence of lameness. This study provided evidence that organic management reduced herd lameness. It supported previous research which suggested that lameness is a serious problem on many farms in the UK and further emphasised the multi-factorial aetiology of lameness problems.

Dietary composition and presentation impacts on the behaviour of animals, and failure to provide a suitable diet can lead to reduced welfare through the development of poor health, the inability to express normal behaviours and the development of abnormal behaviours. This study assessed the effects of two commonly fed pet rabbit diets (extruded nuggets with hay (EH) and muesli with hay (MH)) alongside hay only (HO) and muesli only (MO) on the behaviour of 32 Dutch rabbits observed over 17 months. Increased time spent feeding was observed in the groups fed ad libitum hay (HO, EH, MH) compared to the MO group (P < 0.05). A corresponding high level of inactivity was observed in the MO group compared to rabbits receiving hay (P < 0.05). In the groups provided with hay a preference to consume hay in a natural grazing posture was observed. The higher activity levels and absence of abnormal behaviours when hay was fed support recommendations that forage should form a significant portion of the diet for domestic rabbits.

There have been increases in the number of organic dairy farms in the UK in recent years. However, there is little information on the impact of organic regulations on cow welfare. As part of a larger study, we aimed to investigate differences between organic and non-organic farms in management practices and winter housing quality. Forty organic and 40 non-organic farms throughout the UK were visited. Organic and non-organic farms were paired for housing type, and as far as possible for herd size, genetic merit and location. A detailed questionnaire covering key aspects of dairy management was carried out with each farmer. On a subset of twenty pairs, an assessment of the quality of the winter housing for both lactating and dry cows was undertaken, covering the parlour, bedding, loafing and feeding areas. Management practices and building conditions varied greatly within farm types and there was considerable overlap between organic and non-organic farms. Milk yield, level and composition of concentrate feed, management of heifers and calving, and use of ‘alternative treatments’ to prevent and treat mastitis differed between organic and non-organic farms. In all other respects there were no differences between farm types. Building dimensions per cow did not differ, even though organic recommendations advise greater space per cow than recommended for non-organic farms. The similarity between organic and non-organic farms in most respects indicates that cow housing and health, based on both the described management regimes and the farmers' perceptions of disease incidence, on organic dairy farms is neither compromised by the regulations, nor considerably better than on non-organic farms.

Jill MacKay, Fritha Langford and Natalie Waran were three of the lecturers on the University of Edinburgh9s massive open online course (MOOC) on animal welfare and behaviour that began in July. Here, they assess its global appeal and judge its success

NEGATIVE energy balance is common in modern high genetic merit dairy cows during early lactation, when milk production is high and appetite is reduced. European Union organic management regulations place restrictions on the source and type of feed (most pertinently the proportion of the diet fed as