Publications

Smart farming and Artificial Intelligence (AI): How can we ensure that animal welfare is a priority?

The increasing use of technology in livestock farming has the potential for making farming easier and more efficient and for improving animal welfare. There are also, however, potential dangers, one of which is that animal welfare becomes subordinated to the...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Bird, Cattle, Chicken, Goat, Pig, Sheep

Citation: Dawkins, M. S. 2025. Smart farming and Artificial Intelligence (AI): How can we ensure that animal welfare is a priority? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 283, 106519.

A single-dose pharmacokinetic study of metronidazole administered to Gottingen minipigs (Sus scrofa) by oral gavage or voluntary oral dosing

Oral gavage (OG) dosing can be stressful to pigs and is associated with the risk of complications. To evaluate a potential refinement, we compared the pharmacokinetics of a drug with a known aversive taste (metronidazole) administered orally to 6 Gottingen...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Animal Training, Drug/Substance AdministrationAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Cooper, D. M., Rainey, A., Rosenfeld, C. et al. 2025. A single-dose pharmacokinetic study of metronidazole administered to Gottingen minipigs (Sus scrofa) by oral gavage or voluntary oral dosing. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(3), 514–519.

Handle with care: Dogs show negative responses to restrictive handling restraints and tools during routine examinations

Routine veterinary visits are important for monitoring dog welfare; however, handling during physical examinations may elicit fear responses in dogs. Although handling recommendations exist to mitigate negative experiences for dogs, there is little empirical evidence to support these handling recommendations....

Year Published: 2025Topics: RestraintAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Cisneros, A., Carroll, A. D., Moody, C. M. et al. 2025. Handle with care: Dogs show negative responses to restrictive handling restraints and tools during routine examinations. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 286, 106601.

Assessment of postoperative analgesic efficacy and animal well-being using a novel triaxial accelerometer device, the rodent fitbit-like telemetry device

Accurate postoperative pain management is crucial for good animal welfare and science. We sought to evaluate mouse postoperative pain management efficacy by measuring activity using a novel triaxial acceleration device—the Rodent Fitbit-like telemetry device (RFB)—to monitor home cage activity. To...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Analgesia, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Campbell, M., Tolwani, A., Tolwani, R. et al. 2025. Assessment of postoperative analgesic efficacy and animal well-being using a novel triaxial accelerometer device, the rodent fitbit-like telemetry device. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(3), 457–467.

Social learning during human-animal interaction: Effects on broiler chickens’ behavior

Human-animal interactions play a great role in animal welfare. Despite that chickens can establish positive bonds with humans, it remains unknown if broiler chickens can do this via social learning. This study examined whether observing conspecifics undergoing gentle handling (demonstrator...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Calderón-Amor, J., Tadich, T., Lecorps, B. et al. 2025. Social learning during human-animal interaction: Effects on broiler chickens’ behavior. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 285, 106586.

Light cycle phase effects on behavioral responses to stress exposure in rats

Animal models enable investigation of the impact of stress on emotional-behavioral performance to facilitate understanding of posttraumatic stress symptoms experienced in humans. Refinement of animal stress models could lead to a reduction in the number of subjects needed to detect...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Brown, C. E., Borrell, A. C., DeMar, J. C. et al. 2025. Light cycle phase effects on behavioral responses to stress exposure in rats. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(1), 64–75.

The ability to interpret affective states in horses’ body language is associated with experience with animals.

In light of an increasing interest in the human ability to read equine emotions, Braun et al. (2024) recently showed that horse-experienced individuals performed better in interpreting affective states in horses’ body language than horse-inexperienced individuals. Further, individuals with a...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Braun, M. N., Bülow, S., Müller-Klein, A. et al. 2025. The ability to interpret affective states in horses’ body language is associated with experience with animals. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 290, 106716.

Examining factors that predict social pairing compatibility of female swine (Sus scrofa domesticus) in a research setting

Socially housing gregarious species enhances animal welfare by increasing affiliative interactions, exploratory behaviors, and other species-specific behaviors, while conferring decreased rates of abnormal behaviors. In addition, most regulatory guidelines promote social housing as a minimum standard to promote the wellbeing...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Bailey, A. L., Griffin, E., Painter, M. C. et al. 2025. Examining factors that predict social pairing compatibility of female swine (Sus scrofa domesticus) in a research setting. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(3), 418–428.

Comparison of behavioural indicators of acute pain and stress during and after three methods of handling and restraint for pre-weaned beef calves

Pre-weaned beef calves in western Canada are processed at approximately 6–12 weeks of age, when they are individually handled and restrained to conduct various husbandry procedures. Best practice recommendations for safeguarding animal welfare during husbandry procedures suggest using calm, quiet...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Handling, RestraintAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Arkangel, L., Windeyer, M. C., Goldhawk, C. et al. 2025. Comparison of behavioural indicators of acute pain and stress during and after three methods of handling and restraint for pre-weaned beef calves. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 286, 106623.

The effects of subcutaneous ketamine on postlaparotomy analgesia and behavior in female Sprague–Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Multimodal analgesia provides superior pain control compared with single-agent analgesic approaches. However, certain analgesic drug classes such as NSAIDs and opioids may be contraindicated in some studies due to their mechanisms of action, highlighting the need for alternative analgesic options....

Year Published: 2025Topics: AnalgesiaAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Alionhart, R. E., Carlson, M. M., White, A. R. et al. 2025. The effects of subcutaneous ketamine on postlaparotomy analgesia and behavior in female Sprague–Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus). Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(3), 468–479.