Emotion, Pain, & Sentience

Are tail and ear movements indicators of emotions in tail-docked pigs in response to environmental enrichment?

The inclusion of emotional indicators in farm monitoring methods can improve welfare assessments. Studies in controlled conditions have suggested that increased tail movement is an indicator of positive emotions in pigs, while others have proposed that increased ear movements are...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Marcet-Rius, M., Fàbrega, E., Cozzi, A. et al. 2019. Are tail and ear movements indicators of emotions in tail-docked pigs in response to environmental enrichment? Animals 9(7), 449.

Understanding cows’ emotions on farm: Are eye white and ear posture reliable indicators?

Understanding the emotions of dairy cows is primarily important in enhancing the level of welfare and provide a better life on farm. This study explored whether eye white and ear posture can reliably contribute to interpret valence and arousal of...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Battini, M., Agostini, A., Mattiello, S. 2019. Understanding cows' emotions on farm: Are eye white and ear posture reliable indicators? Animals 9(8), 477.

Fear contagion in zebrafish: A behaviour affected by familiarity

Emotional contagion has recently been described in fish but whether it is affected by familiarity is not known. We tested whether the sight of a distressed conspecific elicited fear in zebrafish, Danio rerio, and whether this was modulated by familiarity....

Year Published: 2019Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Silva, P. F., de Leaniz, C. G., Luchiari, A. C. 2019. Fear contagion in zebrafish: A behaviour affected by familiarity. Animal Behaviour 153, 95-103.

Positive welfare for fishes: Rationale and areas for future study

Traditional animal welfare paradigms have focused on maintaining physical health and mitigating negative impacts to wellbeing. Recently, however, the field has increasingly recognized the importance of positive welfare (i.e., mental and physical states that exceed what is necessary for immediate...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish, Salmon, Tilapia, Trout, Zebrafish

Citation: Fife-Cook, I., Franks, B. 2019. Positive welfare for fishes: Rationale and areas for future study. Fishes 4(2), 31.

Exercise reward induces appetitive 50-kHz calls in rats

Rats express affective states by visible behaviors (like approach or flight) and through different kinds of ultrasonic vocalizations (USV). 50-kHz calls are thought to reflect positive affective states since they occur during rewarding situations like social play or palatable food....

Year Published: 2015Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Heyse, N. C., Brenes, J. C., Schwarting, R. K. W. 2015. Exercise reward induces appetitive 50-kHz calls in rats. Physiology & Behavior 147, 131-140.

Attenuation of fear through social transmission in groups of same and differently aged horses

Transmission of fear and attenuation of fear within groups of farm animals remain relatively unexplored, despite the importance for human and animal safety. This paper reports the results of two separate experiments, aiming to explore social transmission of habituation in...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Rørvang, M. V., Christensen, J. W. 2018. Attenuation of fear through social transmission in groups of same and differently aged horses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 209, 41-46.

Examining affective structure in chickens: valence, intensity, persistence and generalization measured using a Conditioned Place Preference Test

When measuring animals' valenced behavioural responses to stimuli, the Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) test goes a step further than many approach-based and avoidance-based tests by establishing whether a learned preference for, or aversion to, the location in which the stimulus...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Paul, E. S., Edgar, J. L., Caplen, G. et al. 2018. Examining affective structure in chickens: valence, intensity, persistence and generalization measured using a Conditioned Place Preference Test. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 207, 39-48.

The effects of green odour on domestic dogs: A pilot study

Green odour (a mixture of cis-3-hexenol and trans-2-hexenal), similar to cut grass, has been demonstrated to appease subjects of various species (rats, cattle, humans etc.) subjected to different stressful stimuli. The aim of this study was to investigate whether green...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Carlone, B., Gazzano, A., Gutiérrez, J. et al. 2018. The effects of green odour on domestic dogs: A pilot study. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 207, 73-78.

Is boredom an animal welfare concern?

Boredom, while often casually attributed to non-human animals by both laypeople and scientists, has received little empirical study in this context. It is sometimes dismissed by others as anthropomorphic or a trivial concern in comparison to other welfare problems faced...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Meagher, R. K. 2019. Is boredom an animal welfare concern? Animal Welfare 28(1), 21-32.

Is heightened-shoaling a good candidate for positive emotional behavior in zebrafish?

Zebrafish, a highly-social species of freshwater fish, are widely studied across many fields of laboratory science including developmental biology, neuroscience, and genomics. Nevertheless, as standard housing for zebrafish typically consists of small and simplistic environments, less is known about their...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Franks, B., Graham, C., Von Keyserlingk, M. A. G. 2018. Is heightened-shoaling a good candidate for positive emotional behavior in zebrafish? Animals 8(9), 152.