Welfare Assessment

Mental experiences in wild animals: Scientifically validating measureable welfare indicators in free-roaming horses

The mental experiences of animals are what characterises their welfare status. The Five Domains Model for assessing welfare aligns with the understanding that physical and mental states are linked. Following measurement of indicators within each of the four physical/functional Domains...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Harvey, A. M., Beausoleil, N. J., Ramp, D. et al. 2023. Mental experiences in wild animals: Scientifically validating measureable welfare indicators in free-roaming horses. Animals 13(9), 1507.

Review of the foundational knowledge required for assessing horse welfare

A detailed understanding of what is usual for a species under optimal conditions is critical for identifying and interpreting different features of body function that have known impacts on animal welfare and its assessment. When applying the Five Domains Model...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Harvey, A. M., Ramp, D., Mellor, D. J. 2022. Review of the foundational knowledge required for assessing horse welfare. Animals 12(23), 3385.

Play and welfare in domestic cats: Current knowledge and future directions

Play and welfare have long been linked within animal research literature, with play considered as both a potential indicator and promoter of welfare. An indicator due to observations that play is exhibited most frequently in times when an animal's fitness...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Natural Behavior, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Henning, J., Fernandez, E., Nielsen, T. et al. 2022. Play and welfare in domestic cats: Current knowledge and future directions. Animal Welfare 31(4), 407–421.

Use of male-to-female sex reversal as a welfare scoring system in the protandrous farmed gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata)

Gilthead sea bream is a highly cultured marine fish throughout the Mediterranean area, but new and strict criteria of welfare are needed to assure that the intensification of production has no negative effects on animal farming. Most welfare indicators are...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Holhorea, P. G., Felip, A., Calduch-Giner, J. À. et al. 2023. Use of male-to-female sex reversal as a welfare scoring system in the protandrous farmed gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1083255.

Integrating measures of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites and giving-up densitites to assess adrenocortical activity and well-being in zoo-housed three-banded armadillos

To monitor adrenocortical activity in zoo-housed species, we propose using physiological and behavioral indicators that are non-invasive and practical to implement. We explore this model in the southern three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus; armadillo), which is a near-threatened species commonly found...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Other Animal

Citation: Howell-Stephens, J., Potratz, E. J., Brown, J. S. et al. 2023. Integrating measures of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites and giving-up densitites to assess adrenocortical activity and well-being in zoo-housed three-banded armadillos. Animals 13(12), 1975.

Beyond “doing better”: Ordinal rating scales to monitor behavioural indicators of well-being in cats

Safeguarding the well-being of cats is essential to the mission of any responsible animal shelter. Environmental enrichment and behaviour modification are often key to this goal. Measuring response to these interventions is essential to ensure strategies are successful. There are...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Ellis, J. J. 2022. Beyond “doing better”: Ordinal rating scales to monitor behavioural indicators of well-being in cats. Animals 12(21), 2897.

Horse grimace scale does not detect pain in horses with equine gastric ulcer syndrome

Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is a highly prevalent and presumptively painful condition, although the amount of pain horses might experience is currently unknown. The aims of this study were to determine if the Horse Grimace Scale (HGS) could identify...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Ferlini Agne, G., May, B. E., Lovett, A. et al. 2023. Horse grimace scale does not detect pain in horses with equine gastric ulcer syndrome. Animals 13(10), 1623.

“Do not look at me like that”: Is the facial expression score reliable and accurate to evaluate pain in large domestic animals? A systematic review

Facial expression scoring has proven to be useful for pain evaluation in humans. In the last decade, equivalent scales have been developed for various animal species, including large domestic animals. The research question of this systematic review was as follows:...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cattle, Goat, Pig, Sheep

Citation: Fischer-Tenhagen, C., Meier, J., Pohl, A. 2022. “Do not look at me like that”: Is the facial expression score reliable and accurate to evaluate pain in large domestic animals? A systematic review. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1002681.

Development and validation of unesp-botucatu goat acute pain scale

We aimed to develop and validate the Unesp-Botucatu goat acute pain scale (UGAPS). Thirty goats (5 negative controls and 25 submitted to orchiectomy) were filmed for 7 min at the time points 24 h before and 2 h, 3 h...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Goat

Citation: Fonseca, M. W., Trindade, P. H. E., Pinho, R. H. et al. 2023. Development and validation of unesp-botucatu goat acute pain scale. Animals 13(13), 2136.

Morphometrics of Xenopus laevis kept as laboratory animals

Morphometric data that provide information on body conditions can be used to monitor the health and well-being of animals. In laboratory animals, they can help to evaluate the stress due to experiments or treatments, following the 3R principles. The aim...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Amphibian, Frog & Toad

Citation: Böswald, L. F., Matzek, D., Mohr, H. et al. 2022. Morphometrics of Xenopus laevis kept as laboratory animals. Animals 12(21), 2986.