Animal Welfare Considerations Research Articles

Substituting red meat with insects in burgers: Estimating the public health impact using risk-benefit assessment

In Western societies, reducing red meat consumption gained prominence due to health, environmental, and animal welfare considerations. We estimated the public health impact of substituting beef with house cricket (Acheta domesticus) in European diets (Denmark, France, and Greece) using the risk-benefit assessment (RBA) methodology, building upon the EFSA-funded NovRBA project. The overall health impact of substituting beef patties with insect powder-containing patties was found to be impacted by the amount of cricket powder incorporated in the patties. While using high amounts of cricket powder in meat substitutes may be safe, it does not inherently offer a healthier dietary option compared to beef. Adjustment of cricket powder levels is needed to yield a positive overall health impact. The main driver of the outcome is sodium, naturally present in substantial amounts in crickets. Moreover, the way that cricket powder is hydrated before being used for the production of patties (ratio of powder to water), influences the results. Our study highlighted that any consideration for dietary substitution should be multidimensional, considering nutritional, microbiological and toxicological aspects, and that the design of new food products in the framework of dietary shifts should consider both health risks and benefits associated with the food.

Role and ethics of cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis) blastoids in primate developmental biology research.

This review on cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis) blastoids discusses a breakthrough in modeling early non-human primate embryogenesis, offering insights into embryonic development and implantation processes. It acknowledges ethical challenges and animal welfare considerations in developmental biology, suggests potential applications in human reproductive medicine, and highlights the need for ongoing ethical and technical refinement.

A synthesis of wild animal-related trade laws in some of the world's most biodiverse countries

We examined the laws and legal provisions governing the commercial trade of terrestrial wild fauna across the trade chain in some of the world's megadiverse countries and how these relate to key animal welfare and conservation concerns. Over the past century, an increase in the quantity and complexity of laws related to commercial wildlife trade has been observed in the 11 focal countries examined. Our review identified 95 laws with 560 provisions adopted since 1910 across these countries. Surprisingly, the level of biological diversity in a country does not correlate with the extent of legislation addressing wildlife trade. Moreover, legislation is unevenly distributed across different stages of the wildlife trade chain, with more provisions on extraction and transportation compared to captive management. Notably, animal welfare considerations are relatively underrepresented in legislation related to wildlife trade, despite their broad implications for public health and economies. Urgent legislative action is needed to meet global biodiversity targets and respond to the challenges posed by the growing scale and complexity of the wildlife trade. Recommendations are made to streamline legislation, consider the legal status of wild animals, and address gaps in enforcement mechanisms. We conclude that alignment of national and international regulations is crucial for the effective protection of both wild animal populations and individual animals' welfare in the context of commercial trade. Further research is needed to assess the effectiveness of existing laws, bridge legal gaps, and address diverse concerns related to wildlife trade, including public health and the rights of local communities.

A new approach and insights on modelling the impact of production diseases on dairy cow welfare

Animal welfare is becoming an important consideration in animal health-related decision-making. Integrating considerations of animal welfare into the decision-making process of farmers involves recognising the significance of health disorder impacts in relation to animal welfare. Yet little research quantifies the impact, making it difficult to include animal welfare in the animal health decision-making process. Quantifying the impact of health disorders on animal welfare is incredibly challenging due to empirical animal-based data collection constraints. An approach to circumvent these constraints is to rely on expert knowledge whereby perceived welfare impairment weights are indicative of the negative welfare effect. In this research, we propose an expertise-based method to quantify the perceived impact of sub-optimal mobility (SOM) on the welfare of dairy cows, because of its welfare importance. We first quantified perceived welfare impairment weights of SOM by eliciting expert knowledge using adaptive conjoint analysis (ACA). Second, using the perceived welfare impairment weights, we derived the perceived welfare disutility (i.e., perceived negative welfare effect) of mobility scores 1–5 (1 = optimal mobility, 5 = severely impaired mobility). Third, using the perceived welfare disutility per mobility score, we quantified the perceived welfare impact at case- and herd-level of SOM for different SOM severity. Results showed that perceived welfare disutility increased with each increase in mobility score. However, the perceived welfare impact of SOM cases with lower mobility scores was higher compared to SOM cases with higher mobility scores. This was because of the longer-lasting duration of the SOM cases with lower mobility scores. Moreover, the perceived herd-level welfare impact was largely due to SOM cases with lower mobility scores because of the longer duration and more frequent incidence compared to the SOM cases with higher mobility scores. These results entail that better welfare of dairy cows with respect to SOM can be achieved if lower mobility scores are detected and treated sooner. Our research demonstrates a novel approach that quantifies the perceived impact of health disorders on animal welfare when empirical evidence is limited.

The chicken chorioallantoic membrane as a low-cost, high-throughput model for cancer imaging

Mouse models are invaluable tools for radiotracer development and validation. They are, however, expensive, low throughput, and are constrained by animal welfare considerations. Here, we assessed the chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) as an alternative to mice for preclinical cancer imaging studies. NCI-H460 FLuc cells grown in Matrigel on the CAM formed vascularized tumors of reproducible size without compromising embryo viability. By designing a simple method for vessel cannulation it was possible to perform dynamic PET imaging in ovo, producing high tumor-to-background signal for both 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) and (4S)-4-(3-18F-fluoropropyl)-L-glutamate (18F-FSPG). The pattern of 18F-FDG tumor uptake were similar in ovo and in vivo, although tumor-associated radioactivity was higher in the CAM-grown tumors over the 60 min imaging time course. Additionally, 18F-FSPG provided an early marker of both treatment response to external beam radiotherapy and target inhibition in ovo. Overall, the CAM provided a low-cost alternative to tumor xenograft mouse models which may broaden access to PET and SPECT imaging and have utility across multiple applications.

Exotic pet trade in Canada: The influence of social media on public sentiment and behaviour

The live trade in wild animals can increase the risk of escape of exotic animals, introduce invasive species, spread zoonotic diseases, over-exploit wild populations, and harm animal welfare. Trade in exotic pets is a particularly understudied issue in Canada. While Canadians generally have pro-environmental attitudes, it is unclear whether this extends to the trade in exotic animals. With most Canadians on social media, we aimed to use Natural Language Processing of social data to examine public sentiment towards exotic pet trade in Canada. We analysed 9,274 posts on Twitter (now 'X') about exotic pets between 2012 and 2022, and 150,236 comments from 2568 TikTok videos showing exotic pets from 50 unique Canadian accounts. We found that social media users demonstrate markedly positive attitudes towards the live trade in reptiles and amphibians, mammals, birds, and arachnids and insects, even on TikTok videos showing poor animal care and questionable legality. We propose a conceptual framework for how exotic pet influencers directly and indirectly contribute to increased demand for exotic pets through opinion leadership, sharing information on where to buy exotic pets, and normalising exotic pet ownership. We suggest that it is important to raise public awareness among social media users about the challenges associated with wildlife trade, including animal welfare considerations, and the links between exotic pet trade and conservation.

Animal lives embodied in food loss and waste

While the importance of reducing meat loss and waste is acknowledged due to its substantial environmental impacts, the aspect of animal welfare largely remains unaddressed. The suffering and death that is inflicted on animals to produce food that is never eaten remains invisible. This study aims to bridge the gap between food loss and waste (FLW) accounting literature and animal welfare considerations. It achieves this by estimating the number of animal lives embodied in meat loss and waste of six major meat-producing species along the food supply chain and by modelling three potential reduction scenarios. It shows that approximately 18 billion animal lives were embodied in losses and waste of global meat production and consumption in 2019. The scenarios reveal that wasted and lost animal lives could be reduced by 7.9 billion if best regional efficiencies were mainstreamed, and by 4.2 or 8.8 billion if Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 was implemented, achieving a 50 % loss and waste reduction in the downstream or whole supply chain, respectively. Considering species-specific conscience and sentience, and previous recommendations, the analysis finds leverage points for change at the consumption stage in developed, high-income countries, in Industrialized Asia, judging by absolute, and in North America and Oceania, judging by per-capita numbers, as well as in top countries of FLW and animal life loss. It further identifies trade-offs for animal welfare between reducing FLW of different meat types, especially chicken and beef, and reducing production-based losses while keeping emissions and resource use low and supporting food security.

When Reading Gets Ruff: Welfare Challenges and Strategies in an Elementary School Dog-Assisted Literacy Program

Abstract The co-authors of this case report have worked collaboratively for over 10 years in a dog-assisted literacy program at an elementary school. In their roles as a teacher and a dog handler, the authors are able to provide unique insights into the challenges and strategies of successfully implementing a school-wide program. This case report addresses animal and participant welfare considerations in the specific areas of recruiting and selecting dog-handler teams, preparing teachers and students, program adaptations for differing abilities, and navigating loss due to separation or retirement. While the examples and anecdotes are from elementary children in a reading program, readers interested in animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) in other settings and with different clients can also benefit as the discussion is broad and the topics relevant to many interventions. Readers are encouraged to exercise proper preparation and planning, as well as consider the various challenges discussed, as a way to facilitate the implementation of future AAIs. Information © The Authors 2023

Swine industry stakeholders' perception on the use of water-based foam as an emergency mass depopulation method.

The U.S. pork supply chain is vulnerable to various internal and external threats and in need of prompt, comprehensive response plans. Under urgent circumstances, for example in the case of foreign disease incursions, swine farms will have to perform on-farm animal depopulation to prevent disease spread. Several animal depopulation methods including water-based foam (WBF) have been proposed and are under evaluation for feasibility in the field. However, the psychological/emotional impacts of applying depopulation methods for personnel managing and carrying on the tasks are not currently well understood. Thus, this study aimed to investigate WBF as an alternative for depopulation compared to existing methods approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Swine industry stakeholders were invited to voluntarily observe a WBF depopulation trial and to provide their self-reported perspectives before and after the observation. A survey was designed to explore key areas on expected and perceived method effectiveness, efficiency, and animal welfare considerations, as well as to evaluate short-term post-observation psychological impacts. Among 42 recruited stakeholders, 31.0% (13/42) were educators/researchers followed by animal health officials (26.2%, 11/42) and veterinarians (23.8%, 10/42), with an average of 11.7 ± 12.6 (n = 39) years of work experience. After the trial, respondents' positive perception of WBF depopulation increased specifically regarding the animal loading process being less stressful than restrained in-barn depopulation options (P = 0.003) and by the observation of fewer swine escape attempts and vocalizations than expected (P < 0.001). Respondents' positive perception of WBF also increased regarding to the time required to fill the trailer with foam, to stop hearing animal vocalization, and stop hearing animal movement, as the observed trial times were faster than their pre-observation estimates (P < 0.001). Additionally, 79.5% (31/39) of respondents agreed that the rapid destruction of animal populations had priority over animal welfare under urgent scenarios. Minor post-traumatic stress disorder-like (PTSD-like) symptoms from the observed trials were reported (26.7%, 4/15 respondents) one month after the observation. This study showed that the WBF depopulation process was perceived positively by swine stakeholders and may have limited short-term psychological impacts on personnel involved in animal depopulation.

Behavioral Evaluation of Laboratory-housed Ferrets (Mustela Putorius Furo) in Different Enclosure Sizes.

The domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo) is a common research model for infectious disease and behavioral studies. Ferrets are social animals that are commonly pair-housed. The United States has no species-specific regulatory standards for housing ferrets. Optimal enclosure dimensions have also not been investigated in this species, and cage sizes reported in the literature vary. Adequate space is an important animal welfare consideration, as smaller cages have been linked to increased incidence of stress- or boredom-related behaviors in some species. Here, we evaluated activity budget and space utilization in 2 different enclosure sizes for pair-housed female ferrets (n = 12). Single cages measured 78.7×78.7×45.7cm; double cages were comprised of 2 single cages connected by a short tunnel measuring 17.8 cm. Three pairs of ferrets were housed in each cage size and continuous video recordings were captured for 2 wk prior to crossover to the other cage size. The overall activity budget was similar between groups, with the predominant behavior being inactivity (89%). Stereotypic behaviors, such as cage biting or escape attempts, were infrequent (<0.1%) in both groups. Ferrets in double cages remained in the same cage as their partner 96% of the time, suggesting that social support is very valuable. Our results suggest that ferrets in both cage sizes experienced satisfactory welfare conditions. Our findings also suggest that while cage size is not the only determinant of conspecific aggression, larger cages may be an effective intervention to ameliorate aggression in certain ferrets based on signalment or behavioral history, with particular utility as a potential alternative to re-pairing or single-housing. This study provides valuable information to guide animal care and use programs regarding appropriate ferret housing.

Using Cognitive Task Analysis to Develop a Protocol for Teaching Ultrasound Pregnancy Diagnosis in the Bitch to Undergraduate Veterinary Students

Pregnancy diagnosis in the bitch is routinely performed using ultrasound and is therefore an important skill for veterinarians to have been exposed to during undergraduate training. Proficiency of this skill is difficult to achieve, due to limited exposure to suitable live patients, and animal welfare considerations limiting repeated performance on the same bitch. Models have been beneficial in allowing undergraduates to perform a range of ultrasound techniques without the use of live animals. Using clinical veterinarians and a model created at the University of Surrey, cognitive task analysis (CTA) was used to construct a list of instructional steps required to perform ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis. Experts were asked to evaluate the existing model then video recorded while demonstrating the skill on the model as if teaching a novice student. Anonymized and muted video footage along with transcribed audio files were used to create a draft teaching protocol. A group consensus for the final teaching protocol was developed following a semi-structured interview. The final teaching protocol had 23 steps to guide a novice to perform this skill, broken down into three stages; set-up and preparation, pregnancy identification, and estimation of gestational age. Not all steps were both performed and verbalized by all of the experts, hence the need for a panel discussion to confirm a final teaching protocol. This study demonstrated that CTA is useful in compiling a comprehensive list of steps, for a teaching protocol, including those which may have been missed if demonstrated through a lone subject matter expert.

Sustainability trade-offs in animal husbandry: Consumers’ choice when they can't have it all

Abstract This paper investigates consumer choices in the presence of conflicting goals, with and without information making conflicts salient. An experimental online study was conducted with a sample of German consumers, focusing on pig farming. The results show that personal health benefits outweigh animal welfare considerations, while the latter still weigh more than environment-related sustainability attributes. Providing information can have ambiguous effects, depending on the sustainability trade-off being investigated and the type of information provided. The findings reveal that consumers are heterogeneous in their preferences for different protected goods, and these differences can be attributed to psychographic and socio-demographic factors.

The complexity of food purchase motivations: Impacts of key priorities, knowledge, and information sources on active purchase of food labels

Studies of consumer preferences of specialty food labels have characterized the collection of values underlying active purchase decisions of individual labels. We explore whether a discernible structure of values and decision-making frameworks exists among consumers and across a variety of specialty food labels: USDA organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, and Certified Humane®. We segment consumers based on their motivations for purchasing the three labels simultaneously using cluster analysis, and then analyze the decision-making complexity for each cluster using hurdle models. Five clusters are identified and characterized: Never Buyers, Safety-First buyers, Biotechnology Avoiders, Health and Wellness Seekers, and Agricultural Idealists. Results indicate that the complexity of consumer motivations for buying specialty food labels is based on a hierarchical ordering of food values with the foundational value of food safety being the most important for a majority of consumers, and values related to environmental and animal welfare considerations present in only the most complex motivation structures. We also find that consumer interest in an animal welfare label may be constrained by limited consumer association of the label with food safety or other direct consumer benefits. Our results have significant implications for the development of specialty food labeling schemes and optimal communication strategies over specialty labeled food products.

Life-long learning in laboratory animal science and ethics for veterinary and para-veterinary professionals in South Africa.

Veterinary and para-veterinary professionals working in the animal research sector are critical to ensure scientific quality and the humane care and use of animals. However, there are few focused education and training opportunities available for these professionals in South Africa. A survey of veterinarians working in animal research, undertaken by the South African Association for Laboratory Animal Science, identified the need for more advanced education and training opportunities beyond the routine Day 1 Skills currently provided for in undergraduate education. These could be broadly categorised into knowledge and skills relating to species-specific husbandry, procedures and clinical approaches, research-related biosecurity and biosafety, and study-specific ethical and animal welfare considerations. A subsequent workshop, attended by 85 veterinary and para-veterinary professionals in the animal research sector, identified 53 life-long learning needs, each with an associated learning outcome, for this professional community. These were grouped into five overarching themes: Personal development (9); Leadership and management skills (12); Education and training skills (5); Welfare, ethics and clinical skills (20); and Regulations and quality-assurance (7). Of the 53 learning outcomes, 14 were knowledge-based, ten were competencies, and 29 both knowledge and competence. These life-long learning opportunities, if available and implemented, will address important needs of veterinary and paraveterinary professionals in the animal research sector in South Africa. This would empower these professionals, assist in improving animal and human wellbeing, support high-quality ethical science, and maintain public confidence in the sector, thus enabling a more satisfactory career environment.

Belly Up: How Corporate Interests Are Keeping an Unsustainable Tasmanian Aquaculture Afloat and Failing to Protect the Welfare of the Nonhuman Animals Affected

AbstractThe Tasmanian salmon industry has become one of the state's most profitable industries to date. Though production conditions notoriously lack transparency, there is a clear dependency on the mass production of complex nonhuman animals who are kept in inappropriate conditions and subject to harmful industry practices. This article explores why the Tasmanian Environmental Protection Agency recently approved the construction of the largest salmon hatchery in Australia, despite serious environmental sustainability and welfare concerns. It considers the likely impact of the new hatchery on the welfare of both the farmed nonhuman animals and the surrounding free-ranging life and advocates for industry improvements that are guided by considerations of nonhuman animal welfare and environmental sustainability.

New Approach Methodologies for the Endocrine Activity Toolbox: Environmental Assessment for Fish and Amphibians.

Multiple in vivo test guidelines focusing on the estrogen, androgen, thyroid, and steroidogenesis pathways have been developed and validated for mammals, amphibians, or fish. However, these tests are resource-intensive and often use a large number of laboratory animals. Developing alternatives for in vivo tests is consistent with the replacement, reduction, and refinement principles for animal welfare considerations, which are supported by increasing mandates to move toward an "animal-free" testing paradigm worldwide. New approach methodologies (NAMs) hold great promise to identify molecular, cellular, and tissue changes that can be used to predict effects reliably and more efficiently at the individual level (and potentially on populations) while reducing the number of animals used in (eco)toxicological testing for endocrine disruption. In a collaborative effort, experts from government, academia, and industry met in 2020 to discuss the current challenges of testing for endocrine activity assessment for fish and amphibians. Continuing this cross-sector initiative, our review focuses on the current state of the science regarding the use of NAMs to identify chemical-induced endocrine effects. The present study highlights the challenges of using NAMs for safety assessment and what work is needed to reduce their uncertainties and increase their acceptance in regulatory processes. We have reviewed the current NAMs available for endocrine activity assessment including in silico, in vitro, and eleutheroembryo models. New approach methodologies can be integrated as part of a weight-of-evidence approach for hazard or risk assessment using the adverse outcome pathway framework. The development and utilization of NAMs not only allows for replacement, reduction, and refinement of animal testing but can also provide robust and fit-for-purpose methods to identify chemicals acting via endocrine mechanisms. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:757-777. © 2023 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Minimizing Experimental Testing on Fish for Legacy Pharmaceuticals.

There was no regulatory requirement for ecotoxicological testing of human pharmaceuticals authorized before 2006, and many of these have little or no data available to assess their environmental risk. Motivated by animal welfare considerations, we developed a decision tree to minimize in vivo fish testing for such legacy active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The minimum no observed effect concentration (NOECmin, the lowest NOEC from chronic Daphnia and algal toxicity studies), the theoretical therapeutic water concentration (TWC, calculated using the fish plasma model), and the predicted environmental concentration (PEC) were used to derive API risk quotients (PEC/NOECmin and PEC/TWC). Based on a verification data set of 96 APIs, we show that by setting a threshold value of 0.001 for both risk quotients, the need for in vivo fish testing could potentially be reduced by around 35% without lowering the level of environmental protection. Hence, for most APIs, applying an assessment factor of 1000 (equivalent to the threshold of 0.001) to NOECmin substituted reliably for NOECfish, and TWC acted as an effective safety net for the others. In silico and in vitro data and mammalian toxicity data may further support the final decision on the need for fish testing.

Philosophy and ethics of de-extinction

Abstract In this essay, we explore the philosophical and ethical issues concerning de-extinction. First, we will characterize what de-extinction is. This requires clarification of the process of extinction. Second, we consider whether de-extinction is even possible. There are a variety of arguments involving the nature of species that purport to show that once they have disappeared they cannot be resurrected. Third, we examine whether de-extinction is morally permissible. There are arguments that suggest we are obligated to do it based on restorative justice and biodiversity conservation. There are other arguments that conclude we are not permitted to do so based on considerations of animal welfare, hubris and the allocation of conservation resources.

Adapting classic paradigms to analyze alterations of shoal-wide behavior in early-life stages of zebrafish (Danio rerio) – A case study with fluoxetine

Given the strong increase in prescription of neuroactive pharmaceuticals, neurotoxicity has received growing concern in science and the public. Regulatory requirements stimulated the development of new methods to evaluate the risk of neurotoxic substances for humans and the environment, and, with respect to potential damage to aquatic ecosystems, a variety of behavior-based assays have been proposed for neurotoxicity testing, most of which, however, are restricted to changes in the behavior of individual fish. Since many fish species form shoals under natural conditions, this may cause important aspects of behavior to be overlooked and there is a need for behavior assays integrating individual behavior with behavior of the entire swarm. In order to combine more environmentally realistic sub-chronic exposure scenarios with undistorted social behavior and animal welfare considerations, two behavioral assays are proposed that might be integrated into early-life stage toxicity studies according to OECD TG 210, which are commonly run for a multitude of regulations: To this end, protocols for a novel tank test and a predator response assay were adapted to also record the behavior of free-swimming zebrafish (Danio rerio) juveniles within shoals. Comparisons of the diving response (novel tank) or the shoal's coherence and position relative to the stimulus (predator) with control groups allow conclusions about the anxiety state of the fish, which might well have an impact on survival chances in the wild. As a model substance, the antidepressant fluoxetine ((RS)-N-Methyl-3-phenyl-3-(4-trifluoromethylphenoxy)propylamine) produced adverse effects down to concentrations three orders of magnitude below the EC10 from acute fish embryo toxicity tests according to OECD TG 236. With the integration of such behavior tests into OECD TG 210, important population-relevant information on potential neurotoxicity can be collected without increasing the number of experimental animals.

Standardized and axially vascularized calcium phosphate-based implants for segmental mandibular defects: A promising proof of concept

The reconstruction of massive segmental mandibular bone defects (SMDs) remains challenging even today; the current gold standard in human clinics being vascularized bone transplantation (VBT). As alternative to this onerous approach, bone tissue engineering strategies have been widely investigated. However, they displayed limited clinical success, particularly in failing to address the essential problem of quick vascularization of the implant. Although routinely used in clinics, the insertion of intrinsic vascularization in bioengineered constructs for the rapid formation of a feeding angiosome remains uncommon.In a clinically relevant model (sheep), a custom calcium phosphate-based bioceramic soaked with autologous bone marrow and perfused by an arteriovenous loop was tested to regenerate a massive SMD and was compared to VBT (clinical standard). Animals did not support well the VBT treatment, and the study was aborted 2 weeks after surgery due to ethical and animal welfare considerations. SMD regeneration was successful with the custom vascularized bone construct. Implants were well osseointegrated and vascularized after only 3 months of implantation and totally entrapped in lamellar bone after 12 months; a healthy yellow bone marrow filled the remaining space. Statement of significanceRegenerative medicine struggles with the generation of large functional bone volume. Among them segmental mandibular defects are particularly challenging to restore. The standard of care, based on bone free flaps, still displays ethical and technical drawbacks (e.g., donor site morbidity).Modern engineering technologies (e.g., 3D printing, digital chain) were combined to relevant surgical techniques to provide a pre-clinical proof of concept, investigating for the benefits of such a strategy in bone-related regenerative field.Results proved that a synthetic-biologics-free approach is able to regenerate a critical size segmental mandibular defect of 15 cm3 in a relevant preclinical model, mimicking real life scenarii of segmental mandibular defect, with a full physiological regeneration of the defect after 12 months.