Animal Welfare Issues Research Articles

Millennials’ intentions to buy plant-based meat alternatives: insights for quick-service restaurants.

Rapid population growth, shifting consumption patterns, and environmental stresses are challenging food security, raising concerns about the global food system's ability to sustainably feed the projected 9.3 billion people by 2050. Additionally, the increasing demand for Quick-Service Restaurants (QSRs) (also known as ‘fast-food chains’) intensifies environmental concerns. Their large-scale food production and factory farming practices contribute significantly to environmental degradation and animal welfare issues. In response to growing consumer awareness of environmental issues, QSRs have begun incorporating plant-based meat alternatives into their menus to align with sustainability objectives and appeal to eco-conscious consumers, particularly millennials. However, these alternatives face acceptance challenges due to perceptions of being highly processed and potentially containing genetically modified organisms. It is therefore essential to have a better understanding of the market’s purchasing intention to effectively market plant-based meat alternatives and advance QSRs’ sustainable practices.

Hard to swallow? A critical animal studies perspective on the discursive recontextualisation of the reality of dairy farming

This paper reports on a multimodal critical discourse analysis of the representations of social actors and processes involved in the production of dairy products. Focussing on the website of the UK’s largest dairy company, Arla Foods UK, the analysis interrogates both linguistic and visual choices in representing dairy farmers, dairy cows and the process of dairy farming itself. The analysis demonstrates how recurrent representations function to construct a decidedly favourable image of the dairy industry, which often diverges significantly from the more complex and less palatable realities of dairy production. In particular, the website evidences a range of discursive choices which serve to recontextualise dairy farming, including the anthropomorphising of cows, the portrayal of farms as bucolic idylls, and the omission of less favourable aspects of the process (e.g., its environmental impacts and animal welfare issues). These representational strategies are designed, we argue, to align consumer perceptions with a sanitised version of dairy production, facilitating continued consumption under the guise of ethical engagement. Viewed through the lens of Critical Animal Studies, the public discourse that emerges from the website is argued to be one which serves the ideological and commercial interests of dairy industry actors, by obscuring the intensive and industrial reality of modern dairy farming, all the while constructing an (idealised) image of sustainability and animal care.

Embedding cultural perspectives into animal welfare science education through study abroad opportunities

Abstract Animal welfare is a global issue. The ability of our future workforce to solve global issues is contingent on their understanding of and ability to work with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Study abroad programming can improve cross-cultural abilities of participating students. Therefore, study abroad opportunities in animal welfare education may be a particularly fruitful approach for preparing students to address animal welfare issues globally. We discuss the value of offering study abroad courses in animal welfare, detail one such course as a case study, and review pedagogical literature related to course design to guide the development of similar programs.

What are the Short and Long-Term Impacts of Animal Assisted Interventions on the Therapy Animals?

Abstract Animal assisted interventions (AAIs) are practices used for human wellbeing, whereby interactions with non-human animals are used for therapeutic purposes. AAIs can be offered clinically, to those suffering physical or mental illness; those who have a learning disability or neurodevelopmental disorder; people requiring occupational therapy or enrichment in settings such as prisons and nursing homes, and as an adjunct to formal education in classrooms. Whilst some AAIs are low risk, AAI animals can be placed in emotionally challenging situations, or even situations where they may be at physical risk. At present, there is a paucity of literature examining the welfare of AAI animals, and the practice remains unregulated. This paper therefore discusses the potential welfare issues for animals used in ‘animal assisted interventions’, and suggests how those issues could be addressed.

Label-free liquid chromatography mass spectrometry analysis of changes in broiler liver proteins under transport stress.

Transportation duration and distance are significant concerns for animal welfare, particularly in the poultry industry. However, limited proteomic studies have investigated the impact of transport duration on poultry welfare. In this study, mass spectrometry based bottom up proteomics was employed to sensitively and impartially profile the liver tissue proteome of chickens, addressing the issue of animal stress and welfare in response to transportation before slaughter. The liver exudates obtained from Ross 508 chickens exposed to either short or long road transportation underwent quantitative label-free LC-MS proteomic profiling. This method identified a total of 1,368 proteins, among which 35 were found to be significantly different (p < 0.05) and capable of distinguishing between short and long road transportation conditions. Specifically, 23 proteins exhibited up-regulation in the non stressed group, while 12 proteins showed up-regulation in the stressed group. The proteins identified in this pilot study encompassed those linked to homeostasis and cellular energetic balance, including heat shock proteins and the 5'-nucleotidase domain-containing family. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of the proteome in broiler liver tissues, shedding light on poultry adaptability to transport stress. Furthermore, the identified proteins present potential as biomarkers, suggesting promising approaches to enhance poultry care and management within the industry.

Electron-Beam-Killed Staphylococcus Vaccine Reduced Lameness in Broiler Chickens.

Broiler chicken lameness caused by bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) is presently amongst the most important economic and animal welfare issues faced by the poultry industry, and the estimated economic loss is around USD 150 million. BCO lameness is associated with multiple opportunistic bacterial pathogens inhabiting the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. In cases of immune deficiency resulting from stress, injury, or inflammation of the tissue, opportunistic pathogens, mainly Staphylococcus spp., can infiltrate the respiratory or gastrointestinal mucosa and migrate through the bloodstream to eventually colonize the growth plates of long bones, causing necrosis that leads to lameness. This is the first report of developing a Staphylococcus vaccine against BCO lameness disease in broiler chickens. Electron beam (eBeam) technology causes irreparable DNA damage, preventing bacterial multiplication, while keeping the epitopes of the cell membrane intact, helping the immune system generate a more effective response. Our results show a 50% reduction of lameness incidence in the eBeam-vaccinated chicken group compared to the control. Additionally, the eBeam-vaccinated chickens present higher titer of anti-Staphylococcus IgA, signifying the development of an efficient and more specific humoral immune response. Our data establish the eBeam-killed Staphylococcus vaccine as an effective approach to reducing the incidence of lameness in broiler chickens.

Microbiology, induction, and management practices to mitigate lameness caused by bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis in broiler chickens

Bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) lameness is the most prevalent skeletal disorder in poultry, implicated by the inherent risk of the high growth rate of modern broilers. The non-synchronization of massive body mass accretion vs maturation of the structural bone induces vulnerability to bone microfracture and immunosuppression, leading to bacterial necrosis in the skeletal and thoracic vertebral bones, leg paralysis, and eventual death. BCO lameness also imposes animal welfare issues and confers food safety risks. A study in 20 broiler farms in Australia recorded 28% BCO lesions of the necropsied birds, while a study in commercial flocks in Europe reported 19% moderate-to-severe lameness symptoms. The high incidence of lameness in commercial broiler farms reduces production value and leads to a huge economic loss in the poultry industry. Managing BCO lameness in broiler poultry is more challenging than that of other species because the peak of lameness incidence emerges at the marketing age of broilers. Moreover, curative treatment of the affected broilers is arduous due to their larger populations but shorter production cycles. Thus, condemnation of clinically lame birds has been a common practice in broiler farms to prevent the transmission of highly contagious BCO throughout the broiler populations. This practice decreases the production value and increases the economic forfeits. Therefore, presenting intervention measures for managing and controlling BCO in broiler poultry is necessary. Knowledge of etiological agents, pathogenesis, detection, and experimental lameness models to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention measures is highly important in presenting approaches to mitigate BCO lameness. Thus, this review focuses on microbiology studies of BCO, models of creating experimental lameness, and intervention measures mitigating BCO lameness in broiler chickens.

Both Ends of the Leash: Animals in Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities, Views of Experienced Animal Trainers/handlers Working in Residential Aged Care Facilities

ABSTRACT Research on animals in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) mainly focuses on the residents with little concern for animal welfare. Australian RACFs cannot care for residents, making it unlikely they can maintain animal welfare. The One-Health/One-Welfare frameworks support developing animal policies in RACFs. However, inadequate policies places residents and animals at risk. To understand animals’ lived experiences in RACFs, experienced dog-trainers who worked in RACFs were interviewed. These experts were recruited using snowball sampling, with nine participating in semi-structured interviews providing opinions and experiences of visiting and live-in animals in Australian RACFs. The initial inductive coding produced six themes (residents, animals, handlers, staff, facility and policy). However, they noted animal welfare issues and explored them further using deductive coding, re-coding the quotes into four areas: handler, environment, participants and intervention. When residents were the focus of animal interactions, animal welfare became compromised, with dogs being frightened and one accidentally poisoned. Animals in RACFs could suffer poor welfare because of inadequate staffing, training and oversight. To provide safe, ethical animal contact, legislation and guidelines must support policy development for animals in RACFs.

Ethical aspects associated with genome alteration techniques applied to animal reproduction research.

The revolution in biology triggered by the different genome-editing tools has of course arrived to the research field of animal reproduction. Yeast meganucleases, zinc-finger nucleases, TALEN and, particularly, the several generations of CRISPR tools have landed in animal reproduction thereby providing novel strategies to optimize or modify some of the features and capabilities of the recipient animals. All these genome-editing proposals and activities are associated with ethical considerations regarding how those planned genome alterations might affect important animal welfare issues. The ethical dimension of all these genome editing must be seriously considered. Hence, all ethical aspects bound to any given genome-edited allele in animals should be discussed in order to ensure that we are maximizing benefits and reducing any potential risk or negative considerations of these modifications. In this review, I will summarize some of the experiments reported aiming to investigate or improve animal reproduction and I will address the ethics issues that should also be considered.

Sentience and the Issue of Animal Welfare

Abstract In this article, I discuss a precondition of moral consideration that sets the bar lower at sentience. The popular sentience thesis identifies the capacity to feel pain as its condition of consideration. By appealing to the capacity to feel, it is possible to address some fundamental questions about anthropocentrism such as a threat to sentient animals in factory farming and unnecessary experimentation on nonhuman animals. This article interrogates the issue of animal welfare and exposes how discussions on moral considerations focusing on animal sentience exclude non-sentience animals from public welfare policy. While the sentience thesis is a well-established approach in the animal welfare literature, I argue that it lacks robust normative force and, as such, is inadequate for promoting animal welfare since it forces fragmentation of our moral life.

Towards enhancing animal welfare standards in UK media: Part 1; insights from public opinion and attitudes

Abstract Animals are frequently used in the UK for film, television, and advertising, but numerous stakeholders, including charities and industry representatives, have significant concerns regarding their on- and off-set welfare. However, it is unclear to what extent the public can identify animal welfare issues on screen or whether they know where to report any incidents. This survey sought to answer three research questions: (1) What are the levels of awareness and concern around animals used in TV, film, and advertising among the general public? (2) Do people know where or how to report any concerns? (3) What would reassure people that animal welfare is safeguarded? We have analysed and presented the results from the 911 responses to paint a more detailed picture of where the public is on this issue and what mechanisms for improvement they would support. Overall, the results show a clear concern for the welfare of animals used in the media, especially once they had read the eight realistic scenarios of animal use in the survey. Yet the public feel disempowered to report these concerns and lack trust that positive change will result. There is clearly public appetite for better protection of animals used in the media, particularly stronger regulations, independent on-set monitoring of animals, qualified animal trainers, and an accreditation scheme.

ANIMAL WELFARE AND CRUELTY RELATED ISSUES ON SHEEP AT THE ABATTOIRS, ANIMALS FARMS AND LIVESTOCK MARKETS IN BAUCHI METROPOLIS, BAUCHI STATE

Thee Research was conducted to determine the "Animal welfare and cruelty related issues in sheep observed in abattoirs, animals farms and livestock markets in Bauchi metropolis, Bauchi State, Nigeria. Data were collected bbetween April to July 2022. Male farmers were more engaged (69%) in sheep rearing than female31%. Car was the most used (39%) means of transportation while the other means of animals transportation apart from use of trucks/motorcycle were found to be the lowest (3%) for the condition animals that reach the farms 60(60%) of sheep arrived to slaughter house, livestock farm and markets in healthy condition while 40(40%) arrived unhealthy. Out of one hundred animals observed in the study, 32(32%) enter vehicles by beating, 21(21) by loading devices, 38 (38) with gradual manipulations but only 5 (5) by beating and gradual manipulations while 4(4%) through other means into vehicles. It was also observed that 79(79%) of farms that keep sheep dewormed their animals while 21(21%) does not dewormed the animals. It was therefore concluded that the cases of animals cruelty cannot be over looked as it has proven to several implications to animal health and production as well as humanity in general.

Tracking Ovine Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma Development Using an Experimental Jaagsiekte Sheep Retrovirus Infection Model.

Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA) is an infectious, neoplastic lung disease of sheep that causes significant animal welfare and economic issues throughout the world. Understanding OPA pathogenesis is key to developing tools to control its impact. Central to this need is the availability of model systems that can monitor and track events after Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) infection. Here, we report the development of an experimentally induced OPA model intended for this purpose. Using three different viral dose groups (low, intermediate and high), localised OPA tumour development was induced by bronchoscopic JSRV instillation into the segmental bronchus of the right cardiac lung lobe. Pre-clinical OPA diagnosis and tumour progression were monitored by monthly computed tomography (CT) imaging and trans-thoracic ultrasound scanning. Post mortem examination and immunohistochemistry confirmed OPA development in 89% of the JSRV-instilled animals. All three viral doses produced a range of OPA lesion types, including microscopic disease and gross tumours; however, larger lesions were more frequently identified in the low and intermediate viral groups. Overall, 31% of JSRV-infected sheep developed localised advanced lesions. Of the sheep that developed localised advanced lesions, tumour volume doubling times (calculated using thoracic CT 3D reconstructions) were 14.8 ± 2.1 days. The ability of ultrasound to track tumour development was compared against CT; the results indicated a strong significant association between paired CT and ultrasound measurements at each time point (R2 = 0.799, p < 0.0001). We believe that the range of OPA lesion types induced by this model replicates aspects of naturally occurring disease and will improve OPA research by providing novel insights into JSRV infectivity and OPA disease progression.

Animal welfare issues in space settlement expeditions

The ongoing debate on space bioethics has thus far focused primarily on issues pertaining to human beings. However, in the existing literature there is a shortage of articles raising the issue of whether animals can be used for space settlement expeditions. Consequently, the aim of this article is to present some initial considerations regarding the ethics of using animals for this particular purpose. Specifically, four potential reasons for involving animals have been put forth. These can be categorised as follows: (1) to use animals as a food resource; (2) to use animals for research purposes; (3) to use animals for company purposes; and (4) to provide new habitats for those animals whose ecosystems on Earth are endangered. Within the afore-mentioned space bioethics debate, the possibility of genetically enhancing human beings has been a topic of considerable discussion. For this reason, the article also addresses the ethical implications of genetically enhancing the animals used in space expeditions. A Welfarist approach has been adopted to determine which uses of animals are ethically permissible and which are not, with the understanding that any use that compromises the animal’s ability to lead a good life is unacceptable. Accordingly, mere survival is not ethically relevant.

Swinepox virus: an unusual outbreak in free-range pig farms in Sicily (Italy)

BackgroundTwo outbreaks of swinepox were investigated in free-range domestic pig farms located in the northeastern side of Sicily, Italy. The disease is generally self-limiting with a low mortality rate, but morbidity can reach high rates in case of poor sanitary conditions, improper husbandry practices and ectoparasitic infestation. The presented cases are the first ever reported on the island and part of the few cases reported in domestic pigs.Case presentationCarcasses condemned at the slaughterhouse and deceased pigs from Farm A and Farm B respectively, were referred for post-mortem examination and further investigations, with a strong suspect of SwinePox virus (SWPV) infection. Twelve deceased pigs were examined in total, showing poor body condition and pustular lesions scattered all over the cutaneous surfaces. Moreover, pigs from Farm B showed ocular lesions classified from Grade I to IV (from mild conjunctivitis to severe keratoconjunctivitis with corneal oedema, opacity, and ulcers). Final diagnosis was pursued by the microscopic assessment of skin lesions in both farms, which revealed the typical SWPV-lesion appearance, such as severe and disseminated ulcerative dermatitis and suspected inclusion bodies multifocally observed in the epidermis. Moreover, negative staining Electron Microscopy (nsEM) was performed on skin lesions and ocular swabs from Farm B, revealing in two samples the presence of brick-shaped viral particles, 220 nm long and 160 nm wide, with irregularly arranged surface tubules, identified as SWPV. The gene encoding the 482-bp fragment of the virus late transcription factor–3 was detected by PCR and sequencing revealed 99.79% identity and 100% query-cover with a strain previously isolated in Germany. Field clinical assessment was then performed in Farm B, revealing high overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions and improper husbandry practices, which are relevant risk factors for SWPV transmission.ConclusionsThe present is the first case report of SWPV in free-range pigs raised in Sicily, an island of the Southern coast of Italy, and wants to raise awareness on a neglected disease, and cause of animal health and welfare issues.

Differentiation of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells using retinoic acid and BDNF: a model for neuronal and synaptic differentiation in neurodegeneration

There has been much interest in the use of cell culture models of neurones, to avoid the animal welfare and cost issues of using primary and human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived neurones respectively. The human neuroblastoma cell line, SH-SY5Y, is extensively used in laboratories as they can be readily expanded, are of low cost and can be differentiated into neuronal-like cells. However, much debate remains as to their phenotype once differentiated, and their ability to recapitulate the physiology of bona fide neurones. Here, we characterise a differentiation protocol using retinoic acid and BDNF, which results in extensive neurite outgrowth/branching within 10 days, and expression of key neuronal and synaptic markers. We propose that these differentiated SH-SY5Y cells may be a useful substitute for primary or hiPSC-derived neurones for cell biology studies, in order to reduce costs and animal usage. We further propose that this characterised differentiation timecourse could be used as an in vitro model for neuronal differentiation, for proof-of principle studies on neurogenesis, e.g. relating to neurodegenerative diseases. Finally, we demonstrate profound changes in Tau phosphorylation during differentiation of these cells, suggesting that they should not be used for neurodegeneration studies in their undifferentiated state.

The social cost of adopting a plant-based diet

Dietary choices contribute to one’s environmental footprint and shape social identity. Evidence suggests that adopting plant-based diets (i.e., vegetarianism and veganism) may solve some environmental, health, and animal welfare issues. Yet, this decision leads to the formation of a social identity and out-group bias referred to as “vegephobia”. In this paper, I provide a first measure of the presence of vegephobia using social preferences in an online experimental economic environment. I estimate inequity aversion parameters of omnivore dictators (i.e., meat eaters) contingent on their matched partner’s dietary identity and test for the presence of vegephobia (pre-registered hypotheses). I also elicit recipients’ expectations of discriminatory behaviors. Confirmatory results reject the presence of vegephobia in the economic environment. Further exploratory results reveal some vegephobia driven by the dictators’ personal characteristics and social environments. Paradoxically, vegans report experiencing vegephobia outside of the experimental setup but expect pro-social choices from out-group members in the experiment. The results imply that vegephobia might be context-specific and that individuals are increasingly plant-based friendly.

Multilocus sequence typing of pathogenic treponemes isolated from contagious ovine digital dermatitis stage five lesions: Implications for disease transmission dynamics

Contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) causes a severe, infectious foot disease and lameness of sheep, is common within the UK and is now also emerging in other countries. As well as causing severe animal welfare issues, huge economic losses emerge from the disease due to weight loss/lack of weight gain, and veterinary treatments. CODD lesion progress is measured, with a scoring system from 1 (early lesions) to 5 (healed). Here, using samples from an experimental flock infected by natural means, samples were taken from CODD stage 5 lesions, post treatment, and subjected to bacterial isolation and MLST using previously published methods. Sequences were compared to others from the same flock, and those from previous studies.All CODD 5 lesions produced viable Treponema spp. bacteria. High levels of variation of bacteria were seen, with 12 sequence types (STs) for T. medium phylogroup (11 new), 15 STs for T. phagedenis phylogroup (9 new) and six T. pedis STs, of which two were new. This study shows that CODD stage 5 lesions still contain viable bacteria, representing all three known pathogenic Treponema spp. phylogroups, and these may thus play a role in disease transmission and epidemiology despite appearing healed after treatment. The high level CODD treponeme variability within an infected flock where sheep were bought from different sources, as might occur in common agricultural practice, may suggest reasons as to why the bacterial disease is difficult to treat, control and eradicate, and adds further complexity to the polybacterial pathogenesis of these lesions.

Factors associated with the productive longevity of sows in commercial breeding herds

Abstract. Maximizing sows' productive longevity (PL) represents a significant challenge faced by the swine industry, as the growing increase in the removal rate of sows, mainly young sows, directly impacts the system's economy. In addition, there are ethical concerns associated with animal welfare issues due to the low PL of sows. The objective of this study was to identify and evaluate the risk factors influencing the removal of sows from commercial swine production systems. The variable of interest was the PL of sows. The PL was modeled using Cox regression analysis to identify the factors that affected this variable. The factor with the greatest contribution to PL was sow type (ST), followed by the return to estrus percentage (REP), herd size (HS), season, lactation duration, weaning–estrus interval (WEI), piglets born alive, mummy percentage, and total piglets born. The removal risk was higher for hyperprolific sows than for normal sows. According to the nonproductive day (NPD) variable (an indicator that considers REP and WEI in its calculation), sows with more than 60 nonproductive days per year are at higher risk of elimination. The risk of removal was higher for sows from large herds than for sows from medium or small herds. The PL of sows within a herd is determined by the type of sow and the sows' association with environmental disturbances, including climatic factors (artificial climate control), management practices (human resources), and economic resources (size and infrastructure).

Development of meat analog patty using lion’s mane mushroom and pumpkin seeds

Abstract High meat consumption globally has caused several problems, such as environmental, animal welfare, and public health issues. Consumption of plant-based meat products or meat analog can be used as an alternative to overcome these problems. In this research, a meat analog patty was formulated using lion’s mane mushroom as a main ingredient as it contains high protein content (20.8%), along with texturized soy protein. Furthermore, pumpkin seeds were also added to provide sufficient iron to the meat analog. This research was done in two stages, in which the first stage of the research was done to observe the effect of different ratios of lion’s mane mushroom and texturized soy flour (30:50, 40:40, 50:30) on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of the meat analog patty. The analyses done included proximate analysis, color analysis, texture profile analysis, and organoleptic analysis. On the other hand, the second stage of research was focused on determining the best concentration of pumpkin seeds added (10%, 20%, 30%) to the meat analog patty to obtain the optimum iron content. The analyses done included texture profile analysis, proximate analyses, and iron content analysis. Results showed that the selected formulation of the meat analog patty was the one made from a 50:30 ratio of lion’s mane mushroom and texturized soy flour added with 10% pumpkin seeds. It had 0.79 mg of iron/30g of sample and was most preferred by the panelists based on organoleptic tests. The addition of pumpkin seeds did not affect the proximate chemical content of the meat analog patty, except for its moisture content. Regarding textural profile, the meat analog patty made with the addition of pumpkin seeds was comparable to commercial meat analog in terms of hardness while being less springy, cohesive, and chewy. Compared to a meat patty, it had a higher hardness and chewiness value with a lower springiness and cohesiveness value.