Human Handlers Research Articles (Page 2)

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as an infectious organism of public health significance has evolved to a genetically distinct community-acquired MRSA with extended resistance to other than β-lactams. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 149 participants handling 446 animals (240 horses and 206 companion animals). The isolates were characterised as S. aureus and MRSA based on polymerase chain reaction detection of the nuc, mecA and mecC genes and the pvl gene for differentiation as community associated/livestock associated or hospital associated. The isolation rate of S. aureus from the human handlers' samples was 26 (17.4%) and 170 (38.1%) from the animal samples. The prevalence of MRSA among the isolates was 7 (4.7%) from the human handlers and 19 (4.3%) from the animals. Dogs and dog handlers had the highest isolation rates and were more likely to be colonized by S. aureus and MRSA compared with horses, cats and their handlers. The highest prevalence of MRSA was from horses (5.0%) and dog handlers (10.6%). This study has demonstrated a high prevalence of community associated MRSA in apparently healthy animals and their human handlers. This has important implications for antibiotic selection and use as well as infection control measures.

Reviewed by: Precarious Partners: Horses and Their Humans in Nineteenth-Century France by Kari Weil Mary Sanders Pollock (bio) Kari Weil, Precarious Partners: Horses and Their Humans in Nineteenth-Century France. University of Chicago Press, 2020. “Horses,” Weil offers in the preface to this volume, give “one perspective into the massive changes in gender relations, but also class and race relations” in France during the nineteenth century. Weil might have added that, though specific to that time and place, many of her insights apply to a longer sweep of history and a broader geographical range. I offer the briefest of summaries here. The perspective suggested by horses is especially rich because horses have been powerful symbols in literature, pictorial art, and what is now generally understood as popular culture. Horses have also occupied a central place in material culture, especially horse breeding and hippophagy. Weil maps changes along the timeline of the long nineteenth century, from the French Revolution through an era of rapid mechanization and to World War I. The author’s strongest arguments are based in art history, beginning with Buffon’s graphic diagram of the open abdomen of a horse—in this case, a representation of Enlightenment science. Although her treatment of the horse in painting is broad, Weil finds the careers of Théodore Gericault and Rosa Bonheur exemplary. Gericault’s horse images (and those of his French contemporaries) evolved from representing virile, human heroism at the end of the Napoleonic era into horse-centered representations, with horses as both subjects and objects of human activity and the human gaze. Many of these same images of humans with horses also reinforce attitudes about class, race, and empire. Bonheur’s career began almost three decades after Gericault’s ended. Her [End Page 500] Saint Simonian background alerted her to ethical issues; her images focus on horses’ domestic labors and their treatment at the hands of human handlers. Weil shows that, as the domestic labor of horses diminished amid the wave of mechanization after mid century, the significance of horses became bifurcated: horses remained important as status symbols and overdetermined symbols of both accepted and transgressive gender values. Popular horse-centered entertainments revealed these values. Ironically, at the same time the French practice of eating horse meat, especially for the working class, operated as a supposedly health-based practical solution to a new surplus of horses, as well as an indicator of national identity. In Thinking Animals (2012), a more loosely organized group of essays about the importance of animal studies in the twenty-first century, Weil argued for the centrality of the human-animal bond in history and against hegemonic anthropocentrism. Weil’s theoretical rigor in this earlier volume has contributed to the strengthening of animal studies since then—and now it has clearly enabled her to create an even stronger focus on representations of the human-horse bond in one particular time and place. Tantalizing, brief references to Bentham’s ethics, Sewell’s Black Beauty, and Stubbs’s portraits raise questions. How is Sue’s Godolphin Arabian, a fiction that contributed to anti-cruelty legislation in France, related to animal welfare/rights propaganda in other parts of the world? How is the “horse-riding” described in Dickens’s Hard Times different from French horse-centered entertainments? Did the popular American Wild West shows prescribe gender roles in the same ways? How do the horse paintings of the Anglophone world (Remington, Landseer, and others) differ from or compare to those of their French counterparts? Why did other Western nations not eat horses? Are race and gender stereotypes triangulated with horses in other Western societies in the same ways? The powerful scholarship of this volume can be attributed in part to its narrow but fascinating focus. The next stage for this author might be an expansion of that focus to reinforce the relevance of her insights within other cultural contexts. [End Page 501] Mary Sanders Pollock Stetson University Mary Sanders Pollock Mary Sanders Pollock, professor of English at Stetson University, teaches British literature, environmental studies, and gender studies. She is the editor of two scholarly anthologies and three monographs, including Storytelling Apes: Primatology Narratives Past and Present (Penn...

The majority of Kenya’s > 3 million camels have antibodies against Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), although human infection in Africa is rare. We enrolled 243 camels aged 0–24 months from 33 homesteads in Northern Kenya and followed them between April 2018 to March 2020. We collected and tested camel nasal swabs for MERS-CoV RNA by RT-PCR followed by virus isolation and whole genome sequencing of positive samples. We also documented illnesses (respiratory or other) among the camels. Human camel handlers were also swabbed, screened for respiratory signs, and samples were tested for MERS-CoV by RT-PCR. We recorded 68 illnesses among 58 camels, of which 76.5% (52/68) were respiratory signs and the majority of illnesses (73.5% or 50/68) were recorded in 2019. Overall, 124/4692 (2.6%) camel swabs collected from 83 (34.2%) calves in 15 (45.5%) homesteads between April–September 2019 screened positive, while 22 calves (26.5%) recorded reinfections (second positive swab following ≥ 2 consecutive negative tests). Sequencing revealed a distinct Clade C2 virus that lacked the signature ORF4b deletions of other Clade C viruses. Three previously reported human PCR positive cases clustered with the camel infections in time and place, strongly suggesting sporadic transmission to humans during intense camel outbreaks in Northern Kenya.

Simple SummaryIn the southern African elephant tourism industry, many elephants are routinely chained or tethered for prolonged periods of time, particularly overnight. There are many negative implications of such restrictive management on elephant welfare. In this pilot study, a group of four male semi-captive African elephants at a tourist facility in Zimbabwe were being taken off overnight tethers and put into small pens, as a strategy to improve elephant welfare. Behavioural data were collected when elephants were on tethers, and approximately four weeks and eight weeks after removal of tethers. Behavioural changes were noted, after removal of tethers, which were indicative of improved welfare (e.g., increased lying rest, increased positive social behaviour and reduced abnormal repetitive behaviours). Importantly, there were no significant increases in aggression (either to their human handlers or to other elephants) following this change in management. To improve elephant welfare in southern African tourism facilities, we strongly advocate management practices which enable greater choice and freedom of movement overnight, which includes ceasing the use of overnight tethers and provision of opportunities for physical interaction with other elephants overnight. Within the southern African elephant tourism industry, chaining or tethering elephants is still a relatively routine practice, despite the known negative impacts. Cited reasons for chaining include fear of aggressive interactions between elephants when handlers are absent, or a general increase in expression of aggressive behaviours (both to other elephants and to their human handlers). In Zimbabwe, concerns expressed include the danger of elephants escaping and entering human-inhabited areas. Four male semi-captive elephants at a Zimbabwe tourist facility were taken off overnight (~12 h) tethers and were placed in small pens (‘bomas’), approximate sizes from 110 m2 to 310 m2), as part of a strategy to improve elephant welfare. Behavioural data were collected from overnight videos from December 2019 to March 2020, between 18:00 to 06:00, using focal, instantaneous sampling (5-min interval). Data were collected for three nights at three time periods: (i) Tethered; (ii) approximately four weeks post-release; (iii) approximately eight weeks post-release. Behavioural change over these time points was analysed using general linear models with quasibinomial error structures. Behavioural changes indicative of improved welfare were observed following these management changes, and no significant increases in aggression were observed either between elephants, or towards their human handlers. Proportion of time engaging in lying rest was higher in the first month after release from tethering (mean ± SD, 50 ± 14%) than when elephants were tethered (20 ± 18%) (p < 0.05). Additionally, although not statistically significant, stereotypies were reduced when elephants were no longer tethered (4 ± 6% observations tethered compared to 2 ± 2% off tethers), and positive social behaviour also increased (1 ± 1% on tethers, 2 ± 2% off tethers), with the greatest improvements seen in the pair-housed elephants. To improve elephant welfare in southern African tourism facilities we strongly advocate that less restrictive management practices which enable greater choice and freedom of movement overnight are implemented.

Simple SummaryThe deployment of working dogs to environments containing potentially pathogenic biological agents necessitates a straightforward and fieldable decontamination protocol. This work describes the effectiveness of a wipe-based method using common veterinary cleaners on various surfaces contaminated with infectious virus. Surface characteristics, especially porosity, have a marked effect on the success of any decontamination protocol; however, in general, wiping with 70% isopropyl alcohol or 0.5% chlorhexidine proved to be most efficient at decontaminating surfaces common to the working dog community.Given the increased deployment of working dogs to settings with pathogenic biological agents, a safe, effective, and logistically feasible surface decontamination protocol is essential to protect both the animals and their human handlers. Our group previously found that superficial contamination on surfaces relevant to the working dog community, including leashes and toys, could be significantly reduced using a standardized wiping protocol with various cleansing products. To expand upon this work, we analyzed the ability of this protocol to decontaminate surface-deposited bovine coronavirus, which was used as a BSL2 surrogate for SARS-CoV-2. Unsurprisingly, the physical characteristics of a given surface, including porosity and texture, had a significant effect on the ability to recover viable virus remaining on the surface post treatment. After correcting for these differences, however, wiping with 70% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and 0.5% chlorhexidine performed best, reducing viral titers by >3 log on plastic bumper toys and nylon collars, and by >2 log on rubber toys and tennis balls. Leather leashes and Velcro proved more difficult to decontaminate, but both still showed significant loss of viral contamination following wiping with IPA or chlorhexidine. This work (i) validates the utility of a simple protocol for the neutralization of viruses on several surfaces, (ii) identifies materials that are more difficult to decontaminate, which should, thus, be considered for removal from field use, and (iii) highlights the need for further development of protocols testing porous or textured surfaces.

Negative stress due to human handling has been reported for a number of domestic animals, including dogs. Many companion dogs display significant stress during routine care in the veterinary clinic, risking injury to staff and potentially compromising the quality of care that these dogs receive. On the other hand, positive interactions with humans can have a beneficial effect on dogs, particularly in stressful situations such as animal shelters. Research has shown that dogs can detect human emotions through visual, auditory, and chemical channels, and that dogs will exhibit emotional contagion, particularly with familiar humans. This study investigated relationships between emotional states of dogs and unfamiliar human handlers, using simultaneous measures of cardiac activity and behavior, during two sessions of three consecutive routine handling sets. Measures of cardiac activity included mean heart rate (HRmean), and two measures of heart rate variability (HRV): the root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats (RMSSD); and the high frequency absolute power component of HRV, log transformed (HFlog). We also assessed human handlers' emotional state during handling sessions following an intervention designed to reduce stress, compared with sessions conducted on a different day and following a control activity. Polar H10 cardiac sensors were used to simultaneously record cardiac activity for both canine and human participants, and behavioral data were collected via digital video. The strongest influence on the dogs' stress levels in our study was found to be increasing familiarity with the setting and the handler; HRmean and SI decreased, and HRV (as RMSSD) increased, significantly from the first to the third handling set. Canine HRV (as HFlog) was also highest in set 3, although the difference was not statistically significant. There were no strong patterns found in the human cardiac data across handling set, session, or by pre-handling activity. We did not find consistent support for emotional contagion between the dogs and their handlers in this study, perhaps due to the brief time that the dogs spent with the handlers. Recommendations for application to dog handling, and limitations of our methods, are described.

The veterinary team frequently encounters foals as inpatients and during ambulatory duties, and thus play a key role in providing help and education to breeders. Having a good understanding of foal development from birth, weaning and beyond can have a significantly positive impact on the foal's future behaviour and quality of life. Equines behaving in a calm, safe manner is for the enjoyment of equestrian activities and is in the economic interests of those professionally involved. Successful management includes equipping the foal with a robust musculoskeletal system, healthy selective grazing behaviour, encouraging good social skills and safe behaviour around human handlers, all while promoting good quality of life for the young horse. This article is the first of two applying the research on foal behavioural development to good practice in the management and training of foals. This article covers the first 3 months of the foal's life, including socialisation and early handling and management of the foal, the second will cover the evidence surrounding weaning practices.

Neuroanthropology is the integration of neuroscience into anthropology and aims to understand “brains in the wild.” This interdisciplinary field examines patterns of human variation in field settings and provides empirical research that complements work done in clinical and laboratory settings. Neuroanthropology often uses ethnography in combination with theories and methods from cognitive science as a way to capture how culture, mind, and brain interact. This article describes nine elements that outline how to do neuroanthropology research: (1) integrating biology and culture through neuroscience and biocultural anthropology; (2) extending focus of anthropology on what people say and do to include what people process; (3) sizing culture appropriately, from broad patterns of culture to culture in small-scale settings; (4) understanding patterns of cultural variation, in particular how culture produces patterns of shared variation; (5) considering individuals in interaction with culture, with levels of analysis that can go from biology to social structures; (6) focusing on interactive elements that bring together biological and cultural processes; (7) conceptual triangulation, which draws on anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience in conjunction with field, clinic, and laboratory; (8) critical complementarity as a way to integrate the strengths of critical scholarship with interdisciplinary work; and (9) using methodological triangulation as a way to advance interdisciplinary research. These elements are illustrated through three case studies: research on US combat veterans and how they use Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a way to manage the transition to becoming civilians, work on human-raptor interactions to understand how and why these interactions can prove beneficial for human handlers, and adapting cue reactivity research on addiction to a field-based approach to understand how people interact with cues in naturalistic settings.

This study was conducted to determine the occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Staphylococcus pisifermentans nasal colonization among apparently healthy ruminants and their handlers in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. A total of six hundred and five (605) samples were collected aseptically using sterile swab sticks (Oxoid, UK) using simple random technique from the ruminants and their human handlers at the Maiduguri central abattoir and livestock market (Kasuwan shanu). One hundred and fifty-one (151) samples were collected from each of the species (cattle, sheep and goat) while 152 samples were collected from animal handlers. The samples were immediately subjected to standard bacteriological analysis. A total of 195 (32.2%) coagulase negative Staphylococcus species (CoNS) were presumptively identified, out of the 195 identified CoNS, 9 (4.62%) was Staphylococcus pisifermentans nasal colonization. The results revealed that out of 9 isolates, S. pisifermentans was highly isolated 4(8.3%) from sheep, followed by cattle and human handlers 2 (3.8%) respectively and the least was from goats 1 (2.3%). Meanwhile, all the 9 (4.62%) isolates were negative for both tube and slide coagulase test. However, they were positive for DNase, Omithine Decarboxylase (ODC) test, betta – hemolysis and synergistic hemolysis. 4(44.4%) of the 9 isolates were positive for Staphylococcus Protein A (SPA) virulence gene, none 0(0%) for mecA virulence gene, and 5(55.6%) were positive for slime (Biofilm) production. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of these isolate was found to be highly variable to all the used drugs. It is therefore concluded that Staphylococcus pisifermentans isolated from these ruminants and their handlers contain virulence genes which could be responsible for pathogenicity. There is need for more studies using higher technologies in other parts of the country to reveal the through status of the disease in Nigeria.

Simple SummaryThe first few days after calving can be stressful for young dairy cows since they must acclimate to many unfamiliar situations that are required for milking, including novel noises and sensations to their udders. Furthermore, the human–animal relationship is simultaneously jeopardized during this time since cows may display undesirable or dangerous behaviors during milking, such as kicking and stomping. These cows are also at risk for bacterial mammary infections that can be painful and damage tissue. In a controlled experiment, young cows that investigated the milking area and had their teats sanitized weekly for 3 weeks prior to calving were more comfortable during post-calving milking procedures as indicated by reduced kicking and restlessness behaviors. Furthermore, they had fewer mammary infections caused by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus after calving. Results from this experiment indicate that sanitizing teats and providing opportunities to acclimate to the milking area prior to calving may improve the wellbeing and mammary health of young cows and promote a positive human–animal relationship.Heifers and their human handlers are at risk for decreased welfare during the early lactation period. This experiment investigated pre-parturient teat dipping and parlor acclimation to reduce mastitis and aversive behaviors in early lactation heifers. Three weeks prior to calving, heifers were randomly assigned to receive either: (1) a weekly 1.0% iodine-based teat dip in the parlor (trained; n = 37) or (2) no treatment (control; n = 30). For the first 3 days of lactation, heifers were milked twice daily, and treatment-blinded handlers assessed behaviors and clinical mastitis. Aseptic quarter milk samples were collected within 36 h of calving and analyzed for pathogens. Control heifers had (OR ± SE) 2.2 ± 0.6 times greater (p < 0.01) odds of kicking during milking. Trained heifers had (OR ± SE) 1.7 ± 0.4 times greater (p = 0.02) odds of being very calm during milking, while control heifers had 2.2 ± 0.8 and 3.8 ± 2.1 times greater (p < 0.04) odds of being restless and very restless or hostile during milking, respectively. Quarters of control heifers had (OR ± SE) 5.4 ± 3.4 greater (p < 0.01) odds of intramammary Staphylococcus aureus infection, yet clinical mastitis was similar among treatments. The results indicate that teat dipping in the parlor weekly for 3 weeks before calving may alleviate some aversive milking behaviors and protect against early lactation S. aureus intramammary infections.

35 Refined phenotyping methods for the equine cardiac startle response

Foodborne illnesses due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria represent a major public health problem in both developed and developing countries. Among 190 samples, 139 Escherichia coli positive isolates from raw milk, pasteurized milk, and human handlers were identified by phenotypic methods and genotypic methods. All E. coli isolates were found to be resistant to penicillin, oxacillin, erythromycin, and clindamycin. The dominant type of resistance to cefotaxime and amoxiclav identically detected in 18.7% isolates followed by ampicillin in 17.98%, trimethoprim 15.82%, tetracycline 10.79%, nalidixic acid 7.91%, and piperacillin 7.79%. Four isolates have shown resistance (2.87%) to Ceftriaxone and ceftazidime, Cefotaxime and one isolate has shown resistance to Cefepime. Further, all four isolates were confirmed as extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producer by double disc diffusion test and ESBL chromogenic medium. Later, all four isolates were evaluated by PCR and they are observed as carrier of blaCTX M gene which is responsible for ESBL antibiotic resistance in E.coli but blaTEM and blaSHV genes were absent in all four ESBL isolates. Based on the above findings, it is concluded that ESBL antibiotic resistance in E. coli were more prevalent in milk and this may due to the spread and acquirement of antibiotics resistance gene by plasmid and mobile genetic elements.

This study reported knowledge, attitude and perception of pesticide use among farmers to determine the level of farmers’ education on use and handling of pesticides. Data on pesticide types purchased were collected from pet-shops and agro-allied stores in three states in Nigeria. Questionnaires were administered to 100 farmers within Ibadan (Oyo State) to determine specific pesticides used, handling procedures adopted by farmers, protective measures employed and perception of toxic potentials of pesticides to human handlers and exposed animal. Survey reports showed majority used DDVP, 34% of farmers were uneducated, while 42%, 18% and 6% had primary, secondary and tertiary education, respectively. About 63.5% had been farming for 11-20years, 75% kept poultry while others kept sheep/goat and cattle. About 75% sought information from extension agents on pesticide use. The farmers were aware pesticides pose health hazards to animals but only 75% knew it could affect humans, 40% knew of pesticide withdrawal period with diverse opinions on route of pesticide poisoning. The study concluded that farmers and pet-owners in Southwest Nigeria use pesticides unethically and majority are unaware of toxicity and hazards of misuse and handling of pesticides, consequently exposing themselves and animals to hazardous and toxic pesticide levels. Legislations on pesticides enacted to prevent pesticide abuse should be enforced and awareness campaigns intensified to enlighten farmers and pet-owners on potential hazard pesticides pose to themselves, animals and environment. This would eventually prevent unnecessary exposure through misuse/mishandling of pesticides and create a safer ecosystem at large.&#x0D; Keywords: Attitude, Knowledge, Perception, Pesticide, Toxicity

While spontaneous yawning is common across all vertebrate classes, contagious yawning is less common and has been observed only in a few species of social animals. Interspecific contagious yawning in response to yawning by humans has been observed only by chimpanzees and dogs. After confirming additional occurrences of intraspecific contagious yawning in a group of captive African elephants previously studied, we further investigated the potential for the same group of elephants to engage in interspecific contagious yawning with familiar human handlers. Ten captive African elephants, most of whom had been previously studied, were observed over 13 nights for evidence of intraspecific contagious yawning. Seven of these elephants were also involved in trials where familiar handlers performed staged yawns, as well as trials with staged non-yawning gapes, or trials with no yawns or gapes. Incorporating previously collected contagious yawning data, we describe nine instances of intraspecific contagious yawning in the elephants. Three of the seven elephants yawned contagiously in response to humans during the interspecific yawning trials. This is the first report of interspecific contagious yawning by elephants in response to yawns by familiar humans.

SummaryIn the horse, inappropriate management and training, as well as pain, frustration, fear and anxiety can result in undesirable behaviours. Common undesirable behaviours include pawing, striking, rearing, kicking, bolting, bucking, shying, napping, freezing, biting and bite threats, as well as a range of oral and locomotive stereotypic behaviours. Many of these behaviours are dangerous for the human handlers and can be unhealthy and harmful for the horse; for safety and welfare reasons, they must be rapidly addressed. An online survey was completed by 943 horse industry participants from 31 countries. The survey was conducted to gain greater insight into the perceived prevalence of undesirable behaviours in horses; options considered in the management of horses displaying undesirable behaviours; attitudes towards the use of prescription and over‐the‐counter (OTC) behaviour‐modifying agents; and owner attitudes towards the role of veterinarians and equine behaviourists. The results of this survey suggest that undesirable behaviours are common. Agents with a nonspecific sedating effect were the most common agents suggested by veterinarians and used by horse‐owners. Horse‐owners indicated a greater use of α2 agonists for the management of undesirable behaviours associated with riding horses. Many owners in this survey indicated they would consider seeking advice from veterinarians (83.2%) and behaviourists (58.0%) if they had a horse that was ‘consistently difficult or uncooperative to handle or ride’. The majority (97.3%) of nonveterinarian equine behaviourists would seek the input of a veterinarian to investigate physical causes for undesirable horse behaviour. Twenty‐two percent of veterinarians would refer a case to a behaviour expert to address the behavioural component, whilst most veterinarians (77.6%) would devise a behaviour modification and retraining programme themselves. It is hoped that information from this survey can be used to improve existing horse management practices and have a positive impact on animal welfare.

In this study, natural radioactivity concentrations of fish feed and feed raw materials were assessed. Several feeds and raw materials were provided from the suppliers who dominate the aquaculture sector. 226Ra, 232Th and 40K concentrations were determined by using a high-purity germanium detector. The measured activity concentrations of samples ranged from 3.28 ± 0.27 to 15.90 ± 1.36, from 1.27 ± 0.10 to 12.07 ± 1.21 and from 52.01 ± 2.60 to 1,158.96 ± 54.42 Bq/kg for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K respectively. The gamma dose rate and annual effective dose rate of samples were calculated to be in the range of 1.99–50.47 nGy/h and 2.44–61.89 µSv/yr respectively. Since the calculated radiological risk parameters of the samples were lower than the world wide average values, the radiation hazard is insignificant for human handlers.

Simple SummaryThe domestication of cattle was a key innovation early in the development of Western civilization. Cattle provided the main tractor force to enable broad-scale agriculture and the land transportation of goods. Their initial significance was religiously celebrated as the bull-like creator god ’El, in Canaan (modern day Lebanon and Syria), and for over 6000 years in Ancient Egypt as the sky-goddess Hathor, often depicted as a sacred cow. In addition, the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic logogram of a horned ox head profile viewed from either the left or right side was used to signify the concept of “wisdom”. Stylizations of the ox head logogram seen from the left, and not right side have recently been found used in Egyptian graffito dating from around 1900 BCE (Before the Common Era). The strings of symbols have provided the earliest known examples of writing using phonemes such as used in the modern Western alphabet. The use of the directionally-asymmetrical left side ox-head symbol to represent a specific phoneme subsequently migrated around the Eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea variously as ’al, ’el, alep, allup, eleph and alif in Ancient Semitic cultures, including Phoenician, Hebrew and Arabic, before becoming “alpha” in Ancient Greece by 700 BCE. For reasons that have not been fully understood, the ox-head symbol has always been positioned as the first letter in the lexicographical order of the respective Western languages. This review outlines the etymology of the strongly conserved position and directional asymmetry of the alpha symbol, and of its religious connection. In the light of recent behavioural studies, the hypothesis was presented to argue that the directional asymmetry of alpha represents early recognition and critical importance of behavioural lateralization in domesticated cattle when interacting with their human handlers.Domestic cattle possess lateralized cognitive processing of human handlers. This has been recently demonstrated in the preference for large groups of cattle to view a human closely within the predominantly left visual field. By contrast, the same stimulus viewed predominantly within the right visual field promotes a significantly greater frequency of dispersal from a standing position, including flight responses. The respective sets of behaviours correspond with the traditional terms of “near side” for the left side of cattle and horses, and the “off” or “far side” for the right side. These traditional terms of over 300 years usage in the literature communicate functional practicalities for handling livestock and the recognition of lateralized cognitive processing. In this review, the possibility of even earlier recognition and the significance of laterality in cattle-human interaction was argued, from the earliest representations of the letter "A", originally illustrated from nearly 4000 years before the present time as the head of an ox as viewed not from the front or from the right, but from the left (near) side. By extension, this knowledge of lateralization in cattle may represent the earliest written example of applied ethology—the study of the behaviour of animals under human management.

Despite the importance of human source intelligence very little has been written about the selection of police officers to undertake the specialist role of handler, and approaches to training in this specialist area. This research examined the nature of handling and the core attributes of effective human source handlers as perceived by 22 experienced handlers. Participants described handling as characterised by relationship alliance, task alliance and technique. Participants also identified attributes associated with the effective handling of human sources. Findings have important implications for the selection and training of officers for the role of human source handler.

This paper probes the distinction between the so-called emotional support animals (ESAs), a term that is specific to the USA and that has recently been the subject of significant media...

Farm animal welfare is a major concern for society and food production. To more accurately evaluate animal farming in general and to avoid exposing farm animals to poor welfare situations, it is necessary to understand not only their behavioral but also their cognitive needs and capacities. Thus, general knowledge of how farm animals perceive and interact with their environment is of major importance for a range of stakeholders, from citizens to politicians to cognitive ethologists to philosophers. This review aims to outline the current state of farm animal cognition research and focuses on ungulate livestock species, such as cattle, horses, pigs and small ruminants, and reflects upon a defined set of cognitive capacities (physical cognition: categorization, numerical ability, object permanence, reasoning, tool use; social cognition: individual discrimination and recognition, communication with humans, social learning, attribution of attention, prosociality, fairness). We identify a lack of information on certain aspects of physico-cognitive capacities in most farm animal species, such as numerosity discrimination and object permanence. This leads to further questions on how livestock comprehend their physical environment and understand causal relationships. Increasing our knowledge in this area will facilitate efforts to adjust husbandry systems and enrichment items to meet the needs and preferences of farm animals. Research in the socio-cognitive domain indicates that ungulate livestock possess sophisticated mental capacities, such as the discrimination between, and recognition of, conspecifics as well as human handlers using multiple modalities. Livestock also react to very subtle behavioral cues of conspecifics and humans. These socio-cognitive capacities can impact human-animal interactions during management practices and introduce ethical considerations on how to treat livestock in general. We emphasize the importance of gaining a better understanding of how livestock species interact with their physical and social environments, as this information can improve housing and management conditions and can be used to evaluate the use and treatment of animals during production.