The Five Domains model (FDM) is a widely accepted framework for developing welfare assessment tools across various contexts, including wild animals under human care. However, only two protocols have been developed for captive cetaceans. This study aimed to create a welfare assessment protocol based on the FDM for captive Yangtze finless porpoises (YFPs; Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis). Indicators relevant to YFPs’ welfare were selected via a literature review, and validated through two consecutive questionnaire surveys, four discussions with a panel of three experts, and a blind review conducted by three additional cetacean welfare experts. This process resulted in the validation of 46 welfare indicators, which were used to develop the Yangtze Finless Porpoise-Welfare Assessment Protocol (YFP-WAP) which, in its final version, contains 150 indicators. Moreover, intensity levels (the degree of impact of each indicator on the porpoises’ welfare), valence (whether the indicator contributed positively or negatively to the porpoises’ welfare state), and mental states associated with each indicator were also assigned by the panels of experts. Additionally, a confidence score was assigned to each indicator’s intensity level, valence, and mental state that reflected experts’ level of uncertainty regarding the indicator impact on the YFPs’ welfare. This rigorous validation process provided transparency, helped ensure minimal bias, and reduced the likelihood of incorrect indicator elimination due to expert subjectivity. By integrating expert knowledge, the YFP-WAP provides a comprehensive approach to evaluating both positive and negative welfare states, supporting the ongoing care and management of YFPs in captivity.

To qualify and quantify animal welfare, novel assessment tools have been and are being developed, while existing assessment tools are being modified so that they can be applied to multiple species living under different housing and management conditions. The results of such assessments should be reliable, consistent and reproducible. We review the steps that should ideally be taken to develop, validate and apply animal welfare assessment tools. The first step should be to find a definition of animal welfare that the various stakeholders can agree upon. The second step should be to formulate and agree upon a framework for the evaluation of animal welfare. Both theoretical/conceptual frameworks, which provide a structure for research and suggest which facets are considered important, and ethical frameworks, which explicate the underlying moral position, should be considered. Finally, animal welfare assessment tools should be developed and validated based on both the adopted welfare definition and the welfare evaluation framework(s). However, this three-step approach has not always been followed in the development of welfare assessment tools currently in use. We expect that transparency and clarity regarding the underlying definitions and frameworks will increase the likelihood that the resulting welfare assessment tools will give similar weight to the aspects considered relevant to animal welfare, as it helps to specify the aspects that are considered to be key elements of animal welfare. This approach should lead to convergent assessment results and higher correlation of welfare indicators between assessment tools.

Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) have been consumed and revered in South American countries since precolonial times and continue to serve as both an important protein source and an economic driver for underserved and remote communities in the region. However, currently, there is limited peer-reviewed research on the welfare status of these animals in meat production systems. This scoping review seeks to provide an overview of guinea pig meat production in the region, highlighting potential welfare challenges and exploring opportunities to advance animal welfare practices within these systems.

It is widely accepted that we ought to avoid taking excessive risks of causing gratuitous suffering. The practical implications of this truism, however, depend on how we understand what counts as an excessive risk. Precautionary frameworks help us decide when a risk exceeds the threshold for action, with the recent Birch et al. (2021) framework for assessing invertebrate sentience being one such example. The Birch et al. framework uses four neurobiological and four behavioural criteria to provide an evidence-based standard that can be used in determining when precautionary action to promote invertebrate welfare may be warranted. Our aim in this discussion paper is to provide a new motivation for the threshold approach that the Birch et al. framework represents while simultaneously identifying some possible revisions to the framework that can reduce false positives without abandoning the framework’s precautionary objectives.

Pain monitoring and diagnosis are crucial in seeking to improve animal welfare. This pilot study aimed to investigate the impact of long hours observation on pain assessment and the intra-observer reliability in piglets using video recording. A total of ten piglets, five from the control group (sham castration; pain-free) and five from the pain group (surgical castration; pain-state), were video-recorded immediately post-castration. The videos were randomised and assessed by an experienced observer using the Unesp-Botucatu Pig Composite Acute Pain Scale (UPAPS). The same ten videos were watched at three different times (trial initiation, half-way point, trial termination) with a four-week interval between them. During the four-week interval periods, the observer watched an additional 360 videos from another study to simulate long observation periods. For the pain group, no differences were found in the post hoc test for the UPAPS total score, and most of the UPAPS items. In contrast, for the control group, the UPAPS total score was higher at the half-way time-point, and no differences were found between UPAPS items. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) inferred ‘very good’ intra-observer reliability for UPAPS total score in all time-points of assessment for both groups. Video-recorded pain assessment is a reliable method to assess pain in piglets given that observation duration for pain assessment had only minimal impact on the UPAPS total score, and no differences were found among most of the items. From an animal welfare standpoint, video-recorded pain assessment is a non-invasive method, that can be an additional asset for pain research.

Pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) and most other farmed species are social animals for whom social isolation is known to cause stress. However, their social nature is commonly ignored in behavioural and cognitive tasks, on which they are trained and tested individually, which may impact their welfare and the validity of test results. We chose the Judgement Bias Task (JBT), a promising proxy measure of affective states, to compare training duration, task performance and behaviour of pigs trained and tested in social isolation (ISO; n = 12) with pigs trained and tested with physical and visual contact to social companions through an opening covered with wire mesh (SOC; n = 12). Eleven SOC pigs and eight ISO pigs learned the task, but SOC and ISO pigs did not differ in training duration or task performance when tested. However, ISO pigs showed a higher frequency of all behavioural measures indicative of stress, i.e. high-pitched vocalisation, freezing, exit-approaching behaviour, heavy escape attempts, defaecation and urination compared to SOC pigs. Future research should replicate our study, additionally in combination with other treatments like different housing conditions, to investigate potential interacting effects on learning and task performance. Several open questions remain, but the unambiguous behavioural differences we found strongly advocate for more research to decrease the stress and thus improve the welfare of pigs and other social animals used in behavioural and cognitive tasks.

There is increasing recognition that the welfare needs of cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans are important. Current commercial practices involving these animals include a range of potential threats to their welfare, such as conditions of farming, capture, transport, and slaughter. This article draws from and updates our 2021 review for the UK Government, recommending a range of relatively simple and impactful changes that could benefit welfare while highlighting important research gaps that should be prioritised to facilitate the drafting of guidelines for best-practice.

The governance of farm animal welfare is led, in certain countries and sectors, by industry organisations. The aim of this study was to analyse the legitimacy of industry-led farm animal welfare governance focusing on two examples: the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle and the Animal Care module of the proAction programme in Canada, and the Animal Care module of the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) programme in the United States (US). Both are dairy cattle welfare governance programmes led by industry actors who create the standards and audit farms for compliance. We described the normative legitimacy of these systems, based on an input, throughput, and output framework, by performing a document analysis on publicly available information from these organisations’ websites and found that the legitimacy of both systems was enhanced by their commitment to science, the presence of accountability systems to enforce standards, and wide participation by dairy farms. The Canadian system featured more balanced representation, and their standard development process uses a consensus-based model, which bolsters legitimacy compared to the US system. However, the US system was more transparent regarding audit outcomes than the Canadian system. Both systems face challenges to their legitimacy due to heavy industry representation and limited transparency as to how public feedback is addressed in the standards. These Canadian and US dairy industry standards illustrate strengths and weakness of industry-led farm animal welfare governance.

Contrafreeloading (CFL) refers to animals’ tendency to prefer obtaining food through effort rather than accessing food that is freely available. Researchers have proposed various hypotheses to explain this intriguing phenomenon, but few studies have provided a comprehensive analysis of the factors influencing this behaviour. In this study, we observed the choice of alternative food containers in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) to investigate their CFL tendencies and the effects of pre-training, food deprivation, and effort required on the CFL tasks. The results showed that budgerigars did not exhibit significant difference in their first choices or the time interacting with less challenging versus more challenging food containers. Moreover, when evaluating each budgerigar’s CFL level, only half of them were identified as strong contrafreeloaders. Thus, we suggest that budgerigars exhibit an intermediate CFL level that lies somewhere between a strong tendency and the absence of such behaviour. Furthermore, we also found that food-deprived budgerigars tended to select less challenging food containers, and pre-trained budgerigars were more likely to choose highly challenging food containers than moderately challenging food containers, which means that the requirement of only a reasonable effort (access to food from moderately challenging food containers in this study) and the experience of pre-training act to enhance their CFL levels, whereas the requirement of greater effort and the experience of food deprivation act to decrease their CFL levels. Studying animal CFL can help understand why animals choose to expend effort to obtain food rather than accessing it for free, and it also has implications for setting feeding environments to enhance the animal welfare of captive and domesticated animals.

When targeting human behaviour change for animal welfare improvement, engaging with communities is vital. Equid-reliant communities are often resource poor, geographically isolated and disparities in literacy rates are common, presenting challenges to ‘traditional’ forms of engagement. Arts-based initiatives using non-written communication methods such as storytelling and performance, may be ideal media to convey positive welfare messages. In this study we evaluate the feasibility of using forum theatre to sensitise donkey-reliant communities regarding key welfare issues. Through a co-creation process, a piece of interactive forum theatre on donkey welfare was produced and staged for the public and in local schools. Post-performance questionnaire data were collected from adults and both pre- and post-performance data in schools to evaluate changes in knowledge and attitudes resulting from the performance. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using Likert scales and open questions, respectively. Audience feedback was positive, with more than 90% of audiences strongly agreeing that they enjoyed the performance. More than 85% of adult respondents strongly agreed that the performance raised their awareness of three key indicators: donkey health needs; donkey welfare needs; and how much donkeys should carry. For youth audiences, comparison of pre- and post-performance measures demonstrated positive changes in the belief that donkeys feel pain, how much individuals liked donkeys and how confident they felt in identifying how a donkey was feeling. Although participatory arts-based approaches remain rare in the animal welfare sector, the study highlights the potential value of these methods in promoting community engagement for positive animal welfare changes.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented lockdowns with rippling impacts on the lives of humans and animals alike. Since zoos were among the first institutions to close during the pandemic, the lockdowns presented the opportunity to conduct a natural experiment examining the relationship between visitor presence and the welfare of zoo-housed animals. In this study, we assessed the welfare of six Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) at Toronto Zoo both during and following the pandemic lockdowns. We compared behavioural and physiological indicators of welfare during a lockdown and after visitors were reintroduced. Specifically, if the orangutans’ welfare was affected by the visitor re-introduction phase we predicted there would be an increase in the following measures: (1) use of exhibit areas away from visitors; (2) behavioural measures (hiding, self-directed behaviours, agonistic behaviours, agitated movement, and idiosyncratic object-directed behaviours [head slamming, and fabric tearing]); and (3) physiological measures (faecal consistency and glucocorticoid metabolites) when compared to the lockdown. We also measured changes in activity levels such as foraging and inactivity. We found that orangutan exhibit space use did not change when visitors were reintroduced. In fact, the orangutans hid less when visitors were introduced than during the lockdown. Foraging, inactivity, and other behavioural indicators of stress did not change when visitors were introduced. Similarly, neither faecal consistency nor glucocorticoid metabolites changed across the study phases. Our data show that visitor re-introduction did not negatively affect the welfare of the Toronto Zoo orangutans. However, the presence of keepers was found to affect the behaviour of the orangutans and warrants further study.

Obesity and its comorbidities (e.g. laminitis) are identified as major welfare issues among domestic equids in the United Kingdom (UK) and abroad. Weight-management typically focuses on restricting consumption (e.g. limiting pasture grazing), often facilitated through stabling. This leads to social isolation, prompting other welfare issues. Increased exercise may be a preferable solution for equine obesity, if viable. The aims of this study were to explore horse (Equus caballus) owner perceptions regarding the importance of exercise, and to investigate how exercise provision related to welfare outcomes. Data obtained via an online survey from 804 UK horse owners indicated that most respondents’ horses were managed in obesogenic conditions, and 40% were owner-reported as overweight/obese. Exercise-related variables (e.g. if a horse was ridden) correlated with physical health problems, including decreased reports of laminitis and Equine Metabolic Syndrome. Approximately 90% of respondents reported that barriers outside of their control substantially limited opportunities to provide human-led exercise (e.g. riding, lunging). Analysis of a hypothetical weight-management scenario found owners with horses at livery yards felt significantly less able to increase horses’ self-directed exercise (e.g. free movement in fields/pastures) than owners keeping horses on their own properties. These findings indicate that while increased exercise may improve welfare, owner knowledge is not the only barrier that must be overcome to implement this prospective solution. Both human-led and self-directed exercise appear limited by a lack of opportunities available to horses and humans. These results justify future investigations into alternative management strategies as potentially viable methods of increasing exercise to improve welfare.

Minimising suffering is an ethical and legal requirement in animal research. This is particularly relevant for research on animal models of sepsis and septic shock, which show rapid progression towards severe stages and death. Specific and reliable criteria signalling non-recovery points can be used as humane endpoints, beyond which a study cannot be allowed to progress, thus preventing avoidable suffering. Body temperature is a key indicator for assessing animal health and welfare and has been suggested to have potential for monitoring the status of mouse models of sepsis. In this study, we monitored temperature variations using contactless methods – thermal imaging and subcutaneously implanted PIT tags – in a surgical model of sepsis by caecal ligation and puncture (CLP). We monitored body temperature variation following mid-grade CLP, high-grade CLP and sham surgery. All mice (Mus musculus) were monitored four times per day in the high-grade CLP model and three times per day in the mid-grade CLP model by both PIT tag readout and infrared thermography for ten days post-surgery, or until animals reached a predefined humane endpoint. Thermal data were compared with the clinical score and weight loss threshold used at our facility. Mean body surface temperature (MBST) assessed by thermal imaging and subcutaneous temperature (SCT) measured by PIT tags correlated, albeit not strongly. Moreover, while MBST does not appear to be a reliable predictor of non-recovery stages, SCT showed promise in this regard, even surpassing the widely used weight loss criterion, particularly for the high-grade CLP model of induced sepsis.