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Anim Welf 2014 Nov;23(4):369-379

Department of Large Animal Sciences and Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 25, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.

Legal protection of the welfare of prenatal animals has not previously been addressed as a discrete subject within the academic literature on animal welfare, ethics and law. This paper aims to rectify this by reviewing the protections (or absence of protections) provided for fetuses by existing legislation in various jurisdictions, and considering the extent to which legal protection of animal fetuses can be justified on animal welfare grounds. Questions related to the need to protect the welfare of neurologically immature postnatal animals are also considered. Read More

Anim Welf 2014 Feb;23(1):109-118

Department of Production and Population Health, The Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, South Mymms, Herts AL9 7TA, UK.

Reproductive medicine is one of the fastest-developing fields of veterinary medicine, Regulation of veterinary assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) is currently divided between the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (1986); the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, and the Animal Welfare Act (2006). None of those pieces of legislation was purpose designed to protect the welfare of animals undergoing ARTs, either directly or by determining which veterinary ART procedures may or may not be performed. Consequently, due to the lack of reference to such procedures, the welfare protection aims of the legislation are sometimes ambiguous. Read More

Anim Welf 2013 Sep;22(4):429-435

Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 650 Coolwater Drive, Bastrop, TX 78602, USA.

Chronic pain and distress are universally accepted conditions that may adversely affect an animal's quality of life (QOL) and lead to the humane euthanasia of an animal. At most research institutions and zoological parks in the USA, a veterinarian, who has physically examined the animal and reviewed the clinical records, ultimately decides when an animal has reached a humane endpoint. To aid in the difficult process of interpreting pain and distress, we have developed specific behavioural guidelines, in addition to standard clinical information, to help define unique characteristics and traits of primates to assess and promote discussion of an individual primate's QOL, and thereby, to assist in the decision-making process regarding euthanasia. Read More

Anim Welf 2010 Aug;19(3):307-313

Disney's Animal Kingdom, 1200 Savannah Circle, Bay Lake, Florida 32830-1000, USA.

Positive reinforcement training is one component of behavioural management employed to improve psychological well-being. There has been regulatory promotion to compensate for restricted social housing in part by providing human interaction to singly caged primates, implying an efficacy standard for evaluating human interaction. The effect of positive reinforcement training on the behaviour of 61 singly housed laboratory rhesus macaques () was evaluated at two large primate facilities. Read More

Anim Welf 2004 May;13(2):239-245

Tulane National Primate Research Center Covington, LA 70433.

Human interaction as environmental enrichment for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and other primates is widely promoted and believed to be of value, but has been subject to little objective evaluation. This study assessed the effects of positive human interaction (eg relaxed treat feeding, playing, and other forms of social interaction compatible with personnel safety) on the behaviour of adult chimpanzees. Subjects were housed indoors in groups of two or three individuals. Read More

Anim Welf 1999 ;8(4):421-31

FRAME, Russell & Burch House, 96-98 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham NG1 4EE, UK.

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders, epitomized by the the recent bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic in cattle and the emergence of a novel variant of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (vCJD) in humans. In prion disease, the agent of infection is believed to be composed of proteinaceous particles, termed prions, which are converted from a normal isoform into a pathogenic isoform during pathogenesis. A bioassay to detect pathogenic prions of BSE in bovine products consumed by humans was unattainable until the development of transgenic mice, due to the significantly lower susceptibility of wild-type mice to BSE. Read More

Anim Welf 1999 ;8(4):407-20

Department of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4237, USA.

This paper use the Missyplicity Project's detailed Code of Bioethics as a starting point for discussion of animal rights perspectives on cloning. Although funded by a couple in order to clone their pet dog, the project has more important collateral goals and forms part of a general line of research, that, if successful, promises enormous clinical benefits to humans. A particular type of animal rights perspective is described and used to evaluate this project. Read More

Anim Welf 1999 ;8(4):381-90

Institute of Ecology and Resource Management, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK.

Attitudes to animal biotechnology are diverse, partly because people have different viewpoints and often do not recognize or acknowledge this to be so. First, people adopt different ethical approaches. If an opponent of genetic manipulation says 'I don't like the idea of altering animals' biology' and a proponent replies '. Read More

Anim Welf 1999 ;8(4):313-28

Department of Animal Science and Animal Health, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Groennegaardsvej 8, DK-1870 Frederiksberg C, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Modern genetics has given us some very efficient tools with which to alter the characteristics of animals. To date, farm animal breeders have mainly used these tools to increase productivity. Thus, each new generation of farm animals matures faster, yields more milk, or produces more meat or eggs, than the previous one. Read More

Anim Welf 1994 May;3(2):107-28