90 | Veterinary Record | July 23, 2016

News & Reports

animal welfare science

Advancing animal welfare science: sharing knowledge, debating issues

On June 23, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) hosted its fifth one-day conference on ‘Recent advances in animal welfare science’ at the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall in York. This regular meeting is a favourite among early career researchers and students, and UFAW intentionally keeps the attendance fee low to attract younger delegates.

The first presentation, entitled ‘Finding the individual in the crowd’, was given by Lisa Collins from the University of Lincoln. UFAW chief executive Robert Hubrecht commended this choice of topic in his opening remarks, observing that ‘we often lose sight of the individual animal when trying to improve animal welfare on a large scale’. Dr Collins noted that, although the wellbeing of the individual animal must be considered when evaluating the welfare of a group, between-subject variability often limited the reliability of individual welfare indicators. She argued that personality could account for some of this variability. For example, more ‘stoic’ animals might appear to be suffering less when experiencing the same amount of pain as other animals.

Discussions about the comparative usefulness of individual welfare assessments versus group assessments led to discussions of the value of ‘big data’. Dan O’neill, of the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), discussed the outputs of ‘VetCompass’, a project involving the collection of primary care veterinary data. He reported that 10 per cent of UK veterinary practices were signed up to the project, resulting in the collection of data from over four million animals in real time. He demonstrated the power of these data to provide definitive answers to frequently asked questions from clients, such as the average lifespans of certain breeds. Some results of VetCompass studies were shared with delegates, including the estimate that just over 35 per cent of dogs that died aged three years or less were put to sleep because of ‘undesirable behaviour’.

Many presenters discussed the utility of individual welfare indicators, such as ‘grimace’ scales, to measure pain or discomfort in animals of different species. A grimace scale allows an assessor to evaluate the facial expression of an animal using a visual scale, thereby quantifying the animal’s affective state at a certain point in time. Paolo Di Giminiani, from newcastle University, described the development of a grimace scale for piglets, which could be used to assess the pain of docking and castration practices. He noted that grimace scales had also been successfully developed for horses, mice, rabbits and sheep. Dr Di Giminiani’s research is part of ‘FareWellDock’, a collaborative EU project that aims to remove the need for tail docking in commercial pig production.

sentienceIn contrast to the many presentations featuring applied animal welfare research, Liz Paul from the University of Bristol explored the topic of animal sentience. Dr Paul recognised that, although sentience was a subjective state and therefore unsuitable for conventional scientific study, it could be explored by applying the principles of natural history. Through the collection, description, organisation and classification of phenomena, Dr Paul navigated the arguments for and against sentience in different species. She was also careful to make the distinction between sentience (a concept limited to emotion and sensation) and consciousness (which also comprises remembering, reasoning and imagining), noting that only the former was necessary to mandate the consideration of animal welfare in a certain species.

One of the prevalent themes at

this conference was the value of technology-assisted welfare indicators, including the use of thermal imaging cameras to assess hen welfare, which was discussed by Katherine Herborn of newcastle University, and the use of computer vision to improve pain detection in cats, as described by Lauren Finka of the University of Lincoln. David Sargan, of the University of Cambridge, expanded on this topic when discussing computer-directed objective assessments of dogs with brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome. He compared the respiratory traces of pugs, French bulldogs and English bulldogs, and discussed how the method could help to evaluate the effectiveness of surgical treatment.

awardsDuring the meeting, UFAW presented its Young Animal Welfare Scientist of the Year award to Rowena Packer, a postdoctoral researcher at the RVC. Dr Packer received the award for her research into the relationship between morphology, health and welfare in dogs, and more recently her investigations of canine epilepsy.

UFAW also announced the recipients of its most prestigious award, the Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science. Donald Broom, emeritus professor of animal welfare at the University of Cambridge, accepted this award for his

Rachel Orritt,School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS

e-mail: rorritt@lincoln.ac.uk

Established animal welfare scientists and others at the beginning of their career gathered in York last month to discuss recent advances in animal welfare science. Organised by the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, the meeting aimed to provide a forum for sharing knowledge and practice, discussion and debate. Rachel Orritt, a PhD researcher at the University of Lincoln, reports on proceedings

Poster presentations covered a range of recent advances in animal welfare science at the UFAW meeting in York

on Septem

ber 10, 2020 by guest. Protected by copyright.

http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com

/V

eterinary Record: first published as 10.1136/vr.i3684 on 22 July 2016. D

ownloaded from

July 23, 2016 | Veterinary Record | 91

News & ReportsNews & Reports

substantial contributions to the study of animal welfare over his career, and also for his role as mentor to many other animal welfare scientists and students. UFAW also awarded

UFAW’s chief executive Robert Hubrecht (second from left) with Rowena Packer (right), recipient of the UFAW Young Animal Welfare Scientist of the Year award, and Donald Broom (second from right), one of two recipients of the UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science. The medal was also awarded posthumously to Christopher Wathes, and was received on his behalf by his wife, Claire (left)

the medal posthumously to Christopher Wathes, an eminent animal welfare scientist and former chair of the Farm Animal Welfare Council, whose fundamental contributions

to the field over a long and successful career improved the lives of countless animals. His wife, Claire Wathes, professor of veterinary reproduction at the RVC, accepted the award on his behalf.

Throughout the day, conference delegates were treated to a great variety of research, encompassing animal welfare topics relevant to companion, farm, laboratory and exotic animal species. Dr Hubrecht brought the conference to a close by discussing the work of UFAW in promoting further advances in animal welfare science.

next year, UFAW will be holding an international symposium at the University of London (Royal Holloway), from June 27 to 29, 2017, to consider ‘Measuring animal welfare and applying scientific advances – Why is it still so difficult?’. Details at www.ufaw.org.uk/ufaw-events/ufaw-events

doi: 10.1136/vr.i3684

on Septem

ber 10, 2020 by guest. Protected by copyright.

http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com

/V

eterinary Record: first published as 10.1136/vr.i3684 on 22 July 2016. D

ownloaded from