Birte L Nielsen – författare

A clear, practical guide on how to use validated indicators of affective statesAssessing Animal Welfare is a guide on how to use accurate indicators to assess the welfare of animals. The basis for this book is construct validity: how we can validate different indicators that are commonly used to assess animal welfare and apply this knowledge when using these indicators.Starting with two chapters on the challenges of assessing emotions and moods in animals, and the importance and basis of construct validation, the following chapters evaluate the validity of 11 indicators that range from being suitable for assessing short-term emotions to assessing cumulative negative affect over a lifetime. Each chapter further highlights the limitations of each indicator and provides clear, useful guidance on its interpretation to avoid associated pitfalls. The book also shows how different indicators can complement each other, with real-life examples showing how to put theory into practice. The final chapter concludes by discussing some of the remaining challenges.Written by leading experts in their respective fields, Assessing Animal Welfare presents: Five key approaches to assessing the construct validity of a welfare indicator: using humans as models; observing how indicators change in rewarding or punishing situations, or when in the presence of threats to/promoters of ancestral fitness; taking a pharmacological approach; and assessing co-variance with already validated indicatorsIndicators of emotion, focusing on preference/avoidance, vocal signals, acute corticosteroid responses, body temperature and heart rate, ideal for assessing short-term events like handling, transport, etc.Indicators of cumulative welfare focusing on abnormal repetitive behaviour, cellular aging, and hippocampal plasticityIndicators of mood, focusing on judgement biases, play, the hormone DHEA, and measures of reward responsiveness, ideal for assessing effects of long-term situations such as housing conditionsHow each valid indicator may sometimes yield false leads (suggesting affective states that are absent) or false null results (overlooking affective states that are present), and ways to avoid these pitfallsAssessing Animal Welfare serves as a clear and practical guide for animal welfare researchers, veterinarians, and students of animal welfare science, helping them evaluate and use the most accurate affective state indicators for a given situation.

Evidence-based, yet entirely practical, this important new text builds upon the basics of neuroscience to describe the links between olfaction and animal behaviour, and the effects of odours in animal welfare. Animals use smells in a multitude of ways: to orientate themselves, to create social bonds, to recognise food, to initiate reproduction, and to avoid predators and imminent threats such as fire. Starting from the scientific basis of olfaction and odour perception, the book covers pheromones and behavioural tests, before describing the role of olfaction in feeding behaviour, reproduction, disease detection, and animal housing. The book: · is written in an evidence-based way, yet with an easy-to-understand style, making it accessible to non-experts · focuses on animals managed by humans, i.e. farm, zoo, lab and companion species · is illustrated by in-depth research examples of many different species This is a captivating introduction to the world of smells, suitable for advanced students, researchers, and teachers of applied ethology, animal welfare and veterinary science.

Contemporary, thought-provoking yet utterly practical, this book provides an introductory text covering the use and misuse of behaviour tests applied to animals. By including illustrative examples from a variety of species, the book inspires the animal scientist to think about what a given behavioural test can be used for and how the results can be interpreted. This text includes: the dos and don'ts of running behaviour tests and interpreting the results; many clear, simple illustrations which make the information readily accessible, down to earth, practical advice yet a thorough, evidence-based approach; information on behaviour tests for a whole range of species from companion, farm, zoo, laboratory and wild animals; succinct yet comprehensive text, designed to be read cover to cover and stimulate further reading. This book is an essential item in the researcher's toolkit when embarking on and devising any animal behaviour test and is valuable to students, established researchers, teachers and practitioners of applied ethology, animal welfare science, and veterinary science.