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Why is There no Simple Way of Measuring Animal Welfare?
Abstract
Abstract Although the physiological and behavioural changes that can indicate poor welfare are generally agreed upon, using these measures in practice sometimes yields results that are hard to interpret. For example, different types of measure may suggest quite different things about an animal's welfare. Such contradictions are often due to the differing properties of the variables being measured. How each variable responds to a stressor can be affected by several factors - the type of unpleasant stimulus to which the animal is exposed; when and for how long exposure occurs; the animal's psychological state, eg does it feel that it is in control?; and the time at which the measurement is made, relative to the stressor. Typical responses also often differ between species and between individuals, and may even change in a single individual over time. Furthermore, some responses used to assess welfare lack specificity: they can be elicited by neutral or even pleasant events as well as by aversive ones. Appreciating these factors is vital when designing experiments, when choosing what to measure along with each welfare variable, and when interpreting results. Even after taking these factors into consideration, interpreting a result can still be difficult. One approach then is to consider the effects on welfare of the changes measured, eg if there is immunosuppression, does the animal succumb to disease? Another is to use the animal's behaviour to indicate its preference for, or aversion to, particular environments. Ultimately, however, interpreting welfare measures involves subjective judgements which will be influenced by the nature of our concern for the animal under consideration. By raising these problems, we hope that this review will highlight and clarify the apparent contradictions that sometimes emerge in scientific studies of animal welfare, and help researchers improve the designs of their experiments for the benefit of the animals concerned.
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“Animals of different ages may react differently to the same scenario or resource allocation (110).”
From Comparison of animal welfare assessment tools and methodologies: need for an effective approach for captive elephants in Asia (2024) · cites this paper as [110]
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“Since individual measures on their own may not provide reliable indicators of welfare and can be difficult to interpret (Mason and Mendl, 1993), a combination of measures was used: the novel measure of cognitive bias, as well as more established measures of urinary cortisol, behavioural observation and staff assessmen…”
MethodImpact of the separate pre-slaughter stages on broiler chicken welfare
Jacobs, L., Delezie, E., Duchateau, L., Goethals, K., & Tuyttens, F. (2016) · Poultry Science · doi:10.3382/ps/pew361 · Cited by 68
“Animal welfare is multidimensional (Mason and Mendl, 1993), which calls for a multi-criteria assess-”
BackgroundMcMeekan, C. M., Mellor, D. J., Stafford, K., BRUCE, R., WARD, R., & Gregory, N. (1998) · Australian Veterinary Journal · doi:10.1111/j.1751-0813.1998.tb10160.x · Cited by 68
Thirty Years After Brambell: Whither Animal Welfare Science?
Mench, J. A. (1998) · Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science · doi:10.1207/s15327604jaws0102_1 · Cited by 67
People's Willingness to Pay for Farm Animal Welfare
Bennett, R. M. (1996) · Animal Welfare · doi:10.1017/s0962728600018285 · Cited by 66
How happy is your pet? The problem of subjectivity in the assessment of companion animal welfare
Serpell, J. (2019) · Animal Welfare · doi:10.7120/09627286.28.1.057 · Cited by 62
Galhardo, L., Correia, J., & Oliveira, R. F. (2008) · Animal Welfare · doi:10.1017/s0962728600032164 · Cited by 64
Welfare assessment tools in zoos: from theory to practice
Jones, N., Sherwen, S. L., Robbins, R., McLelland, D. J., & Whittaker, A. L. (2022) · Veterinary Sciences · doi:10.3390/vetsci9040170 · Cited by 62
“This is likely representative of a situation having varied impacts on welfare of animals at differing stages of physiological and neurological development [73].”
BackgroundIs quality of life a useful concept for companion animals?
Taylor, K., & Mills, D. S. (2007) · Animal Welfare · doi:10.1017/s0962728600031730 · Cited by 60
Beaver, A., Weary, D. M., & von Keyserlingk, M. A. G. (2021) · Journal of Dairy Science · doi:10.3168/jds.2020-19609 · Cited by 59
Welfare comparisons within and across species
Browning, H. (2023) · Philosophical Studies · doi:10.1007/s11098-022-01907-1 · Cited by 68
“There are many examples of these differences—urination and defecation in a new environment is a scent-marking behaviour in mice but a sign of fear in rats, and bulls show decreased corticosteroid response after tethering, while pigs show increased response (Mason & Mendl, 1993).”
BackgroundThe Concept of Farm Animal Welfare: Citizen Perceptions and Stakeholder Opinion in Flanders, Belgium
Vanhonacker, F., Verbeke, W., Poucke, E. V., Pieniak, Z., Nijs, G., & Tuyttens, F. (2010) · Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10806-010-9299-6 · Cited by 59
“Similar to animal science based conceptions, this study has resulted in a complex and multi-dimensional conception of farm animal welfare (Fraser 1995; Mason and Mendl 1993).”
ResultHowell, C. P., & Cheyne, S. M. (2018) · Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science · doi:10.1080/10888705.2018.1500286 · Cited by 63
“However, the psychological state of animals is notoriously difficult to judge and is often clouded with our own anthropomorphically biased opinions and subjective judgments influenced by our concern for the animal in question (Little & Sommer, 2002; Mason & Mendl, 1993).”
BackgroundInfluentialAssessing cattle welfare at slaughter – Why is it important and what challenges are faced?
Wigham, E. E., Butterworth, A., & Wotton, S. (2018) · Meat Science · doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2018.06.010 · Cited by 68
Scott, K., Chennells, D. J., Armstrong, D., Taylor, L. L., Gill, B. P., & Edwards, S. A. (2007) · Animal Welfare · doi:10.1017/s0962728600030931 · Cited by 56
Finka, L. R. (2022) · Animals · doi:10.3390/ani12030298 · Cited by 56
Izzo, G. N., Bashaw, M. J., & Campbell, J. (2011) · Journal of comparative psychology · doi:10.1037/a0024294 · Cited by 52
“In addition to methodological and reporting problems (Swaisgood & Shepherdson, 2005), baseline conditions vary widely, it is unclear how welfare measures are related to each other and individual and species differences create variability in enrichment effects (Mason & Mendl, 1993).”
BackgroundPrioritisation of companion dog welfare issues using expert consensus
Buckland, E., Corr, S., Abeyesinghe, S. M., & Wathes, C. M. (2014) · Animal Welfare · doi:10.7120/09627286.23.1.039 · Cited by 52
“Animal welfare is a complex and multi-dimensional construct (Mason & Mendl 1993; Fraser et al 1997) and in recognition of the plethora of welfare issues an individual or a population may encounter, scientists have developed methods to try to assess which issues cause the greatest impairment to…”
Animal Welfare Science: Recent Publication Trends and Future Research Priorities
Walker, M., Díez-León, M., & Mason, G. (2014) · International Journal of Comparative Psychology · doi:10.46867/ijcp.2014.27.01.03 · Cited by 68
Metadata
- Authors
- Mason, G., & Mendi, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Mason, G
- ORCID
- Mason, G
- Venue
- Animal Welfare
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 1993-11
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 301-319
- ISSN
- 0962-7286 (ISSN-L)
- 2054-1538
- OpenAlex
- W2620308027
- Cited by
- 391
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 11.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Animal Welfare (publishedVersion)
- WBI Studies Repository (submittedVersion)
- The Atrium (University of Guelph) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Veterinary Pharmacology and Anesthesia
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal testing and alternatives
- Keywords
- animal welfare assessment, stress response, individual differences in stress response, immunosuppression
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