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Cited by 391Animal Behavior and Welfare StudiesVeterinary Pharmacology and AnesthesiaAnimal testing and alternatives

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 72 of the 74 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Why is There no Simple Way of Measuring Animal Welfare?

Mason, G, Mendi, M·1993·Animal Welfare
DOI 10.1017/s0962728600016092
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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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Show all 74 references

Research works printed but not linked: 26

  1. Martin, 1989, Whither Ethology?, Volume 8 of Perspectives in Ethology, 173
  2. Rice, 1967, The mink: a short outline of general management, Journal of the Institute of Animal Technicians, 18, 66
  3. Dantzer, 1983a, Farm Animal Housing and Welfare, 8
  4. Campos, 1976, Developmental Psychology - the Significance of Infancy, 1
  5. Duncan, 1989, Cognition: the implications for animal welfare, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 24
  6. Unshelm, 1988, Proceedings of the International Congress on Applied Ethology in Farm Animals, Skara, 95
  7. Cohen-Cole, 1981, Psychosocial, endocrine and immune factors in acute necrotizing gingivitis, Psychosomatic Medicine, 43
  8. Ladewig, J 1990 Physiological stress responses in large farm animals. Paper given at the Workshop on Stress and Abnormal Behaviour, Elsinor, Denmark, Sept 1990
  9. Unshelm, 1988, Proceedings of the International Congress on Applied Ethology in Farm Animals, Skara, 238
  10. Wemelsfelder, F 1993 Animal Boredom: Towards an Empirical Approach of Animal Subjectivity. PhD thesis, University of Leiden
  11. Mason, 1993, Stereotypic Animal Behaviour: Fundamentals and Applications to Animal Welfare, 7
  12. Fox, 1984, Farm Animals: Husbandry, Behavior and Veterinary Practice
  13. McCune, S 1992 Temperament and the Welfare of Caged Cats. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge
  14. Archer, 1979a, Animals Under Stress
  15. Suomi, 1987, Perinatal Development: A Psychobiological Perspective
  16. Selye, 1979, A Companion to the Life Sciences, volume 1
  17. Kristensen, 1988, Effects of experimentally-induced stress on Cortisol, blood cell parameters and exploratory behaviour in farmed foxes, Scientifur, 12, 169
  18. Archer, 1979b, Fear in Animals and Man, 56
  19. Bredbacka, 1988, Proceedings of the International Congress on Applied Ethology in Farm Animals, Skara, 74
  20. Gray, 1987, The Psychology of Fear and Stress, 2nd edition
  21. Duncan, 1985, Proceedings of the Second European Symposium on Poultry Welfare, 96
  22. Fowler, 1986, Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine, 2nd edition, 34
  23. Hoist, D von , Fuchs, E and Stohr, W 1983 Physiological changes in male Tupaia belangeri under different types of social stress. In Dembroski T M, Schmidt T H and Blumchen G (eds) Biobehavioral Bases of Coronary Heart Disease pp 382-390. Karger. Basel
  24. Cross, 1989, The Detection and Control of Fear in Animals, Proceedings of the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation 8th Symposium, 5
  25. Trunkfield, 1991, New Trends in Veal Calf Production, 40
  26. Dorian, 1981, Immune mechanisms in acute psychological stress, Psychosomatic Medicine, 43

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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
DOI
10.1017/s0962728600016092
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
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 10663 d)
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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