Behaviour as a tool in the assessment of animal welfare
Abstract
A central issue in animal welfare research is how to assess the welfare state of animals objectively and scientifically. I argue that this issue can be approached by asking two key questions: 1) is the animal physically healthy and 2) does the animal have what it wants? Behaviour is used to answer both of these questions. In the assessment of physical health, it can be used for clinical and pre-clinical diagnosis. In the assessment of what animals want, it has a major role through choice and preference testing. It is particularly important that applied ethologists develop methods for assessing welfare in situ--in the places where concern for animal welfare is greatest such as on farms and in zoos.
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Aggression is more likely to be associated with negative physical and subjective states such as pain and fear.
“An increase in aggression could signal that the birds’ welfare is being compromised by offering encounters, as aggression is more likely to be associated with negative physical and subjective states such as pain and fear [20,21].”
From Evaluating the Behavior and Temperament of African Penguins in a Non-Contact Animal Encounter Program (2019) · cites this paper as [21]
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References 32 · Cited by 294
- Authors
- Dawkins, M. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Dawkins, Marian Stamp
- Venue
- Zoology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2003
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 383-387
- ISSN
- 0944-2006 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2134995335
- Cited by
- 294
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 5.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Zoology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Veterinary Pharmacology and Anesthesia
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- animal welfare assessment, animal behavior, physical health, diagnosis, applied ethology, livestock, zoo animals
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