No abstract

The study compared the perception of ordinary citizens from Curitiba, Brazil (OB) and Clermont-Ferrand, France (OF), as well as OB, Brazilian veterinarians (VB), biologists (BB) and animal scientists (AB), concerning animal welfare and sentience. An online survey containing 18 open-ended, multiple choices and Likert scale questions was conducted from November 2014 to May 2016. The survey covered questions on demographics, perception of animal welfare, sheep welfare, sentience and animals’ emotional capacities. In total, 1103 respondents participated in the survey (388 OB, 350 OF, 248 VB, 92 BB and 25 AB); data were compared using non-parametric tests. Brazilian citizens (46.9%) believed more than OF (3.7%) that welfare is not considered for farm animals and OB attributed higher scores of suffering to sheep during management procedures (median 4, severe suffering) than OF (3, moderate suffering). Additionally, OB gave higher scores of emotions to animals (5) than OF (4). In general, OB and BB had similar perceptions; OB and BB differed from VB and AB who were similar to each other. Citizens (46.9%) and BB (29.3%) believed more than VB (18.5%) and AB (12.0%) that welfare is not considered for farm animals; OB and BB also attributed higher scores of suffering to sheep during management procedures than VB and AB. Women and older respondents showed higher perception of animal welfare issues. There was no clear correlation between perception of animal welfare or sentience and education. Overall, ordinary citizens differed on their perceptions of welfare and sentience in livestock and specifically in sheep, and sheep suffering during management procedures. Ordinary citizens from Curitiba showed higher perception of animal welfare issues as compared to respondents from Clermont-Ferrand and to veterinarians and animal scientists. Ensuring a better consideration of welfare at farm level and in educational programs seems warranted according to the results of this study.

Resumo A sociedade demanda novos paradigmas éticos para pautar suas decisões quanto ao uso de animais. A intermediação do diálogo entre a dimensão cultural, social e pessoal requer a intervenção de ferramentas como a Bioética ambiental. Objetivou-se caracterizar a concepção de estudantes universitários sobre o uso de animais a fim de fornecer subsídios para programas de educação ambiental. Para tal, foram conduzidas 87 entrevistas quanto à concepção emocional e cultural, e o posicionamento ético no uso de animais para alimentação, vestimenta, trabalho, entretenimento e companhia. As análises indicam, além da tendência contemporânea de respeito na relação ser-humano/animal, que o posicionamento ético possui maior relação com a finalidade do que pela afinidade profissional. Fato que demanda a elaboração de programas que ultrapassem a mera informação e sensibilização, estimulando a discussão desses temas no ensino de ciências, a fim de capacitar o aluno na tomada de decisões e, assim, exercer a cidadania plena.

The way as society treats the animals may interfere in the success of the proposals for new ethical conducts and has the potential to in!uence the legislative and executive branches, as well as economy. Even in a particular place, such as the university environment, di"erent perceptions on the conduct regarding animal use can be found. This can be related to abilities and competences developed during the academic formation or training. Assuming that the ethical perception in animal use in educational and scienti#c activities are related to knowledge fields, this study aimed to interview students and teachers of a private university considering the biological, social, technical, legal and human fields. The survey was conducted at 17 courses with 87 interviews, through a questionnaire with 16 both open and closed questions, related to the ethics in using animals for teaching and research purposes, as well as knowledge about the animals; about alternatives; and about companies that test their products on animals. The respondents gave positive answers about their feelings towards the animals, but they still show the inheritance of Mechanistic view, once they use the rationality as a mean of di"erentiating Human being from the other animals. Our results indicate the obvious acceptance of the animal use for educational purposes, mainly mammals and rats, for the Veterinary Medicine and Biology courses. The majority of the respondents considered the animal use in scientific research and experimentation fundamental, mainly for medicine production and other therapies related to human health. On the other hand, they did not show to have information about experimentation, once they did not show knowledge about alternative methods. These results confirm the traditional view that the benefits for scientific development justify the costs with animal welfare and the acceptance of practices that do not cause unnecessary su"ering. The data of this study pointed out few differences among academic fields. This finding suggests that ethical attitudes toward animal use in academic and scienti#c areas are beyond the carrier a$nity. These results indicate that there is few worry with information and awareness, which are essentials for changes in attitude.

RESUMO Objetivou-se estimar os componentes de (co) variância e herdabilidades para pesos ao nascer (PN), à desmama (PD) e aos 180 dias de idade (P180), além dos ganhos médios diários de peso do nascimento à desmama (GMD N-D ), do nascimento aos 180 dias de idade (GMD N-180 ) e da desmama aos 180 dias de idade (GMD D-180

We investigated self-reported attitudes of 148 South Brazilian sheep farmers to animal welfare and sentience. Many farmers (73.0%) knew animal welfare superficially. Farmers that worked for longer in the sheep industry and that raised sheep for commercial purposes mentioned more commonly that they had knowledge about animal welfare (P<0.05). Terms related to freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition were the most used to define animal welfare, cited 24.9% of the times. The majority claimed that their animals experience good levels of welfare (93.2%), especially farmers that kept bigger flocks (P<0.05). However, many respondents believed that sheep welfare could be improved on their farms (71.6%), mainly farmers with less experience in the sheep industry (P<0.01). High scores of sentience were attributed to sheep by farmers with frequent contact with their animals (P<0.05). According to the farmers, castration causes the highest levels of suffering to sheep (32.4%) and shearing, the lowest (50.0%). South Brazilian farmer knowledge about animal welfare, attitudes to sentience and recognition of suffering need improvement.

Gentle handling seems to elicit positive states in sheep. The study investigated whether spatial distance alters sheep responses to brushing and whether spatial distance is influenced by reactivity. Twenty Romane ewes were assessed in three sessions: in Sessions 1 and 3, one grid separated the test animal from pen mates, with no distance between them, and in Session 2 two grids separated the test animal from pen mates by a distance of about 1.7 m. Ewes had been genetically selected for low (R−) or high (R+) behavioural reactivity to social isolation. Body postures, head orientation, ear postures, closed and half-closed eyes, tail wagging and feeding behaviour, in addition to heart rate (HR) and HR variability, as the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), standard deviation of all normal-to-normal (NN) intervals (SDNN), RMSSD/SDNN ratio and ratio between low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) powers (LF/HF) were assessed. Data were analysed using generalized linear models and linear mixed models. Session, genetic line and phase (pre-, brushing and post-brushing) were considered fixed effects. Increased distance in Session 2 might not have influenced ewes’ responses. Fewer changes in ear postures were noted in Session 3 than 1 (P<0.01), suggesting that ewes were more relaxed in Session 3. The RMSSD/SDNN ratio was higher mainly during brushing in Sessions 1 and 3 (P<0.05), indicating that ewes were more relaxed during brushing, and at no distance between pen mates. However, spatial distance influenced R− and R+ ewes’ responses; R+ ewes performed more asymmetric ear postures in Session 2 than 1 and 3 (P<0.01), and in Session 3 than 1 (P<0.01), indicating that spatial distance had a negative effect on R+ ewes. Low reactive ewes spent less time on horizontal ear postures in Session 2 than 1 and 3 (P<0.01), and R+ ewes spent more time on horizontal postures in Session 1 than 3 (P<0.01). Curiously, R− ewes spent more time eating and ruminating in Session 3 than 1 (P<0.01), and in Session 2 than 1 and 3 (P<0.01), whereas R+ ewes ate and ruminated more in Session 1 than 3 (P<0.05). Higher HR was found among R− ewes in Session 2 than 1 and 3, and in Session 3 than 1 (P<0.01). High reactive ewes showed higher HR in Session 1 than 3 (P<0.01). The findings suggest that the social context might influence sheep responses to gentle handling, and the effects depend on their reactivity traits.

The aim of this study was to estimate the heritability for weight and height at withers of 260-780 days of age No Defined Breed (NDB) horses, at intervals of 40 days, which belong to the