Animal Welfare Science: Recent Publication Trends and Future Research Priorities

Abstract

Animal welfare science is a young and thriving field. Over the last two decades, the output of scientific publications on welfare has increased by c. 10-15% annually (tripling as a proportion of all science papers logged by ISI’s Web of Science), with just under half the c. 8500 total being published in the last 4 years. These papers span an incredible 500+ journals, but around three quarters have been in 80 animal science, veterinary, ethology, conservation and specialized welfare publications, and nearly 25% are published in just two: Animal Welfare and Applied Animal Behaviour Science. Farmed animals – especially mammals – have attracted by far the most research. This broadly reflects the vastness of their populations and the degree of public concern they elicit; poultry, however, are under-studied, and farmed fish ever more so: fish have only recently attracted welfare research, and are by far the least studied of all agricultural species, perhaps because of ongoing doubts about their sentience. We predict this farm animal focus will continue in the future, but embracing more farmed fish, reptiles and invertebrates, and placing its findings within broader international contexts such as environmental and food security concerns. Laboratory animals have been consistently well studied, with a shift in recent years away from primates and towards rodents. Pets, the second largest animal sector after farmed animals, have in contrast been little studied considering their huge populations (cats being especially overlooked): we anticipate research on them increasing in the future. Captive wild animals, especially mammals, have attracted a consistent level of welfare research over the last two decades. Given the many thousands of diverse species kept by zoos, this must, and we predict will, increase. Future challenges and opportunities including refining the use of preference tests, stereotypic behaviour, corticosteroid outputs and putative indicators of positive affect, to enable more valid conclusions about welfare; investigating the evolution and functions of affective states; and last but not least, identifying which taxonomic groups and stages of development are actually sentient and so worthy of welfare concern.

Chinese College Students’ Attitudes towards Animal Welfare

“…In general, females represent the primary family caretakers, which makes them more prone to develop positive attitudes that can go beyond the family care and be extended to animals [ 68 ]. The psychological literature demonstrated that females tend to be more empathetic than males towards both humans and other animals, showing greater concern for their welfare and suffering, while males have the tendency to assume a more “dominionistic attitude” towards it [ 35 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ]. In addition, since females are more engaged with animals than males are, they are more keen to believe that animals experience emotions, while males tend to be more skeptic about this concept [ 72 ].…”

“…The psychological literature demonstrated that females tend to be more empathetic than males towards both humans and other animals, showing greater concern for their welfare and suffering, while males have the tendency to assume a more “dominionistic attitude” towards it [ 35 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ]. In addition, since females are more engaged with animals than males are, they are more keen to believe that animals experience emotions, while males tend to be more skeptic about this concept [ 72 ]. The unbalanced male-to-female ratio (1:4) in the present study may also have impacted the results.…”

Research Before Policy: Identifying Gaps in Salmonid Welfare Research That Require Further Study to Inform Evidence-Based Aquaculture Guidelines in Canada

“…This trend has led to public interest and concern around aquaculture practices worldwide (5)(6)(7)(8)(9) and particularly their impact on fish welfare, which is now a high priority concern for consumers (10,11) and a policy agenda item (12,13). However, compared with farmed terrestrial species, fish have not been a priority for welfare researchers for nearly as long (9,(14)(15)(16), and thus there exists an urgent need to further our understanding to protect and improve their welfare in aquaculture.…”

Welfare of Farmed Crocodilians: Identification of Potential Animal-Based Measures Using Elicitation of Expert Opinion

“…The shortage of standardised methods to quantify and address reptilian welfare has also been highlighted in studies of other reptile species [ 7 ]. To fill this gap and to demonstrate continued animal welfare improvement, it is deemed necessary to develop animal welfare assessment protocols that are both scientifically valid and practical to implement [ 8 ]. This study represents the first effort to develop a toolbox of measures, which can be used to support standards of crocodilian farming, contributing to a better understanding of crocodilian welfare and supporting informed public awareness regarding the farming of exotic species.…”