Changes in the Welfare of an Injured Working Farm Dog Assessed Using the Five Domains Model

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe Five Domains Model is now increasingly used to assess the welfare status of a wide range of species in markedly different circumstances. Particular strengths are that the Model facilitates structured, systematic and comprehensive evaluations of animals’ negative and positive mental experiences, the overall balance of which underlies their welfare status or quality of life. Importantly, the Model also clarifies the specific internal and external factors that give rise to those experiences. The welfare evaluation published here is the first to use the most up-to-date version of the Model, and stands as a detailed example that may assist others undertaking such welfare evaluations in other species and contexts. Moreover, it is the first such evaluation of a companion animal. It employs a fictitious scenario involving a working farm dog before, during and after it sustains a serious hind leg injury requiring amputation and its subsequent rehoming as a pet. A wide range of negative and positive experiences are graded, interactions between them are revealed, and the balance between negative and positive states at different stages of the scenario is described. Such Model evaluations can highlight current practices that merit re-evaluation. More generally, when major welfare issues are identified, use of the Model could enhance expert witness participation in related prosecutions by highlighting scientifically supported connections between indicative physical/functional states and behaviours and their associated negative experiences in ill-treated animals. Five Domains Model evaluations can also facilitate quality of life assessments and end-of-life decisions.AbstractThe present structured, systematic and comprehensive welfare evaluation of an injured working farm dog using the Five Domains Model is of interest in its own right. It is also an example for others wanting to apply the Model to welfare evaluations in different species and contexts. Six stages of a fictitious scenario involving the dog are considered: (1) its on-farm circumstances before one hind leg is injured; (2) its entanglement in barbed wire, cutting it free and transporting it to a veterinary clinic; (3) the initial veterinary examination and overnight stay; (4) amputation of the limb and immediate post-operative recovery; (5) its first four weeks after rehoming to a lifestyle block; and (6) its subsequent life as an amputee and pet. Not all features of the scenario represent average-to-good practice; indeed, some have been selected to indicate poor practice. It is shown how the Model can draw attention to areas of animal welfare concern and, importantly, to how welfare enhancement may be impeded or facilitated. Also illustrated is how the welfare implications of a sequence of events can be traced and evaluated, and, in relation to specific situations, how the degrees of welfare compromise and enhancement may be graded. In addition, the choice of a companion animal, contrasting its welfare status as a working dog and pet, and consider...

A Ten-Stage Protocol for Assessing the Welfare of Individual Non-Captive Wild Animals: Free-Roaming Horses (Equus Ferus Caballus) as an Example

“…It is a device that facilitates systematic and structured welfare assessment of individual sentient animals, based on current understanding of the functional bases of negative and positive subjective experiences that animals may have [48][49][50][51]. Originally developed to assess welfare compromise in animals used in research, teaching and testing [48], it has since been broadened for use in companion animals, livestock, captive wild animals and animals designated as 'pests' [27,36,[49][50][51]55,[86][87][88][89][90].…”

“…In order to standardise the assessment of animal welfare across different individuals and/or different assessors, and to monitor animal welfare over time, a reliable, repeatable and practical method of grading is required. Grading welfare compromise and welfare enhancement, and the operational details of the Five Domains Model have been previously described [50,51,87,88]. It should be noted that such grading does not necessarily provide a comprehensive assessment of welfare status; rather it provides an assessment of those indices of welfare that can be assessed and interpreted in terms of the mental experience they are associated with, in the particular species and context of interest.…”

“…Grading the impact of mental experiences on welfare status involves a different approach depending on whether the experiences are negative (welfare compromise) or positive (welfare enhancement) [50,51,87] (Table 5). The grading system applies a five-tier scale (A-E) to each of the Five Domains, representing increasingly severe impacts, ranging from none to very severe (Table 6) [50,51,87]. Information from the scientifically validated measurable/observable indices decided upon in Stage 7 is used to assign the grade of physical impact (A-E) in the first 4 domains.…”

“…There may, however, be insufficient information to define impacts with the degree of precision implied by a five-tier scale, and in this case the grading matrix can also be adapted to a simpler three-tier scale to represent 'no to low', 'moderate', and 'severe' compromise [51] (Table 7). The described grading system applies a four-tier scale (0, +, ++, +++), representing 'no', 'low-level', 'medium-level' and 'high-level' enhancement [50,51,87], but as above could also be simplified to a two-or three-tier scale when information relating to positive mental experiences is sparse. Grading of welfare enhancement has three elements; (i) the availability of opportunities for the animal to engage in self-motivated rewarding behaviours, (ii) the animals actual utilisation of those opportunities, (iii) making a cautious judgement of the degree of 'positive affective engagement'.…”

“…Scientifically informed best judgement is an important aspect of grading with the Five Domains Model, and so the grading scheme should act as a guide only, but be utilised alongside informed interpretation [50,51]. Detailed examples of species and situational specific grading matrixes and application of this grading system can be found elsewhere [50,51,87,88].…”