The importance of food presentation for animal welfare and conservation

Young, Robert J.

doi:10.1079/pns19970113

Cited by 52 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…This can vary from scattering food in the enclosure to hiding food in interactive puzzle-feeders (e.g. Markowitz, 1982;Newberry, 1995;Young, 1997). Typically, animals fed in captivity do not have the potential to display appetitive behaviours that might otherwise be rewarding to them (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of feeding enrichment toys on the behaviour of kennelled dogs (Canis familiaris)

Schipper

Vinke

Schilder

et al. 2008

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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In general, an animal's inability to perform specific behaviours (for example, due to a lack of suitable stimuli or physical restraint) is often viewed as a cause of reduced welfare of animals kept in captivity. There is increasing evidence that the opportunity to display more species-specific appetitive behaviours is beneficial to captive animals. The present pilot study aimed to investigate the effects of feeding enrichment toys on the behaviour of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) housed under laboratory conditions.The behaviour of eight laboratory dogs (Toy group) was observed in their home cage during three trials (pre-toy, toy interaction and post-toy). During the toy interaction trial, the animals received the 'Kong extreme TM '; a rubber dog toy stuffed with dog treats. The behavioural observations of the Toy group were compared to those of a sham-treated control group without a feeding enrichment toy, which consisted of nine laboratory dogs that were simultaneously observed.This study demonstrated that the presence of these food enrichment toys stimulates appetitive behaviours and increases the level of activity (exercise), measured in terms of time budgets and the total number of behavioural transitions. Moreover, it also appears to result into lower barking frequencies.The provision of a relatively simple feeding enrichment toy appears to be a useful tool to stimulate appetitive and more variable behavioural patterns, at least in the short-term, thereby promoting the welfare of (laboratory) dogs housed in kennels. The method of feeding enrichment used in this study may also be useful for dogs in other facilities which lack sufficient stimuli, such as animal shelters. Future studies should include a larger sample, more control groups and additional observation methods to detect, for example, low-frequency behaviours. Furthermore, they should also focus on individual food preferences (long-term) habituation effects and the provision of feeding enrichments under social housing conditions. #

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of feeding enrichment toys on the behaviour of kennelled dogs (Canis familiaris)

Schipper

Vinke

Schilder

et al. 2008

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…Researchers and media spokespeople have suggested that visitors would be affronted or scared by carcass feeding (Boyce, 2007;Veniga & Lemon, 2001;McPhee, 2002;Young, 1997), but in the case of this study, those suggestions appear to be unsubstantiated. The results of this study -with 92% of visitors agreeing or strongly agreeing that they are comfortable while viewing a carcass feeding -are similar to those of the internal evaluation at the Toledo Zoo where 98% of visitors were comfortable viewing carcass feeding (Boyce, 2007 Another suggestion that females would be more sensitive than men to the feeding because they show a greater emotional response toward animals (Pratt, 2009;Cottle et al, 2009;Ings et al, 1997) was also found to be false during this study.…”

Section: Visitors Are Comfortable Watching Carcass Feedingmentioning

confidence: 41%

Food for Thought: Assessing Visitor Comfort and Attitudes toward Carcass Feeding at the ABQ BioPark Zoo

Roth

Visscher

2017

Anthrozoös

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“…Thus, for most wild animals the obtaining of resources is contingent upon the expression of physical activity (i.e. appetitive behaviour) (Young, 1997). Importantly, wild animals have control over when, where and how much physical activity (e.g.…”

Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wild animals live in an operant world (i.e. they operate on the world using their behaviour to obtain resources such as food) and gain control over it by expressing behaviour (Young, 1997). The application of different operant ratio types (i.e.…”

Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Exercising for food: bringing the laboratory closer to nature

Fonseca

Passos

Araujo

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Traditionally, exercise physiology experiments have borne little resemblance to how animals express physical activity in the wild. In this experiment, 15 adult male rats were divided into three equalsized groups: exercise contingent (CON), non-exercise contingent (NON) and sedentary (SED). The CON group was placed in a cage with a running wheel, where the acquisition of food was contingent upon the distance required to run. Every 3 days the distance required to run to maintain food intake at free feeding levels was increased by 90% in comparison to the previous 3 days. The NON group was housed identically to the CON group, but food acquisition was not dependent upon running in the wheel. Finally, the SED group was kept in small cages with no opportunity to perform exercise. A twoway ANOVA with repeated measures was used to determine significant differences in responses between the experimental phases and treatment groups, and ANCOVA was used to analyse growth and tissue mass variables with body length and body mass used separately as covariates. A post hoc Tukey's test was used to indicate significant differences. A Pearson's correlation was used to test the relationship between the distance travelled by the animal and the distance/food ratio. The level of significance was set at P<0.05 for all tests. The CON group showed the hypothesized correlation between distance required to run to obtain food and the mean distance travelled (P<0.001), during 45 days in the contingency phase. This group showed a decrease in body mass, rather than an increase as shown by NON and SED groups. The CON group had a significantly lower body temperature (P<0.05) and adiposity (P<0.05) when compared with the other two groups for the same body size. The present experimental model based on animals choosing the characteristics of their physical exercise to acquire food (i.e. distance travelled, speed and duration) clearly induced physiological effects (body characteristics and internal temperature), which are useful for investigating relevant topics in exercise physiology such as the link between exercise, food and body mass.

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The importance of food presentation for animal welfare and conservation

Cited by 52 publications

References 45 publications

The effect of feeding enrichment toys on the behaviour of kennelled dogs (Canis familiaris)

The effect of feeding enrichment toys on the behaviour of kennelled dogs (Canis familiaris)

Food for Thought: Assessing Visitor Comfort and Attitudes toward Carcass Feeding at the ABQ BioPark Zoo

Exercising for food: bringing the laboratory closer to nature

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