News about Animal welfare

The modern dog fights a lonely battle

Separation anxiety and behavioral problems. Veterinary care and malnutrition are no longer the main problems for Danish dogs, as was the case a hundred years ago. On the other hand, our sky-high expectations of them are…

The modern dog fights a lonely battle

Separation anxiety and behavioral problems. Veterinary care and malnutrition are no longer the main problems for Danish dogs, as was the case a hundred years ago. On the other hand, our sky-high expectations of them are…

Ethicists’ commentary on obtaining hormones from pregnant mares

Ethical question of the month, May 2022 Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin (PMSG) is used in farmed animal agriculture for the induction and synchronization of ovulation in cattle, pigs and sheep, superovulation in cattle…

Movement Patterns of Roaming Companion Cats in Denmark — A Study Based on GPS Tracking

We studied the roaming patterns of companion cats in Denmark. The movements of 97 cats with outdoor access were traced for about seven days using GPS tracking.

Wild animal welfare

In this commentary on Rowan et al’s article on sentience politics, especially regarding farm animals, we ask how the welfare of wild animals differs from that of farmed animals, especially how the ability to make…

Ethicists’ commentary on nutritional neglect

Ethical question of the month, April 2022 A colleague refers an 11-year-old German shepherd dog to you for a cardiac ultrasound examination. The dog has a history of ascites and elevated resting respiratory rate. The…

Ethicists’ commentary on humane killing of healthy surplus animals

Ethical question of the month, March 2022 The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) position statement on the Care of Neonatal Calves on Dairy Farms states that euthanasia/humane killing of surplus calves is th…

Ethicists’ commentary on treating animals without payment or without owners

Ethical question of the month, February 2022 You manage a multi-doctor practice in a low-income area of a city. You have accepted many animals that have been hit by cars; however, these animals are never claimed, or…

Pampered pets or poor bastards? The welfare of dogs kept as companion animals

Two key challenges for companion dogs are examined in this paper: 1) unrealistic social demands that can lead to anxiety, depression, and aggression, and 2) ill devised breeding schemes that result in breeding-related…

Estimating the Population of Unowned Free-Ranging Domestic Cats in Denmark

This study estimated the size of the population of unowned free-ranging domestic cats and their distribution in Denmark using a combination of questionnaires and GPS tracking

Ethicist’s commentary on respiratory issues of brachycephalic dog breeds

Ethical question of the month, January 2022 You are the owner of a multi-veterinarian companion animal practice. All your staff have firsthand experience with the deaths of brachiocephalic dogs due to respiratory…

How Serious Are Health-Related Welfare Problems in Unowned Unsocialised Domestic Cats?

This paper presents results from the corpses of 598 unsocialised cats euthanised in Denmark in 2019 by two cat welfare organisations. Our findings reveal that unsocialised cats in Denmark face only a moderate load of…

Pig grunts reveal their emotions

We can now decode pigs’ emotions. Using thousands of acoustic recordings gathered throughout the lives of pigs, from their births to deaths, an international team of researchers is the first in the world to translate pi…

Ethicist’s commentary on use of Ventilation Shut Down

Ethical question of the month, December 2021 Ventilation Shut Down (VSD) and VSD 1 (the plus is the addition of heat or CO2) is a mass depopulation method employed in barns in “constrained circumstances” by the poultry…

Market driven initiatives can improve broiler welfare – A comparison across five European countries

Market driven initiatives can have a strong impact on improving broiler welfare, building on those standards achieved by animal welfare legislation.

Positive animal welfare: Bridging the gap or raising inequalities worldwide?

This paper takes a comparative approach to the ways animals are kept in various parts of the world, and highlights the opportunities and potential barriers to promote positive animal welfare in a global context.

Insect-repelling behaviour in horses in relation to insect prevalence and access to shelters

This paper measures the level of discomfort of biting insects and whether access to shelters or other indoor areas may help prevent biting insect nuisance.

Rhino horn consumers reveal why a legal trade alone won’t save rhinos

New study on rhino horn by Vu Hoai Nam Dang, PhD Fellow, Martin Reinhardt Nielsen, Associate Professor, and Jette Bredahl Jacobsen, Professor at Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen.

Comparing veterinarians’ attitudes to and the potential influence of pet health insurance in Austria, Denmark and the UK

Using an online questionnaire distributed via e-mail, which included a section on health insurance, we investigated the relative number of insured dogs and cats treated by Austrian, Danish and UK veterinarians (N = 636)…

Unauthorized practice

Ethical question of the month, October 2021 You attend to a pregnant mare at 8 mo gestation. The mare was bred through live cover to a local stallion. The owner is a client of the practice, but the mare has not been…

Tigers end their days in high-pressure cookers

Thousands of tigers, bred on farms like pigs and raised in basements, end up in high-pressure cookers, where their bones are dissolved and transformed into traditional medicine. University of Copenhagen researchers are…

Depopulating healthy university animals

Ethical question of the month, July 2021 A veterinarian has a long-term contract with the animal care committee of a university in good standing with the Canadian Council of Animal Care (CCAC). He was informed by an…

When obligations to animals and clients colide

Ethical question of the month, June 2021 You are a recent graduate and have taken on a new client who has several “rescue” horses. The patient presented is a Miniature horse that is having difficulty walking. You…

Ethical management of wildlife. Lethal versus nonlethal control of white-tailed deer

By C. Gamborg, P. Sandøe, & C. Palmer (2020). Conservation Science and Practice. Wiley. Abstract Calls for ethical management of wildlife in the international conservation com- munity are increasing. However, it is not…