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Criteria for Assessing Well-being

TWA limit c ppm

C. ANIMALS (LARGE) HELD IN METABOLISM CAGES

3. Criteria for Assessing Well-being

Evaluation of animal well-being includes both engineering (environmental) standards (e.g., minimum cage size, temperature, light cycles, etc.) and performance or outcome measures (McCarthy, 1989) standards (the dogs' general state of health and their compatibility in social groups and with people).

The well-being of dogs is dependent on a number of factors which include: training and dedication of the scientific, animal care, and veterinary staff; a facility in compliance with this Guide; observations of the animal's physical health (does it appear healthy, alert, active?); observation of the dog's behaviour; pair or group housing of compatible animals; and socialization to people.

a) Clinical Observations i) Eyes

Clarity and expressiveness of the eyes is a good indicator of general health. This should not be confused with non-eye contact, sometimes demonstrated by dogs raised as subordinate to people.

ii) Posture

Ill or distressed dogs may appear lethargic or cower in the rear of the cage or kennel. Abnormal gait or the carrying of a limb is suggestive of a localized trauma or infection.

iii) Hair coat

Ill or chronically distressed dogs will often manifest a rough, unkempt hair coat. Self-grooming may be absent.

iv) Stool

Presence of diarrhea, or stool with mucus, blood, or helminths (worm-like endoparasites) should be questioned.

v) Appetite

Inappetence or too-rapid ingestion of food should be questioned; sudden changes in weight, drinking or eating behaviour should also be questioned and investigated.

b) Behaviour i) General

One should look for evidence of how well the dogs are adapted to the environment. Whether singly or socially housed, they should not normally exhibit highly repetitive or atypical behaviours. Dogs generally perceive the cage or kennel as home territory and, when the threat is not too great (e.g., the door remains closed), they may bark in defence of the territory. Opening the kennel door may elicit very different behaviours; solicitation from human-bonded animals and fear from unsocialized ones. These differences may not be seen with the door closed; however, judgement about a fear-response to strange individuals must be made cautiously, for a certain degree of inquisitiveness or anxiety over the presence of unknown persons is normal.

ii) Toward cagemates

Compatible cagemates should demonstrate equal desire for attention when the cage is approached by familiar people. Overly dominant individuals (and dogs overly socialized to people and undersocialized to dogs) (Beaver, 1981) will prevent subordinate individuals from being touched by the person, which, at times, may lead to aggression that continues as long as the person remains at the cage door.

iii) Toward people

Dogs that bark excessively, remain in the rear of the cage, refuse to come to the cage door even for familiar technicians, or demonstrate aggressive tendencies when approached, are likely not well-socialized to people. Unwell-socialized dogs are fearful of people, may become "fear-biters," are difficult to catch and restrain, and may have physiological variability incompatible with some scientific studies. These

manifestations are de facto evidence of distress and poor well-being. Such dogs are poor candidates for chronic studies.

iv) Maternal

Toward the end of gestation, the bitch will begin to seek seclusion, a safe, warm, dark and quiet place, and it is advisable to make such provisions by placing a whelping box in some corner that she will accept.

She should be shown her whelping quarters early on in her pregnancy and be given amble time to become accustomed to them (Fox, 1972). Where possible, during the birth of the pups any kind of handling or interference should be avoided.

The behaviour of the pregnant bitch changes toward the end of gestation. She is generally more restless and appears uncomfortable. She may show nesting behaviour and start to tear up newspapers and to scratch at the floor of the whelping box. Often the bitch will go off her food, and some occasionally vomit during the few days immediately prior to parturition. It is not unusual for the bitch to pant a great deal and to regularly look apprehensively at her hindquarters (Dunbar, 1979).

Nest boxes for whelping bitches, provided with bedding materials and heat sources, keep homiothermic newborn pups warm and dry.

4. Housing

Housing should facilitate social group formation, human interaction, comfort, and sanitation. The use of modular cages or runs that can be converted to accommodate either pairs or groups of dogs is desirable.

Hite, Hanson, Conti et al. (1977) and Hughes, Campbell and Kenney (1989) discuss the effects of cage size on beagles (the most commonly used purposebred dog). Caging should permit ready access by personnel and permit visual, olfactory, and auditory contact with other dogs.

Resting boards made of non-conductive, non-permeable materials should be provided to permit animals to escape the floor, especially when temperature control and wetting may be a problem.

i) Social housing

Social housing is desirable for most breeds of dogs. Centuries of interaction with people and other dogs have developed species-typical behavioural patterns, which must be understood in order to evaluate and provide for their well-being (Beaver, 1981). Some breeds of dogs (e.g., hounds) are highly social; others such as terriers are not (Beaver, 1981). Single caging for most social breeds may be stressful.

Movement of an individual(s) away from compatible animals can be disruptive. Dogs that are removed from a social group (by virtue of health, protocol, or aggression) should remain in the same room, as close to the same social group as possible, and should be returned to the group as soon as possible.

When the group is stable, positions within the room should not be changed without cause.

ii) Single housing

For those animals comfortably adapted to solitary living, introducing cagemates may induce distress. In these circumstances, exceptions to social housing may be appropriate, especially where human

companionship is provided and they are in visual and auditory contact with other dogs.

If dogs must be housed singly, they should be in visual, auditory and olfactory contact with others in the

room. It is likely that multiple social groups exist within such a room, with the most stable groups consisting of individuals immediately adjacent to or across from each other.

It should be remembered that dominance can be expressed across the aisle, so that an animal removed from a cagemate because of dominance aggression should not be placed directly across the aisle from its original cagemate, but moved to a location away from the overly dominant individual.