No description available.

Social Work professionals are recognizing the problematic trend among young offenders who have a history of being cruel to animals. / A sample of 118 files from a youth serving agency were examined to determine the potential relationships between demographics and background variables, selected items from the Child Behavior checklist (Achenbach, 1991), types of crimes and styles of aggression and animal cruelty. Reported styles of aggression consisted of proactive aggression (violent youth who planned their offences) and reactive aggression (youth who commit less serious crimes and would overreact to problems). / In a stepwise regression analysis of a theoretical model, two significant predictors of cruelty toward animals were found: (1) the youths' history of proactive aggression and (2) youths' exposure to physical abuse, this latter both directly, and also as a significant predictor of proactive aggression. / Further education and training for children, caregivers and professionals is needed to increase awareness of the link between animal cruelty and human violence.

No description available.

Thesis (doctoral)--Freie Universität Berlin, 1992. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-143).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (May 25, 2006) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Official veterinarians (OVs), employed by the National Food Administration of Sweden, are responsible for the monitoring of animal welfare as well as food hygiene procedures in the country ́s slaughterhouses. In 2014, the National Food Administration of Sweden introduced new policy guidelines to ensure that the OVs report all deviations to the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, which are responsible for welfare inspections in Sweden. Therefore, it is important that the OVs notify the administrative boards if they have any suspicions regarding animal neglect. The overall aim of this study is to investigate the cooperation between the County Administrative Boards of Sweden and the National Food Administration of Sweden, and to find out how this collaboration impacts animal welfare. In addition to this, its second aim is to explore the current state of animal welfare in slaughterhouses in southern Sweden. This study is based on a qualitative research method, which combines questioners with the analysis of publicly available documents. Furthermore, this study shows that although the new guidelines have resulted in heavier workloads, both parties are satisfied with the arrangement and agree that the new procedures have led to an improvement of animal welfare. In 2015, OVs in Skåne, Blekinge, Halland and Kronoberg submitted 506 cases of suspected animal cruelty taken place in these counties to the County Administrative Boards of Sweden. After comparison of the total number of reports from 2015 and the overall animals slaughtered in the counties in 2014, this study highlights that 0,03 % of all lambs, 0,12 % of all swine and 0,01 % of all cattle were reported with deviations during slaughter. Therefore, this study concludes that animal welfare in slaughterhouses can be considered to be of a high standard. / Sverige anses i många avseende vara ett föregångsland när det kommer till djurskydd och djurvälfärd. En betydelsefull del av den svenska djurskyddskontrollen utgörs av s.k. officiella veterinärer vilka är speciellt förordnade av Livsmedelsverket att kontrollera livsmedelshygien så väl som djurhälsa och djurskydd ute på våra svenska slakterier. Alla våra produktionsdjur som är ämnade att bli livsmedel har sin sista anhalt vid ett slakteri, vilket gör de officiella veterinärernas och assistenternas roll mycket betydelsefull. Under vintern 2013 slog media larm om att avvikelser som uppmärksammats i samband med slakttransporter inte alltid rapporterades vidare till länsstyrelsen i den utsträckning de borde. Året därefter infördes en nyordning från Livsmedelsverkets sida och idag följer de officiella veterinärer nya riktlinjer gällande hur denna vidarerapportering ska gå till. För att bristerna som uppdagats vid slakt ska följas upp och utredas är det viktigt att informationen når länsstyrelsen för vidare handläggning. De officiella veterinärerna ska därför, enligt de nya riktlinjerna, meddela länsstyrelsen om alla uppmärksammade brister i djurskyddet vid slakt genom en “underrättelse om djurskydd”. Ett gott samarbete mellan länsstyrelsen och Livsmedelsverket är därmed väsentligt för att avvikelser i djurhållningen inte ska gå obemärkta förbi. Syftet med denna studie var dels att beskriva hur samarbetet mellan Livsmedelsverket och länsstyrelsen fungerar i Skåne, Halland, Blekinge samt Kronoberg och vilken inverkan det har på djurskyddet vid slakt. Den andra delen av studien berör hur djurvälfärden vid slakt ser ut utifrån vilka avvikelser som uppdagats under 2015 och underrättats till länsstyrelsen i respektive län. Undersökningen genomfördes med en kvalitativ metod och inleddes med att samtliga underrättelser om djurskydd som upprättats under 2015 i fyra angränsade län i södra Sverige begärdes ut från Livsmedelsverket. För att få svar på hur samarbetet mellan Livsmedelsverket och länsstyrelsen fungerar skickades två frågeformulär ut till sakkunnig personal inom området; ett till Livsmedelsverkets officiella veterinärer i södra Götaland och ett till verksamma djurskyddshandläggare i de berörda länen som ansvarar för handläggning och uppföljning av inkomna djurskyddsärenden vid slakt. De befintliga rutinerna och riktlinjer som följs i dagsläget har lett till en ökad arbetsbelastning för båda parter och under 2015 inkom sammanlagt 506 underrättelser till Länsstyrelsen i Skåne, Halland, Blekinge och Kronoberg. Trots att arbetsbördan har ökat anser både länsstyrelsen och Livsmedelsverket i södra Sverige att samarbetet och kommunikationen mellan parterna har förbättrats sedan nyordningen infördes. Vid jämförelse mellan antalet slaktade djur 2014 och andelen djur som noterats med avvikelser 2015 i de fyra länen erhölls en procentuell siffra på den totala andelen djur som noterats med avvikelser vid slakt. Resultatet blev 0,03 % för får/lamm, 0,12 % för slaktsvin och suggor och 0,01 % för nötkreatur. Resultatet indikerar på en god djurvälfärd vid slakt hos våra produktionsdjur i södra Sverige. För att få djupgående kunskaper om effektiviteten i länsstyrelsens och Livsmedelsverkets samarbete bör även djurhållares och transportörers upplevelser tas i beaktande i framtida studier.

To implement sustainable ex-situ management of big ungulate herds such as African Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), one strategy is to place a vasectomized male with females during the sub-optimal season for breeding and subsequently replace him with an intact male during the optimal breeding season. However, information is needed on the effects of vasectomy and the long-term effects on social well-being of individuals used in this "bull-switching" treatment, which is designed to enhance well-being of the whole herd. In this study, behavioral observations were conducted in three periods (pre-treatment, treatment, post-treatment) 2-months in length. Focal individual observations were used to systematically record (a) continuous samples on video (6-min duration; n = 595), (b) instantaneous samples of proximity (n = 951), and (c) field notes of all-occurrences of social interaction (courting and antagonistic). The quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed a significant effect of treatment on three (courtship, escalation, and proximity) out of four measures (deescalation was not affected). Courtship and escalation behaviors increased significantly during the treatment (G2 = 46.35; df=1, P <0.001; z=6.60). The treatment was associated with a significant change in proximity for females (G2 = 17.21; df=1; P <0.001; z=2.31) and other males (G2 =16.10; df=1; P <0.001; z=-3.57). Overall, (1) there was no substantial change with social well-being of the vasectomized male before removal and after reintroduction; (2) the male proximity did not fluctuate significantly with the juvenile males, calves, and other species; and (3) the vasectomized male and the intact male exhibited similar social well-being characteristics. Considering current environmental changes, the treatment did not result in a decline of the social well-being of females and calves, but it did for non-breeding males. Courtship declined in post-treatment, but this was due to the increased percent of pregnant females. During post-treatment, a change in ratio of green grass and supplementary feed pellets possibly affected de-escalation in the context of interspecies interactions. The change of the proximity of the herd was associated with increased heat and use of shaded areas in the pasture. The treatment resulted in a change in relationship with the satellite male and juvenile males in the herd.

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One of the greatest challenges to developing successful marketing strategies in the food sector is gaining a better understanding of the diversity of consumer needs (Onwezen et al., 2012). It is important to understand consumer perceptions of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and fish regarding consumption levels, price, nutrition, animal handling, and animal welfare to help the industry educate and market to consumers, as well as understand perceived misconceptions. Moral and ethical beliefs, consisting of concerns for animal welfare, are reported as main reasons to avoid meat (Hoek et al., 2004). Consumers view high animal welfare standards at the production stage as an indicator that the resulting food is safe, healthy and of high quality (Verbeke et al., 2010). To gain a better understanding of consumer perceptions, an online survey was developed utilizing Qualtrics Q University Survey software (Qualtrics Labs, Inc., Provo, UT, United States). A total of 1,602 surveys were completed. Data was analyzed utilizing PROC Mixed procedure of SAS (v9.3, SAS Institute, Cary, NC). Data was also analyzed using PROC Factor to determine factor analysis and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Three consumer groups were determined: protein eaters, fish-only eaters, and vegetable-only eaters. Econometric analysis was also conducted using the Multinomial Logit (MNL) Model with STATA Statistics/Data Analysis (v12, StataCorp, College Station, TX). This model was designed to explain choice of protein eaters, fish-only, and vegetarian consumers. Varying levels of significance (P > | z | ≤ 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1) were used. Three groups were identified: protein eaters, fish-only, and vegetable protein-only. Consumer groups from both statistical analyses were evaluated for perceptions of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and fish healthfulness, animal handling and animal welfare. The data indicated that females were less likely to consume animal protein by 4.4% while consumers with a history of family disease were more likely to consume animal protein by 3.3%. As income level increased, likelihood of consuming protein decreased for income levels of $30,000-$59,000 (9.9%), $60,000-$99,000 (9.4%), and $100,000-$199,000 (5.9%), respectively. Thirty-six percent of consumers indicated animal welfare was somewhat important, while another 22% and 11% responded that it was very important and extremely important, respectively. When asked how often they purchased natural/organic, grass-fed, and free-range/cage-free products, 50%, 60%, and 63%, respectively, indicated they purchased these products less than once every 2-3 months. Although consumers were emotionally invested in animal welfare, those emotions did not necessarily reflect purchasing habits.

The human-animal relationship in agriculture has been shown to be an influential factor affecting farm animal behaviour, welfare and productivity. It has been demonstrated that stockperson behaviour is related to animal fear and productivity and stockperson attitudes have been found to be strong predictors of stockperson behaviour. However, other job-related human factors may also be influenced by attitudes, thus affecting stockperson work performance. Inter-relationships between stockperson attitudes and behaviours and other job-related human factors were determined. The effects of human behaviour on the behavioural response of pigs towards humans was further investigated and the role of training to modify job-related factors, such as technical knowledge was examined. Stockperson behaviour was shown to influence the behavioural response of pigs towards humans and behavioural responses of pigs towards humans could be conditioned within 4 weeks of regular handling. Negative behaviour by the stockperson was shown to be the most aversive human-animal interaction, while injection treatments were moderately aversive in comparison. The negative effects of human behaviour and husbandry procedures were not found to be alleviated by positive handling or environmental enrichment. The behavioural response of pigs towards humans was found to be influenced by social learning processes and stimulus generalisation of the behavioural response of pigs to humans was found to be unaffected by location. Other job-related human factors, such as technical knowledge, empathy and job satisfaction were positively related to stockperson attitudes and behaviour. Due to established sequential relationships between stockperson attitudes and behaviour and pig behaviour and productivity, this was viewed as indicative of the effect of these job-related variables on pig behaviour and productivity.