UK animal welfare: Government plans upset RSPCA

Animal Welfare

Animal agriculture in North America has undergone a revolution since World War II. Productivity has increased enormously through the use of animal confinement, genetic selection, scientific feed formulation, and productivity-enhancing pharmaceuticals. There has been a shift to larger production units taking advantage of economies of scale. Critics contend that these changes have reduced the wel...

Linking UK Government Data

What does it take to create a web of linked government data? With the launch of data.gov.uk the UK Government has been finding out. This paper sets out the case for using Linked Data standards for publishing open government data and describes some of the benefits. It explains how Linked Data standards uniquely allow governments to publish data responsibly and why responsible data publishing is ...

Zoo animal welfare.

The history of zoo animal welfare legislation extends back to 1876, and is often tied to general animal welfare regulations. As knowledge and societal values have changed, so have the focus of zoos and the regulations governing them. Today, the issues involved in zoo animal welfare are complex and broad-based. Building on the basic welfare tenets of adequate feed, water, shelter, sanitation and...

Evolution and animal welfare.

Animal welfare is a topic often thought to reside outside mainstream biology. The complexity of the methods used to assess welfare (such as health, physiology, immunological state, and behavior) require an understanding of a wide range of biological phenomena. Furthermore, the "welfare" of an animal provides a framework in which a diversity of its responses can be understood as fitness-enhancin...

Focus on animal welfare.