The scientific assessment of the well-being of an animal involves finding indicators of three broad criteria: 1) a high level of biological functioning; 2) freedom from suffering in the sense of prolonged fear, pain, and other negative experiences; and 3) positive experiences such as comfort and contentment. The tools available to assess animal wellbeing include a mixture of common sense and cu...

Pigs have a very developed olfactory system that allows them to recognize cues from the environment within the first days after farrowing. Amniotic fluid is a cue that piglets use to recognize their own mother and guide them to this key resource post-natally. The aim of this study was to estimate if sucking piglets of different ages have the ability to discriminate between their own mother’s am...

Attachment to pets has an important role in children's social, emotional, and cognitive development, mental health, well-being, and quality of life. This study examined associations between childhood attachment to pets and caring and friendship behaviour, compassion, and attitudes towards animals. This study also examined socio-demographic differences, particularly pet ownership and pet type. A...

81 T he overarching theme of this issue of the ILAR Journal is the neural control of social behavior. In the introduction, Scott Wersinger observes that animal behavior is diverse both across species and among members of the same species, but that there are common characteristics that defi ne social behaviors. Based on his insights and those of the other articles in this issue, I identify chall...

The scale of the ethical challenges faced by veterinary surgeons and their perceived stressful consequences were investigated via a short questionnaire, completed by 58 practising veterinary surgeons. Respondents were asked to report how frequently they faced ethical dilemmas, and to rate on a simple numerical scale (zero to 10) how stressful they found three common scenarios. Fifty seven per c...

In Welfare, Happiness, and Ethics, L.W. Sumner defends two significant constraints on one’s theory of welfare: formality and generality. An adequate theory of welfare, claims Sumner, must give a constitutive account of the “good-for” relation. This constitutive account must be sufficiently general that any entity whose status as a welfare subject is uncontroversial falls within its scope. This ...

BACKGROUND While companion animals have been previously identified as a direct source of companionship and support to their owners, their role as a catalyst for friendship formation or social support networks among humans has received little attention. This study investigated the indirect role of pets as facilitators for three dimensions of social relatedness; getting to know people, friendship...

Efforts to refine the care and use of animals in research have been ongoing for many years and have led to general standardization of rodent models, particularly with regard to animal housing, genetics, and health status. Concurrently, numerous informal practices and recommendations have been promulgated with the laudable intent of promoting general animal wellbeing through so-called enrichmen...

The notion of "health" as the absence of disease has been replaced by a more holistic view based on the concept of "total wellbeing" and its interrelated physiological, psychological, and social components. This approach has radically changed biomedical research, both in terms of experimental methodology and in addressing ethical issues such as animal welfare. The present work focuses on the en...

To determine the impact of pet ownership on human health and well-being, a 10-month prospective study was carried out which investigated changes in behaviour and health status in 71 adult subjects following the acquisition of a new pet (either a dog or a cat). A non-matching control group of 26 subjects without pets served as a comparison over the same period. The control group exhibited no sta...