Episode 191: Dr Michaela Hempen Part 2: Animal Welfare: Behavior Analysts Wanted!

In part 1 Dr Michaela Hempen introduced us to her day job. Michaela works for the European Food Safety Agency. This is a scientific agency provides risk assessments to give the European Commission or European member states the scientific basis for legislation. The EFSA looks at anything related to food safety, that includes animal health. The European Parliament has requested a scientific assessment of what the risks are for farm animals. These assessments will be the basis for legislation.

The European Commission will be revising all farm animal welfare legislation, and part of this will be based on scientific assessments of their welfare. Michaela has become involved in this project which means she has been on a steep learning curve to familiarize herself with the field of animal welfare.

In part 1 we talked about preference tests. How do you measure what animals want? Part 2 begins with a discussion of stress and then Michaela talks about an important call for tender which her agency has put out. They want welfare scientists to design the road map for future risk assessments of animal welfare. They are looking for new ways of assessing welfare. The teams must include a behavior analyst, so we’re hoping this podcast will help get this information out to people in that field.

References for Parts 1 and 2 of Michaela's interview

Here is a link to the animal welfare risk assessment activities of EFSA and links to the legislative framework in the EU

https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/animal-welfare

The call for tender is published here

https://etendering.ted.europa.eu/cft/cft-display.html?cftId=11004

Deadline for submitting the offer is 25 August 2022

References:

Choice tests:

This is the study assessing the strength of preference for straw bedding in sows by measuring the number of nose presses to open door to enrichment

Arey, D. S. (1992). Straw and food as reinforcers for prepartal sows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 33(2-3), 217-226.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159105800097

This is the study assessing the strength of preference for enrichment items by measuring running speed in rats

Hanmer, L. A., Riddell, P. M., & Williams, C. M. (2010). Using a runway paradigm to assess the relative strength of rats’ motivations for enrichment objects. Behavior research methods, 42(2), 517-524.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/BRM.42.2.517

This is the study assessing avoidance in broilers after experiencing "transport" condition

Abeyesinghe, S. M., Wathes, C. M., Nicol, C. J., & Randall, J. M. (2001). The aversion of broiler chickens to concurrent vibrational and thermal stressors. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 73(3), 199-215.

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159101001423

Self-control:

Mischel's marshmallow test is summarised in this paper

Mischel, W. (1984). Convergences and challenges in the search for consistency. American Psychologist, 39(4), 351.

Pigeons choosing the delayed larger reward

Mazur, J. E., & Logue, A. W. (1978). Choice in a “self‐control” paradigm: Effects of a fading procedure. Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 30(1), 11-17.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1901/jeab.1978.30-11

Rachlin, H., & Green, L. (1972). Commitment, choice and self‐control 1. Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 17(1), 15-22.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1901/jeab.1972.17-15

Books:

• Summary of animal welfare science

The Science of Animal Welfare: Understanding What Animals Want (138 pp)

Marian Stamp Dawkins

https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780198848981.001.0001/oso-9780198848981

• Animal welfare textbook

Broom and Fraser's Domestic Animal Behaviour and Welfare (576 pp)

https://www.cabi.org/bookshop/book/9781789249835/

• Reconciling cognition and behaviorism

Judgment, decision, and choice: A cognitive/behavioral synthesis (287 pp)

Howard Rachlin, 1989

von Borstel, U. U., Duncan, I. J. H., Shoveller, A. K., Merkies, K., Keeling, L. J., & Millman, S. T. (2009). Impact of riding in a coercively obtained Rollkur posture on welfare and fear of performance horses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 116(2-4), 228-236.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159108002876