Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.2
3.0
Journals
Animals
Special Issues
Working Animals: Welfare, Ethics, and Human-Animals Relationship—2nd Edition
share announcement

Working Animals: Welfare, Ethics, and Human-Animals Relationship—2nd Edition

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Human-Animal Interactions, Animal Behaviour and Emotion".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 August 2024 | Viewed by 3376

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Silvana Diverio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 00126 Perugia, Italy
Interests: behavior and welfare of working animals; computer video analysis; animal physiology in sport exercise; dog olfaction science; human–working animal relationship; animal-assisted intervention issues; veterinary medicine on working animals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Gabriella Guelfi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Interests: epigenetics; non-coding RNA; physiological stress and animal welfare; biotechnological techniques; bioinformatics analysis; Physiological stress adaptation; Epigenetic adaptation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Historically, animals have often been employed to aid the survival of the human species in a myriad of ways. Nowadays, millions of animals continue to work in collaboration with their handlers worldwide. The huge diversity of work performed by animals ranges from military; law enforcement and wartime duties; transport in agriculture; search and rescue; detection (drugs, explosive, wildlife, etc.,); herding, guarding, and hunting; animal-assisted therapy or assistance/service roles (such as guide dogs for the blind).

While the contributions and collaborations of these animals offer enormous benefits, in some circumstances, the role of "working animal" represents a significant welfare risk. Given the enormous social role played by these animals, it would be desirable to open a scientific debate on the potential benefits and risks associated with working animals, and the related ethical concerns. This is important both for animals that work in close contact with humans (such as rescue dogs and animals involved in assistance/service), because of their deep relationship with their handlers, and for those that are mainly exploited as a resource (for example, transport and hunting dogs), for which the performative request is not always reciprocated by adequate care and management.

Innovative papers from different research areas, such as the behavior and welfare of working animals, computer video analysis, sport exercise animal physiology, dog olfaction science, human–working animal relationship, animal-assisted intervention issues, and veterinary medicine, are invited to contribute to this Special Issue, which aims to collate the latest advances in the welfare and ethics issues of working with animals. Interdisciplinary studies will be considered, especially those regarding (but not limited to):

  • Search and rescue dogs;
  • Detection dogs;
  • Herding and hunting dogs.
  • Animals involved in assistance/service to humans;
  • Human–working animal relationship;
  • Transport animals;
  • Ethical issues related to working animals.

Dr. Silvana Diverio
Dr. Gabriella Guelfi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • search and rescue dogs
  • detection dogs
  • herding and hunting dogs
  • animals involved in assistance/service to humans
  • human-working animal relationship
  • transport animals
  • ethical issues related to working animals

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Other

11 pages, 630 KiB  
Article
A Method for Assessing Dogs in a Test Evaluating Dogs’ Suitability for Animal-Assisted Education
by Weronika Stempiń and Janusz Strychalski
Animals 2024, 14(8), 1149; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14081149 - 10 Apr 2024
Viewed by 585
Abstract
In objective behavioral rating (BR), dogs are rated for behavior based on the observations made during a behavioral test. However, behavioral definitions can differ between raters, and the definitions proposed by artificial intelligence (AI) can help standardize the applied measures. The aim of [...] Read more.
In objective behavioral rating (BR), dogs are rated for behavior based on the observations made during a behavioral test. However, behavioral definitions can differ between raters, and the definitions proposed by artificial intelligence (AI) can help standardize the applied measures. The aim of this study was to propose a new approach for assessing dogs’ suitability for animal-assisted education (AAE) with the use of the BR method and the definitions of dog behaviors proposed by AI. The analysis relied on video footage of 25 dogs that participated in tests assessing the animals’ suitability for AAE. The dogs were rated by five independent observers. Inter-rater reliability was satisfactory in 7 out of 9 subtests (0.715–0.856) and low in the remaining 2 subtests (0.667 in Subtest 2 and 0.617 in Subtest 5). The results indicate that the BR method based on AI definitions produced satisfactory inter-rater reliability in a test evaluating dog behavior. A comparison of subtest scores in the BR method and the subjective rating method did not reveal significant differences. Thus, it can be concluded that the proposed approach gives promising outcomes and can be used to develop new tests for assessing dogs’ suitability for AAE and, perhaps, other types of work. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Working Animals: Welfare, Ethics, and Human-Animals Relationship—2nd Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 922 KiB  
Article
A Retrospective Study on the Status of Working Equids Admitted to an Equine Clinic in Cairo: Disease Prevalence and Associations between Physical Parameters and Outcome
by Beatrice Benedetti, Francesca Freccero, Jill Barton, Farah Elmallah, Sandy Refat and Barbara Padalino
Animals 2024, 14(5), 817; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14050817 - 06 Mar 2024
Viewed by 545
Abstract
Working equids are often used to exhaustion, living and dying in conditions below minimal welfare standards. Due to their poor welfare status, euthanasia should be considered in certain conditions. The study aimed to describe the population and the disease frequency of the working [...] Read more.
Working equids are often used to exhaustion, living and dying in conditions below minimal welfare standards. Due to their poor welfare status, euthanasia should be considered in certain conditions. The study aimed to describe the population and the disease frequency of the working equids admitted at an equine clinic in Cairo (i.e., Egypt Equine Aid (EEA)) from 2019 to 2022 and identify possible associations between physical parameters at admission and the outcome. Records of 1360 equids admitted at EEA were reviewed. The majority of the admitted equids were horses (65.6%), followed by donkeys (33%), in particular stallions (68.7%), from 1 to 15 years old (74.8%). Hospitalisation was mainly due to wounds (28.9%), orthopaedic problems (27.4%), colic (8.5%), or infectious diseases (7.4%). The majority of the equids were discharged, but 5.1% died on their own, without human intervention, and 23% were euthanised. Text mining revealed the anamnesis’s most frequent words were ‘accident’, ‘lameness’, and ‘wound’. In addition, owners sometimes reported using inappropriate remedies (e.g., firing) before hospitalisation. Multivariable ordinal regression analysis performed between physical parameters and the outcome (ordered based on severity: discharged, euthanasia, and dead) revealed that sex (male vs. female: OR = 1.33; p < 0.05), colour of the mucous membrane (pathological vs. physiological: OR = 1.72; p < 0.01), and capillary refill time (pathological vs. physiological: OR = 1.42; p = 0.02) increased the likelihood of a non-survival outcome. In conclusion, early euthanasia should be considered for these equids, to minimise prolonged suffering. Moreover, owners’ education is recommended to guarantee minimal welfare standards to the working equids. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Working Animals: Welfare, Ethics, and Human-Animals Relationship—2nd Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Other

Jump to: Research

14 pages, 831 KiB  
Commentary
Application of an Adapted Behaviour Change Wheel to Assistance Dog Puppy Raising: A Proposed Raiser-Centred Support Program
by Dac L. Mai, Tiffani Howell, Pree Benton and Pauleen C. Bennett
Animals 2023, 13(2), 307; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13020307 - 16 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1667
Abstract
Puppy raising (PR) programs recruit volunteer community members (raisers) to raise assistance dog (AD) candidates from puppyhood until the dogs are ready for advanced training. Once qualified, ADs assist human handlers with a disability to live more independently. Unfortunately, about 50% of all [...] Read more.
Puppy raising (PR) programs recruit volunteer community members (raisers) to raise assistance dog (AD) candidates from puppyhood until the dogs are ready for advanced training. Once qualified, ADs assist human handlers with a disability to live more independently. Unfortunately, about 50% of all puppies do not meet the behavioural standards required for further training after completing a PR program. This increases costs and lengthens the time taken for a handler to obtain an AD. Research has identified several factors that influence raisers’ experiences. It has also shown that raisers’ socialisation and training practices affect perceived puppy behaviour. Drawing on the argument that puppy raiser practices are central to improving overall puppy raising program outcomes, this paper interprets recent findings within the framework provided by the behaviour change wheel—an established behaviour change framework—to suggest a coordinated approach to supporting puppy raisers. The recommendations will allow future research to employ more objective measures and more rigorous experimental designs as the field attempts to corroborate existing findings and develop evidence-based models of practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Working Animals: Welfare, Ethics, and Human-Animals Relationship—2nd Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop