HABRI Central

Understanding the Human–Reptile Bond: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study

Contributor(s): Azevedo, Alexandre, Guimarães, Leonor, Ferraz, Joel, Whiting, Martin, Magalhães-Sant’Ana, Manuel

Canine-Assisted Intervention Effects on the Well-Being of Health Science Graduate Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Contributor(s): Kivlen, C., Winston, K., Mills, D., DiZazzo-Miller, R., Davenport, R., Binfet, J. T.

Relationship between pet ownership and risk of high depressive symptoms in adolesence and young adulthood

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Żebrowska, M., Strohmaier, S., Westgarth, C., Huttenhower, C., Erber, A. C., Haghayegh, S., Eliassen, A. H., Huang, T., Laden, F., Hart, J. E., Rosner, B., Kawachi, I., Chavarro, J. E., Okereke, O. I., Schernhammer, E. S.

BACKGROUND: Only few longitudinal studies with high risk of bias have examined relationship between pets and adolescents' mental health. METHODS: Our prospective cohort study followed depression-free US adolescents aged 12-18, enrolled in the Growing Up Today Study from pet ownership...

Subsistence farmers' understanding of the effects of indirect impacts of human wildlife conflict on their psychosocial well-being in Bhutan

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Yeshey,, Ford, R. M., Keenan, R. J., Nitschke, C. R.

Indirect impacts of Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC) are largely ignored, poorly understood, and scantly reported in the literature on HWC. Subsistence farmers in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan experience an increasing intensification of HWC impacts. Working across four districts representing...

An experimental game to examine pastoralists' preferences for human-lion coexistence strategies

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Sargent, R., Rakotonarivo, O. S., Rushton, S. P., Cascio, B., Grau, A., Bell, A. R., Bunnefeld, N., Dickman, A., Pfeifer, M.

Reconciling conflicts between wildlife conservation and other human activities is a pervasive, multifaceted issue. Large carnivores, such as the African lion Panthera leo are often the focus of such conflicts as they have significant ecological and cultural value but impose severe social and...

Testing Leash Walking Training as a Physical Activity Intervention for Older Adult Dog Owners: A Feasibility Study

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Potter, K., Rajala, C., Chase, C. J., LeBlanc, R.

Dog walking is a physical activity (PA) with many health benefits for older adults. Dog behavior issues can be a barrier to dog walking. This study piloted leash manners training as a PA intervention for dog owners ages 60+ years. Fourteen dog owners (mean age = 65 years, female = 71%) enrolled...

Knowledge of returning wildlife species and willingness to participate in citizen science projects among wildlife park visitors in Germany

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Ostermann-Miyashita, E. F., Konig, H. J., Pernat, N., Bellingrath-Kimura, S. D., Hibler, S., Kiffner, C.

Successful conservation efforts have led to recent increases of large mammals such as European bison Bison bonasus, moose Alces alces and grey wolf Canis lupus and their return to former habitats in central Europe. While embraced by some, the recovery of these species is a controversial topic...

From In-Person to Virtual: A Case Study of an Animal-Assisted Visiting Program in a Pediatric Setting

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Whitney Romine

This article focuses on the practical aspects of converting a successful in-person AAA program to a virtual program in a health care setting including human, canine, and physical resources; animal welfare considerations; training, infection control, and safety guidelines; and visit delivery...

Reported Behavioural Differences between Geldings and Mares Challenge Sex-Driven Stereotypes in Ridden Equine Behaviour

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Anna Aune, Kate Fenner, Bethany Wilson, Elissa Cameron, Andrew McLean, Paul McGreevy

Horse trainers and riders may have preconceived ideas of horse temperament based solely on the sex of the horse. A study (n = 1233) of horse enthusiasts (75% of whom had more than 8 years of riding experience) revealed that riders prefer geldings over mares and stallions. While these data may...

Prioritization of Farm Animal Welfare Issues Using Expert Consensus

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Fiona C. Rioja-Lang, Melanie Connor, Heather J. Bacon, Alistair B. Lawrence, Cathy M. Dwyer

Prioritization of animal welfare issues can help identify which areas most require research funding and raise awareness of best practices. A modified Delphi method was used to obtain expert opinion on the highest priority welfare issues for UK farmed livestock. Fifty-eight UK-based experts were...

Impulse for animal welfare outside the experiment

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Lars Lewejohann, Kerstin Schwabe, Christine Häger, Paulin Jirkof

Animal welfare is a growing societal concern and the well-being of animals used for experimental purposes is under particular scrutiny. The vast majority of laboratory animals are mice living in small cages that do not offer very much variety. Moreover, the experimental procedure often takes...

Farm animals are not humans in sheep clothing

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Lorenz Gygax, Christian Nawroth

Research on the mental lives of farm animals is crucial to assess not only their physical but also their psychological wellbeing. Their current housing and handling practices are highly unlikely to meet their cognitive needs and demands, but our knowledge of their mental capacities is still...

Did Predator Control Go to the Dogs? A 40-year Retrospective

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): John M. Tomeček

In 1980, Green and Woodruff published an article entitled, “Is Predator Control Going to the Dogs?” At that time, the use of Livestock Guardian Dogs (hereafter LGDs) was a relatively new wildlife damage management tool in North America. Although this tool passed the test of time in...

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 detected in a group of dogs and cats with suspected myocarditis

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Luca Ferasin, Matthieu Fritz, Heidi Ferasin, Pierre Becquart, Vincent Legros, Eric M. Leroy

Background Domestic pets can contract severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection; however, it is unknown whether the UK B.1.1.7 variant can more easily infect certain animal species or increase the possibility of human-to-animal transmission. Methods This is a...

A Review of the Types of Training Aids Used for Canine Detection Training

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Alison Simon, Lucia Lazarowski, Melissa Singletary, Jason Barrow, Kelly Van Arsdale, Thomas Angle, Paul Waggoner, Kathleen Giles

The canine detection community is a diverse one, ranging from scientific fields such as behavior, genetics, veterinary medicine, chemistry, and biology to applications in law enforcement, military, medicine, and agricultural/environmental detection. This diversity has allowed for a flourishing...

Human density is associated with the increased prevalence of a generalist zoonotic parasite in mammalian wildlife

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Amy G. Wilson, Scott Wilson, Niloofar Alavi, David R. Lapen

Macroecological approaches can provide valuable insight into the epidemiology of globally distributed, multi-host pathogens. Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic protozoan that infects any warm-blooded animal, including humans, in almost every ecosystem worldwide. There is substantial...

A Scoping Review of Campus-Based Animal-Assisted Interactions Programs for College Student Mental Health

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Tanya K. Bailey

Background: People have long found support by interacting with animals, which has developed into a health care modality called animal-assisted interactions (AAI). In the past 10 years, AAI has increased as a way to support college students’ mental health; however, there is no...

Regulatory Compliance in Online Dog Advertisements in Australia

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Ana Goncalves Costa, Torben Nielsen, Eleonora Dal Grande, Jonathan Tuke, Susan Hazel

In Australia, each state and territory authority implements and enforces regulations regarding dog management—including the breeding and sale of dogs online—which is increasingly becoming the most popular method of obtaining pets. The aims for this study included: 1. Benchmarking...

The Effects of Hippotherapy on Standing Balance in Patients with Incomplete Cervical Spinal Cord Injuries: A Pilot Study

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Bo-Ra Choi, Ju-Hyun Kim, Jeong-Uk Lee, Junghwan Kim

The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of hippotherapy on standing balance in patients with incomplete cervical spinal cord injuries. Ten patients (8 men and 2 women) who were diagnosed with cervical levels of injury between 3 and 6, and D according to the ASIA Impairment Scale....

Discrepancy Between In-clinic and Haemagglutination-Inhibition Tests in Detecting Maternally-Derived Antibodies Against Canine Parvovirus in Puppies

Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Paola Dall’Ara, Stefania Lauzi, Joel Filipe, Roberta Caseri, Michela Beccaglia, Costantina Desario, Alessandra Cavalli, Giulio Guido Aiudi, Canio Buonavoglia, Nicola Decaro

Canine parvovirus (CPV) is one of the most common causes of mortality in puppies worldwide. Protection against CPV infection is based on vaccination, but maternally-derived antibodies (MDA) can interfere with vaccination. The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of an in-clinic...