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Editorial: Children and Companion Animals: Psychosocial, Medical and Neurobiological Implications
| Contributor(s):: Andrea Beetz, lynette arnason hart, Brinda Inida Jegatheesan, Naoko Koda
This Research Topic presents experiences with companion animals provided to children in varied settings. Methods include monitoring of the ongoing interaction of children with companion animals, or conducting interviews or surveys, as well as experimental interventions where changes occurring...
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Behavior Differences Between Search-and-Rescue and Pet Dogs
| Contributor(s):: Elizabeth Hare, Kathleen M. Kelsey, James A. Serpell, Cynthia M. Otto
Behavioral traits such as trainability, fearlessness, and energy are required for dogs to succeed as search-and-rescue (SAR) dogs. Certification by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ensures that dogs and handlers have extensive training and have demonstrated specific skills in the...
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Common Risk Factors for Urinary House Soiling (Periuria) in Cats and Its Differentiation: The Sensitivity and Specificity of Common Diagnostic Signs
| Contributor(s):: Katie Osborn (editor), Ana Maria Barcelos, Kevin McPeake, Nadja Affenzeller, Daniel Simon Mills
Urinary house soiling (periuria) in the home is a common but serious behaviour problem in cats. Although many specific risk factors and triggers have been postulated, their importance is largely unknown. This study assessed: (1) the significance of purported risk factors for periuria as well as...
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A Systematic Review of the Reliability and Validity of Behavioural Tests Used to Assess Behavioural Characteristics Important in Working Dogs
| Contributor(s):: Karen Brady, Nina Cracknell, Helen Zulch, Daniel Simon Mills
Background: Working dogs are selected based on predictions from tests that they will be able to perform specific tasks in often challenging environments. However, withdrawal from service in working dogs is still a big problem, bringing into question the reliability of the selection tests...
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In Vivo Safety Studies With SPBN GASGAS in the Frame of Oral Vaccination of Foxes and Raccoon Dogs Against Rabies
| Contributor(s):: Steffen Ortmann, Antje Kretzchmar, Christiane Kaiser, Thomas Linder, Conrad Freuling, Christian Kaiser, Peter Schuster, Thomas Mueller, Ad Vos
In order to obtain Marketing Authorization for an oral rabies vaccine in the European Union, not only safety studies in the target species, red fox and raccoon dog, are required. Since baits are distributed unsupervised in the environment, specific safety studies in selected non-target species...
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Factors Associated With Bites to a Child From a Dog Living in the Same Home: A Bi-National Comparison
| Contributor(s):: Locksley L. McV. Messam, Philip H. Kass, Bruon B. Chomel, lynette arnason hart
We conducted a veterinary clinic-based retrospective cohort study aimed at identifying child-, dog-, and home-environment factors associated with dog bites to children aged 5–15 years old living in the same home as a dog in Kingston, Jamaica (236) and San Francisco, USA (61). Secondarily,...
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What Extension Personnel Should Know About Midwestern Goat Producers
| Contributor(s):: Kelsey F. Cole, Catherine Hoegeman, Benjamin M. Onyango, Jodie A. Pennington, Charlotte A. Clifford-Rathert, Elizabeth L. Walker
The growth of the goat industry has created opportunities for producers looking for a profitable alternative enterprise. Little is known about goat production or educational needs of producers in Missouri and Arkansas. A survey of goat producers in Missouri and Arkansas addressed farm...
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Cognitive Bias in Zoo Animals: An Optimistic Outlook for Welfare Assessment
| Contributor(s):: Katie Osborn, Isabella L. K. Clegg
Cognitive bias testing has emerged as one of the most valid tools in measuring animals’ affective states, and while it has been extensively applied in farm and laboratory settings, only a few studies have taken place in zoos and aquaria. This review evaluates past cognitive bias studies...
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Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability during Sleep in Family Dogs (Canis familiaris). Moderate Effect of Pre-Sleep Emotions
| Contributor(s):: Bence Varga, Anna Gergely, Agoston Galambos, Anna Kis
It is common knowledge that negative emotions in humans are accompanied by both impaired subjective experience as well as maladaptive changes in behavior and physiology. The present paper investigates heart rate—one of the most commonly used emotion-related physiology measures—in...
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Assessment of Welfare in Zoo Animals: Towards Optimum Quality of Life
| Contributor(s):: Sarah Wolfensohn, Justine Shotton, Hannah Bowley, Sian Davies, Sarah Thompson, William S. M. Justice
Maintaining a high standard of animal welfare is essential in zoos, and methods of animal welfare assessment should aim to evaluate positive as well as negative states. The indicators that are useful in assessing these are discussed as there is huge variability in the available information...
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Dog Ecology and Rabies Knowledge of Owners and Non-Owners in Sanur, A Sub-District of the Indonesian Island Province of Bali
| Contributor(s):: Elly Hiby, Kadek Karang Agustina, Kate Nattras Atema, Gusti Ngurah Bagus, Janice Girardi, Mike Harfoot, Yacinta Haryono, Lex Hiby, Hendra Irawan, Levin Kalalo, Sang Gede Purnama, I. Made Subrata, Ida Bagus Ngurah Swacita, Ni Wayan Utami, Pande Putu Januraga, Dewa Nyoman Wirawan
That rabies can be managed humanely using vaccination is well accepted. However, making sure enough dogs in the population are vaccinated and therefore able to fight off the virus can be challenging. Getting owners to be more responsible for their dogs should help keep the proportion of...
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Managing Aged Animals in Zoos to Promote Positive Welfare: A Review and Future Directions
| Contributor(s):: Bethany L. Krebs, Debra Marrin, Amy Phelps, Lana Krol, Jason V. Watters
Many animals experience physical and behavioral changes as they age. Age-related changes in physical or mental ability can limit the opportunities for animals to experience positive well-being. As animals in zoos are living longer than ever, understanding common physical, cognitive, and...
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Could the Visual Differential Attention Be a Referential Gesture? A Study on Horses (Equus caballus) on the Impossible Task Paradigm
| Contributor(s):: Alessandra Alterisio, Paola Baragli, Massimo Aria, Biagio D'Aniello, Anna Scandurra
We tested horses on the impossible task paradigm, a drawback affecting the decision-making process in animals. We used the direction of the horse’s ear cup as an indicator of its visual attention in terms of visual selective attention when both ears were directed at the same target and...
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Urban Sloths: Public Knowledge, Opinions, and Interactions
| Contributor(s):: Kissia Ferreira Pereira, Robert John Young, Vanner Boere, Ita de Oliveira e Silva
Free-range sloths living in an urban environment are rare. In this study, opinions, attitudes, and interactions with a population of Bradypus variegatus were investigated through short, structured interviews and informal, opportunistic observations of people in the pubic square where...
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Infectious Disease Prevalence and Factors Associated with Upper Respiratory Infection in Cats Following Relocation
| Contributor(s):: Mehnaz Aziz, Stephanie Janeczko, Maya Gupta
Relocation of cats and kittens is a relatively new practice in animal welfare. It is one of the many tools used by animal welfare agencies to decrease shelter euthanasia rates across the country. However, there are few and sometimes conflicting guidelines for either minimum standards or best...
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Expectations for dog ownership: Perceived physical, mental and psychosocial health consequences among prospective adopters
| Contributor(s):: Lauren Powell, Debbie Chia, Paul McGreevy, Anthony L Podberscek, Kate M. Edwards, Brendon Neilly, Adam J Gustaella, Vanessa Lee, Emmanuel Stamatakis
Dog ownership is popular worldwide, with most human-dog dyads forming successful attachment bonds. However, millions of dogs are surrendered to animal shelters annually, possibly due to mismatches between owner expectations and the realities of dog ownership. The aim of the current study was to...
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My Dog Is Not My Cat: Owner Perception of the Personalities of Dogs and Cats Living in the Same Household
| Contributor(s):: Laura Menchetti, Silvia Calipari, Gabriella Guelfi, Alice Catanzaro, Silvana Diverio
This study aims to define the personality traits perceived by the owners of multiple pets and to evaluate how they are modulated by experiential-environmental factors. A questionnaire was administered to 1270 owners of multiple pets (dogs and cats) to collect data on the demographics,...
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Human Demonstration Does Not Facilitate the Performance of Horses (Equus caballus) in a Spatial Problem-Solving Task
| Contributor(s):: Joan-Bryce Burla, Janina Siegwart, Christian Nawroth
Horses were confronted with a spatial problem-solving task in which they had to detour an obstacle. Individuals that observed a human demonstrating how to solve the task did not solve the task more often or faster compared with a control group without demonstration. However, horses of both the...
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Dog and Cat Interactions in a Remote Aboriginal Community
| Contributor(s):: Brooke Kennedy, Wendy Y. Brown, Karl Vernes, Gerhard Kortner, James R.A. Butler
This study examined dog and cat demographics, roaming behaviours, and interspecific interactions in a remote Aboriginal island community using multiple methods. Our results revealed temporal differences between the roaming behaviours of dogs, cats, and wildlife. Dogs showed crepuscular...
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Should the Endangered Status of the Giant Panda Really Be Reduced? The Case of Giant Panda Conservation in Sichuan, China
| Contributor(s):: Ben Ma, Shuo Lei, Qin Qing, Yali Wen
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reduced the threat status of the giant panda from “endangered” to “vulnerable” in September 2016. In this study, we analyzed current practices for giant panda conservation at regional and local environmental...
