Animal Well-being Archive

Feb 20, 2024 Beaver: Nature’s Ecosystem Rewilders

Posted at 14:21h In Animal Sentience, Animal Well-being, Articles, Environment Well-being, Land Management, Public Awareness/Attitudes, Sustainability/Biodiversity, Tales of WellBeing, Wild Animals - By John Hadidian, PhD

In 1700, so many beaver pelts were stored in Montreal warehouses that they threatened to glut the market, something that traders had already experienced in previous years. So, fearing that prices in Europe would crash, orders were given to pile up and burn fully three-quarters...

Old English Sheepdog | Photo credit: Chris, AdobeStock

Feb 20, 2024 Changing Fashions and Fads, including Dogs?

Posted at 14:21h In Animal Well-being, Articles, Companion Animals, Public Awareness/Attitudes, Tales of WellBeing - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil and Kathleen Rowan CEO, WellBeing International

February and March bring crocuses and daffodils to the Northern Hemisphere and extensive media coverage of “clothing and other fashions” in Milan, Paris, New York, and London. In mid-March last year, there were numerous media reports that the Labrador retriever had been deposed as America's...

Animals Plants | Credit: Wirestock, iStock

Feb 05, 2024 Illuminating Animal and Plant Sentience

Posted at 14:34h In Animal Sentience, Animal Well-being, Letter from the President - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

At the end of 2015, a new academic journal, Animal Sentience, was launched with internationally renowned cognitive scientist Dr. Stevan Harnad as its Editor-in-Chief. The journal, published by WellBeing International, provides a moderated forum where invited experts debate challenging and controversial ideas relevant to the...

Chickens | Photo credit: juancajuarez, AdobeStock

Feb 05, 2024 Farmed Animals and Food Systems: Global Developments

Posted at 14:28h In Animal Sentience, Animal Well-being, Articles, Farm Animals, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

At the end of 2023, Open Philanthropy, a nonprofit organization, distributed its newsletter, including a global progress report on farmed animal welfare and food system change. Lewis Bollard, the Farm Animal Welfare Program Officer for Open Philanthropy, authored the report. Bollard’s initial comments address the...

Wolves | Credit: Film Studio Aves, iStock

Feb 05, 2024 Animals and Healthy Ecosystems: It’s Complicated!

Posted at 14:23h In Animal Well-being, Articles, Sustainability/Biodiversity, WellBeing News, Wild Animals - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

Wild animals are integral to healthy ecosystems; even small changes in species composition may affect biodiversity. For example, a recent paper reports that an invasive ant from Mauritius has adversely affected lion predation in Kenya by reducing the impact of native ants who protect acacia...

Tigers relaxing | Video credit: cgtoolbox

Jan 23, 2024 Las Vegas’ Last Tiger Show

Posted at 09:55h In Animal Sentience, Animal Well-being, Articles, Public Awareness/Attitudes, Tales of WellBeing, Tigers in America, Wild Animals - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil and Kathleen Rowan CEO, WellBeing International

In 2017, the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus closed down, reportedly because of declining attendance. However, the circus had also been a target of escalating protests by animal advocates. Shows involving wild animals in Las Vegas have also been under attack by animal...

Andres attending to a dog | Photo credit: The GAAP

Jan 23, 2024 Changing Human-Dog Interactions: One Organization at a Time

Posted at 09:47h In Animal Well-being, Articles, Companion Animals, Global Dog Campaign, Public Awareness/Attitudes, Tales of WellBeing - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

Thousands of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) are working worldwide to improve the well-being of dogs. Still, providing even a rough estimate of the global impact of these dog welfare projects has proved very challenging. Some organizations – such as the Soi Dog Foundation – have and...

Lab | Photo credit: Microgen, Shutterstock

Jan 23, 2024 A History of Alternatives to the Use of Animals in Research and Testing

Posted at 09:40h In Animal Well-being, Articles, Laboratory Animals, Tales of WellBeing - By Dr. John Parascandola

I have recently completed the manuscript for a book on The History of the Development of Alternatives to Animals in Research and Testing, which is scheduled to be published by Purdue University Press in July 2024. Andrew Rowan has asked me to write a short...

Dec 05, 2023 Where is the Evidence that Laboratory Animal Use is Falling?

Posted at 13:21h In Animal Sentience, Animal Well-being, Articles, Laboratory Animals, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

In 1995, the Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy released a report that claimed, inter alia, that laboratory animal use in the USA had declined by 50% since its peak in the 1970s. Several animal activists criticized this claim. However, various data sets indicate...

Free range chickens | Photo credit: Sonja Filitz, Shutterstock

Nov 19, 2023 New Thinking and Policies on Animal Welfare

Posted at 11:52h In Animal Well-being, Articles, Farm Animals, Letter from the President - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

In 1964, Animal Machines by Ruth Harrison was published in the UK. The book described how farmed animals were kept closely confined in new industrial animal farming systems (commonly described as “factory farming”). The book launched an uproar in British society, prompting the government to...