Resources
Here we collate different resources related to PAW including relevant talks, publications and interviews.
Talks
Natural behaviour and animal welfare – why all the fuss?
This recording is of a talk given by Alistair Lawrence (Professor of Animal Behaviour & Welfare at SRUC and University of Edinburgh) to a meeting on ‘Natural Behaviour and Welfare of Farmed Species’ organised by Bioresearch and Veterinary Services of the University of Edinburgh.
Animals being free to express natural or normal behaviour is often seen as an important component of positive animal welfare (PAW). This talk looks at recent critical reviews that highlights the risks of making too close links between natural behaviour and animal welfare.
Addressing individual differences among rats in their response to playful handling
This is a recording of a talk given by Dr Vincent Bombail as part of the Applying Ethology webinar series. The talk is an overview of work looking at playful handling of rats. More information on the latest research in this area can be found on our Research pages.
Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA): its concept, scientific validation and application
This is an interview with Professor Francoise Wemelsfelder (SRUC) on QBA, made for the open online course in animal behaviour and welfare by The University of Edinburgh. Francoise talks about the ideas underlying QBA, the scientific validation of QBA, and the role QBA can play in practical animal welfare assessment. Read more about QBA application for animal welfare assessment.
The relevance of positive animal welfare and creating good lives for animals
This is a recording of a recent on-line talk given by Alistair Lawrence to the Animal Welfare Group Nigeria. The talk gives an introduction to positive animal welfare (PAW) and how PAW can contribute to improving animal welfare – it is followed by a question and answer session.
Publications
Positive welfare: What does it add to the debate over pig welfare?
Lawrence, A.B., Newberry, R.C. and Špinka, M., 2024. Chapter 5 in Advances in pig welfare, pp.83-112.
Abstract
Since the beginning of the farm animal welfare debate half a century ago, the focus has been on the negative side of animal welfare, with most research studying the harms induced by modern husbandry to animals and how to prevent them. Here we review the trend to investigate what has become referred to as positive animal welfare. We review the main published papers on positive welfare and distil the commonalities and distinctions made in the different approaches to positive welfare. Next, we describe several animal-based approaches for assessing positive welfare in pigs and the limited data available on the current status of positive welfare in modern pig production. Finally, areas are identified where a focus on positive welfare could set future trends in animal welfare research and implementation of better pig welfare on farms.
Posters
Opportunities offered by recording ultrasonic vocalisations (USV) to investigate the behaviour of laboratory rats
Vincent Bombail , Sarah M. Brown, Tayla J. Hammond, Gaelle Champeil-Potokar, Olivier Rampin, Isabelle Denis, Nicolas Darcel, Birte L. Nielsen, Alistair B. Lawrence.
View the poster presentation at the ASAB winter meeting 2023 ‘Animal Cognition: Pure to Applied’.
Workshops
USVs for the People & the Rodents
In this online workshop, supported with funding from the UK NC3Rs, we discussed the use of recording UltraSonic Vocalisations (USV) in lab rodents, with a focus on using USV to understand and improve lab rodent welfare.
The talks and associated resources can be found here.
