28 July 2010
Esteem for animal welfare - or how to ask pigs if they’re optimistic about their lives
Posted by Cecilia under: Science; nature .
Our daily mood affects our judgement of ambiguous events. We experience this for example at our job. If we’re having a bad day and we’re presented with an ambiguous cue such as our boss calling us into his office, the first thing that goes through our head is what have I done wrong? We call this a negative cognitive bias. But on a good day we greet the same ambiguous event far more positively, we might look forward to a pay rise.
Experts from the Newcastle University’s School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development have shown for the first time that a pig’s mood can lead to similar reactions showing that pigs are capable of complex emotions which are directly influenced by their living conditions. Pigs living in an enriched environment (more space, freedom to roam and play) were optimistic toward an unknown noise. While pigs placed in a smaller, boring environment showed pessimistic reactions toward the same unknown noise.
Dr Catherine Douglas, leader of the research team explains: “We can use this findings to finally answer important questions about animal welfare in relation to a range of farm environments, for pigs and potentially other farm animals.”
Quality of life of our farm animals is becoming increasingly important. The study is part of ongoing research at Newcastle to further our understanding of animal welfare and improve the lives of farmed stock. For consumers as well as for scientists and government it is important to acknowledge the welfare of farmed stock.
One Comment so far...
Cecilia Says:
28 July 2010 at 2:59 pm.
Check it out.
