Animal Welfare
Our Research
Animal welfare is a growing scientific discipline reflecting considerable public concern. Our research in animal welfare is led by a multi-disciplinary team of international experts, who work with a variety of animals including laboratory, farm, companion, and zoo animals.
Our work addresses fundamental research questions relating to the development of novel observational, experimental, and computational methods to measure and understand animal welfare and associated emotional or affective states. Our work also applies these methods to determine how to improve the lives of animals.
Within the scope of animal welfare assessment, we investigate two main areas:
- Development of novel measures of animal welfare
- Assessment of animal welfare
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Key Personnel and Expertise
Academics
Professor Oliver Burman – cold blooded care; novel methods of welfare assessment
Professor Anna Wilkinson – cold blooded cognition; cold blooded care
Professor Daniel Mills – animal affective systems and individual differences in behaviour; pheromonatherapy; clinical trials for problem behaviour management
Dr Jonathan Cooper – welfare consequences and efficacy of electronic training aids; lay a hen welfare; rabbits special requirements; stereotypic behaviour
Dr Ambrose Tinarwo – outdoor cat behaviour and welfare; behaviour and welfare of pet rabbits
Dr Stefan Milson – biomarkers of stress
Dr Tom Pike – model animal behaviour; the use of technologies in the assessment of animal behaviour cognition and welfare
Dr Helen Zulch – post-adoption adjustment in dogs; novel assessment of stress in dogs
Postgraduate Researcher and Technical Staff
Agnese Crisante – does ownership impact perception of reptile cognitive abilities and welfare needs; does environmental enrichment impact bearded dragons welfare and cognition; how different living conditions impact bearded dragons physiology; all is not equal: public perception of cognitive abilities and suffering in different species of pet animals; microbiome and behaviour of working dogs
Erica Chung – perceptions of welfare issues in the equine industry
Dr Beth Ventura – ManyGoats: a multi site research initiative for goat cognition, behaviour and welfare; pain relief and assessment in goat kids
Dr Claire Ricci-Bonot – separation anxiety in horses; recognition in emotions in horses; enrichment in donkeys
Dr Ana Maria Barcelos – companion animal welfare assessment and management
Dr Luciana de Assis – characterization of interactions between owners and dogs and its relationship with dog behaviour; novel approaches to the investigation of separation related problems in dogs; understanding landlord’s perspectives about pet-friendly rental properties
Research Students
Tom Rowland – network theory and methods in animal welfare
Iwan Sion Evans – object manipulation behaviour in zoo housed Asian small-clawed otters
Jackie Braggs – environmental scratching in cats
Lulu Xu – emotion regulation in dogs; the influence in human ethnicity and culture on emotion regulation in dogs
Kelsey Grace Felder – applying gopher tortoise cognition to their conservation
Nicki Phillips – how does perception of zoo animal welfare influence public attitudes, experiences, and behavioural intentions? A mixed-methods systematic review
Dr Francesca Guagliumi – novel methods of assessing pain in dogs
Ann Baslington-Davies – assessing the risk factors in human directed bites
Rebecca Sumner – touchscreen system to provide cognitive enrichment for dogs in kennels
Julia Mettler – can sleep-like behaviours be used as a welfare indicator in fish?
Jessica Stark – welfare audits in primates
Bethany Moyer – acquisition and adjustment in dogs