This study assessed the efficacy of meloxicam, flunixin, and ketoprofen in piglets undergoing routine castration and tail-docking.…
Biology & Life Sciences
Animal Welfare
Humans have a responsibility to ensure that animals under their care are treated with respect and dignity. Research on animal welfare is crucial to improve the quality of life experienced by animals that are under human control and to minimize fear, pain, stress, and suffering.
PLOS ONE is committed to uphold the highest ethics standards of animal research and welcomes leading research on animal welfare. From animals in farms to animals in laboratories, and including companion animals and animals in entertainment facilities, this collection, curated by Academic Editor Anna Olsson in collaboration with PLOS ONE staff editors and with contributions by members of our Editorial Board, highlights impactful animal welfare articles published recently in PLOS ONE.
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PLOS ONE Collection
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PLOS ONE Comparative effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs at castration and tail-docking in neonatal piglets
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PLOS ONE Is YouTube promoting the exotic pet trade? Analysis of the global public perception of popular YouTube videos featuring threatened exotic animals
The exploitation of threatened exotic species via social media challenges efforts to regulate the exotic pet trade and consequently…
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PLOS ONE Facial expression in humans as a measure of empathy towards farm animals in pain
People often express concern for the welfare of farm animals, but research on this topic has relied upon self-report. Facial expressions…
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PLOS ONE Does training method matter? Evidence for the negative impact of aversive-based methods on companion dog welfare
Dog training methods range broadly from those using mostly positive punishment and negative reinforcement (aversive-based) to those using…
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PLOS ONE Investigating the welfare and conservation implications of alligator wrestling for American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)
Wildlife tourism attractions (WTA) are popular in the United States, but they may be harmful to the individual animals involved and we…
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PLOS ONE Come for the looks, stay for the personality? A mixed methods investigation of reacquisition and owner recommendation of Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and Pugs
Brachycephalic breeds are proliferating internationally, with dramatic rises in popularity juxtaposed with common and severe breed-related…
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PLOS ONE A semi-structured questionnaire survey of laboratory animal rehoming practice across 41 UK animal research facilities
If a laboratory animal survives an experiment without lasting compromised welfare, its future must be negotiated. Rehoming may be a…
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PLOS ONE Education as a tool for improving canine welfare: Evaluating the effect of an education workshop on attitudes to responsible dog ownership and canine welfare in a sample of Key Stage 2 children in the United Kingdom
One of the core objectives of many animal-welfare organisations is to achieve improvements in animal welfare through school education…
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PLOS ONE Identifying obstacles preventing the uptake of tunnel handling methods for laboratory mice: An international thematic survey
Handling of laboratory mice is essential for experiments and husbandry, but handling can increase anxiety in mice, compromising their…
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PLOS ONE A value chain analysis of interventions to control production diseases in the intensive pig production sector
Value chain analysis (VCA) calculated the financial effects on food chain actors of interventions to improve animal health and welfare in…
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PLOS ONE Slow and steady wins the race: The behaviour and welfare of commercial faster growing broiler breeds compared to a commercial slower growing breed
Broilers have been bred for fast growth which has led to welfare problems such as high mortality, lameness and skin lesions. Slower…
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PLOS ONE Repeatability analysis improves the reliability of behavioral data
Reliability of data has become a major concern in the course of the reproducibility crisis. Especially when studying animal behavior,…
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PLOS ONE Do dog breeds differ in pain sensitivity? Veterinarians and the public believe they do
Humans do not respond to the pain of all humans equally; physical appearance and associated group identity affect how people respond to…
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PLOS ONE Early life experience and alterations of group composition shape the social grooming networks of former pet and entertainment chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
The long-term effects of early life adversities on social capacities have been documented in humans and wild-caught former laboratory…
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PLOS ONE Infant rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) personality and subjective well-being
Infant temperament is theorized to lay the foundation for adult personality; however, many questions remain regarding personality in…
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PLOS ONE Public attitudes toward genetic modification in dairy cattle
Genetic modification has been used to create dairy cattle without horns and with increased resistance to disease; applications that could…
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PLOS ONE Contactless monitoring of heart and respiratory rate in anesthetized pigs using infrared thermography
Pig experiments have played an important role in medical breakthroughs during the last century. In fact, pigs are one of the major animal…
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PLOS ONE Use of a pressure-sensing walkway system for biometric assessment of gait characteristics in goats
The purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess gait characteristics and weight-bearing forces during ambulation in goats free of…
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PLOS ONE The effect of a hiding box on stress levels and body weight in Dutch shelter cats; a randomized controlled trial
While staying in an animal shelter, cats may suffer from chronic stress which impairs their health and welfare. Providing opportunities to…
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PLOS ONE Development of a fixed list of terms for the Qualitative Behavioural Assessment of shelter dogs
The shelter environment may have a severe impact on the dogs’ quality of life, and there is thus a need to develop valid tools to assess…
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PLOS ONE Management factors affecting adrenal glucocorticoid activity of tourist camp elephants in Thailand and implications for elephant welfare
Elephant camps are among the most popular destinations in Thailand for tourists from many countries. A wide range of management strategies…
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PLOS ONE Individual and environmental risk factors associated with fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations in zoo-housed Asian and African elephants
A recent large-scale welfare study in North America involving 106 Asian (Elephas maximus) and 131 African (Loxodonta africana) elephants…
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PLOS ONE Laboratory animal welfare and human attitudes: A cross-sectional survey on heterospecific play or “rat tickling”
Introduction: Laboratory rat welfare is critically influenced by laboratory animal personnel through their implementation, or lack of…
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PLOS ONE Positive attitudes, positive outcomes: The relationship between farmer attitudes, management behaviour and sheep welfare
This study examined the relationships between the attitudes and the management behaviour of the farmer and the on-farm welfare of their…
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PLOS ONE Investigating risk factors that predict a dog’s fear during veterinary consultations
Attending the veterinary clinic is an integral part of the physical welfare of every companion dog. However, some dogs experience their…