This issue of Animal Welfare, which also includes the Index to Volume I, successfully completes the first year of our new journal. The layout is largely as before; there are the usual five scrutinized articles and for the first time a short factual communication. There are reports and comments on matters of animal welfare interest and an extended book and video review section, as well as some relevant reaction to previous items in the letters section. This pattern fulfils our aim of publishing a thought provoking and widely based informative quarterly journal dedicated to highlighting the animal welfare implications of scientific and technical investigations and studies.

For the detection and assessment of pain in animals both behavioural and physiological measurements are necessary. Cutaneous receptors which responded to noxious stimulation (nociceptors) have been identified in birds and have been characterized physiologically in the chicken. Following cutaneous nociceptive stimulation the chicken showed cardiovascular and characteristic behavioural changes consistent with those seen in mammals and indicative of pain perception. Following major burn trauma (partial beak amputation) there was behavioural and electrophysiological evidence fora pain-free period lasting several hours. This pain-free period was followed by pain-related behaviour with both anatomical and physiological evidence for long-term chronic pain.

While pain has been assessed following nociceptive stimulation and following trauma the painful consequences of chronic disease have not been investigated Spontaneous degenerative joint disease is widespread in certain strains of intensively reared poultry, and while we do not know what effect joint degeneration has on the joint capsule receptors, recent work has shown in the joint capsule of birds there are similar receptor types to those found in mammals and it seems likely that joint degeneration in birds may be accompanied by painful sensations.

Experimental work has clearly detected painful conditions in birds but the alleviation of pain with analgesic drugs is not possible at present because analgesic agents have not been systematically investigated in birds.

Comparing pain in birds with mammals it is clear that, with regard to the anatomical, physiological and behavioural parameters measured, there are no major differences and therefore the ethical considerations normally afforded to mammals should be extended to birds.

Six adult female stumptailed macaques (Macaca arctoides) were trained within a two-week period to actively co-operate during in-homecage venipuncture rather than in a restraint apparatus away from the homecage. The training was based on consistent firmness, gentleness and patience. Total training time per subject ranged from 15 to 45 minutes with a mean of 33.5 minutes. Endocrinological analysis one week after the last training session revealed an insignificant increase (0.49%) in serum Cortisol between venipuncture samples taken 15 minutes apart. It was concluded that training stumptailed macaques to actively co-operate during blood collection in their familiar homecage promotes the animals’ well-being by avoiding undue disturbance; increases the validity of research data collected by minimizing distress, and reduces health risks of the handling personnel by eliminating the need to carry the animals to a special area.

To be able to assess animal welfare the researcher must presuppose a number of background assumptions that cannot be tested by means of ordinary empirical data collection. In order to substantiate these assumptions two sorts of inferences have to be relied upon, which the authors designate by the terms ‘analogies’ and ‘homologies’. Analogies are evaluative, philosophical reflections by means of which it is made clear what provisions or states constitute the welfare of humans and other animals. By means of analogies it may, for example be argued that animal welfare consists of subjective experiences such as pain, boredom, pleasure and expectation. Also by means of analogies the relative ‘weight’ of these states can be decided. Homologies are part of theoretical science. They serve to clarify how the relevant experiences are linked to measurable anatomical, physiological and behavioural parameters.

An account is given of the steps which have to be taken to give a full answer to a question concerning the welfare of animals. In the account only farm animals are mentioned, but the same steps, of course, also have to be taken to answer questions concerning the welfare of other kinds of animals be they companion, laboratory, zoo or wild. Eight steps are described, and it is argued that both analogies and homologies are needed at very fundamental levels. Therefore, if animal welfare science is to provide relevant, rational and reliable answers to questions concerning animal welfare, it must be an interdisciplinary inquiry involving philosophical reflections and theoretical biology.

Groups of end-of-lay (spent) hens were subjected to three different treatments on a short flat-belt conveyor. Observations of bird behaviour indicated that the incidences of wing flapping, loss of balance and alarm calling significantly increased when birds were conveyed up and down slopes in comparison to being conveyed horizontally (P<0.01). Birds were significantly more hesitant when approaching the incline compared to the horizontal (P<0.001). However, differences in behavioural responses were not reflected in times spent in tonic immobility or open-field tests. There were no significant differences for the three treatments. It is possible that human contact, before and after conveying, was a more significant fear stimulus than the treatment itself.

The influence of an environmental enrichment feeding device (puzzle feeder), on activity and behaviour patterns of captive orang-utans, gorillas and chimpanzees was studied at London Zoo. General activity levels and behaviours directed towards the feeder increased for all species when the feeder was filled with food Chimpanzees used the feeder significantly more (18% of observation periods) than either gorillas (10%) or orang-utans (9.4%). There was considerable individual variation of puzzle use by individuals within each group and time of day also affected use. In some instances abnormal behaviours were reduced. These results are discussed in relation to the management of captive great apes and it is suggested that the use of puzzle feeders can improve the welfare of these animals.

A consumer expects poultry on sale in shops and supermarkets to be of high quality, safe to eat and, increasingly nowadays, to have been humanely produced. These criteria can only be met if the birds are well treated when alive and their carcases hygienically processed after they are dead. The responsibility for the birds’ welfare while growing lies mainly in the hands of the farmer; once they have left the farm it largely falls upon the poultry processing industry.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), founded in 1824, has recently reorganized its staffing and developed its scientific and technical departments to help pursue its objectives in a changing world. A new Science Division, headed by Dr Tony Suckling, incorporating the Farm Animals, Research Animals and Wildlife Departments, has been created to work alongside the Veterinary Department.

The badger has been widely written about as an interesting wild mammal, as a reservoir/victim of bovine tuberculosis infection and as the subject of the cruel and illegal ‘sport’ of badger baiting. As a consequence, the literature on this species is extensive - naturalists, veterinary surgeons, scientists, conservationists and others have published widely in the technical journals and the specialist magazines.

This project, by the Centaur Press, has been initiated in order to publish books which trace the connection between our often lamentable behaviour towards each other and our thoughtless and cruel exploitation of non-human species. There is, seemingly, a demand from those concerned about human and animal suffering for new books by contemporary authors, and for the re-issue of long-unobtainable works of special merit on the philosophy, politics and social implications of man's use or misuse of animals.

There is currently a great deal of published research and information on the ways in which captive environments of non-human primates could be improved. This material is widely dispersed throughout the scientific literature so it is particularly helpful that the United States Department of Agriculture has published a valuable source of information on this subject. The booklet is comprehensive and not only provides an invaluable classified bibliography but also has an author index, a list of organizations which can provide information on non-human primates, how they can be contacted and details about their activities. There is a useful list of journals which publish information on primates - although unfortunately Animal Welfare is omitted despite a number of its papers being included in the reference list.

There has long been a need for a readily accessible source of statistics on the animals used and, at times, misused by man. This need has now largely been met by a pocketbook by Barry Kew and published by Green Print, which is packed with facts, charts and tables. The information is grouped into eight sections: country sports, farmed animals, fisheries, fur farming, performing animals, companion animals, animal experimentation and zoos. There are a number of appendices: illegal cruelty, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, export-import, UK exotics, camelids, snails, laws, and death toll, as well as a glossary, references and a bibliography.