As interest in animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and canine-assisted psychotherapy (CAP) grows, there are increasing calls for the management of related health, safety, and welfare concerns for canines, providers, and clients. Existing health and safety guidelines lack empirical support and are, at times, contradictory. Welfare is increasingly prioritized; however, tools to monitor and manage welfare are underutilized and under-reported. The aim of this study was to provide expert consensus on the minimum health, safety, and welfare standards required to develop and deliver a CAP group program to adolescents experiencing common mental health disorders. Diverse AAT experts were recruited globally. Using Delphi methodology, over two rounds, 40 panelists reached a consensus agreement to include 32 items from a possible 49 into the minimum standards. Health and safety measures included risk assessment, veterinary screening, preventative medicine, training in infection control, and first aid. Welfare measures included training in welfare assessment, documentation of welfare, and flexible, individualized responses to promote wellbeing. Intestinal screening for parasites and the prohibition of raw food were not supported. Flexible and individualized assessment and management of canine welfare were supported over fixed and time-limited work schedules. Clinical practice implications are discussed, and recommendations are made.

Cattle are gregarious animals able to form social relationships. Dominance is one of the most widely studied social behaviors of dairy cattle, especially cows confined indoors. However, much of the past dairy cattle research has used an unstandardized approach, differing in definitions and conceptual understanding of dominance, as well as their methods of data collection and dominance calculation. The first of the 3 aims of this review is to evaluate how dominance relates to the social behavior of housed dairy cows. Cows engage in agonistic interactions to establish and reinforce dominance relationships. An individual\'s dominance is influenced by intrinsic characteristics, such as personality, and extrinsic factors, including group composition. When competing for resources, agonistic interactions can also be influenced by individual motivational differences, such as hunger, which may diminish the role of dominance in regulating competition. Our second aim is to critically review methods used to assess dominance in cows. This includes discussions on the effect of time and location of data collection on measured values as well as the viability and limitations of some dominance calculation methods. We propose that different methodologies lend themselves to different types of research questions. For example, the use of data stream-based methods that consider the sequence of interactions are useful for estimating how dominance fluctuates with changing conditions and can be used in a dynamically changing group. In contrast, matrix-based methods that aggregate social interactions may be best for identifying the social position of individuals and understanding how social characteristics influence the attributes of a stable hierarchy. Our third aim is to discuss the future of dominance research. We use a flowchart to illustrate guidelines for a more standardized approach to measuring dominance in cattle. We also identify areas in need of further conceptual clarification, suggest practical applications of dominance when managing dairy cattle, and discuss some limitations of dominance research.

The welfare of all animals under human management is an area of consistent public concern, but strategies to improve welfare may vary across species. In this study, expert consensus, using a modified Delphi approach, was used to prioritise welfare issues of farmed and companion animals in the UK.
The study involved 117 experts, divided between eight species groups. Experts were recruited from a broad range of disciplines. Two rounds of online surveys were conducted using the online survey tool, and the final round was an in-person workshop with a subsection of experts (n=21). The experts agreed that welfare issues should be ranked considering three categories: (1) severity, (2) duration and (3) perceived prevalence.
A comprehensive list of welfare issues was generated for each species by discussion boards (cats, rabbits and horses) or by literature review (dogs, pigs, poultry, cattle and small ruminants). In the first online survey, the experts scored each welfare issue using the three categories (severity, duration and prevalence) on a 6-point Likert scale, where 1=never/none and 6=always/high. Lists of welfare issues were reduced to 25 per cent-59 per cent of the total number, by determining mean ranks from expert ratings. In round 2, experts were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the rankings. In the final stage, during the workshop, the top-ranking welfare issues for animals were determined for individual animals (considering the greatest severity and duration, in the expert\'s opinion) and for perceived prevalence.
Overall, prioritised welfare issues included lack of knowledge of welfare needs, social behaviour issues, problem behaviours, inappropriate diet and environment, lack of veterinary care, consequences from breeding decisions, poor pain management, delayed euthanasia and chronic ill health. The Delphi process resulted in consensus on the most significant welfare challenges of animals in the UK and can help to guide future research and education priority decisions.

Saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) across three size categories (hatchlings, grower and harvest-size) were repeatedly blood sampled on two farms in the Northern Territory, Australia to determine reference plasma corticosterone (CORT; crocodilian stress hormone) levels. The mean CORT values for hatchlings (<1 year old), growers (1-3 years) and harvest-size individuals (2 + years) were 1.65 ± 0.15 ng/ml, 2.73 ± 0.21 ng/ml and 2.19 ± 0.16 ng/ml, respectively. No inter-farm differences within the hatchling or harvest-size crocodiles were detected, but growers on Farm 2 had significantly lower plasma CORT than those on Farm 1. However, the grower growth rate coefficients were the same across both farms so the repeated blood sampling design most likely contributed to the difference in CORT values rather than any management procedures. Plasma corticosterone levels significantly increased with time of day. Substantial variation in plasma CORT was observed at each sampling which is not unprecedented in the literature but requires further elucidation. Irrespective, as CORT values were generally low, our results suggest that the farming environment and husbandry practices, as implemented under the Australian industry Code of Practice, are effective as baseline animal welfare measures although they should be viewed as a foundation for further welfare research and not considered static.

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Transport is a critical factor in modern pork production and can seriously affect swine welfare. While previous research has explored thermal conditions during transport, the impact of extreme weather conditions on the trailer thermal environment under industry practices has not been well documented; and the critical factors impacting microclimate are not well understood. To assess the trailer microclimate during transport events, an instrumentation system was designed and installed at the central ceiling level, pig level and floor-level in each of six zones inside a commercial swine trailer. Transport environmental data from 34 monitoring trips (approximately 1-4 h in duration each) were collected from May, 2012, to February, 2013, with trailer management corresponding to the National Pork Board Transport Quality Assurance (TQA) guidelines in 31 of these trips. According to the TQA guidelines, for outdoor temperature ranging from 5 °C (40 °F) to 27 °C (80 °F), acceptable thermal conditions were observed based on the criteria that no more than 10% of the trip duration was above 35 °C (95 °F) or below 0 °C (32 °F). Recommended bedding, boarding and water application were sufficient in this range. Measurements support relaxing boarding guidelines for moderate outdoor conditions, as this did not result in less desirable conditions. Pigs experienced extended undesirable thermal conditions for outdoor temperatures above 27 °C (80 °F) or below 5 °C (40 °F), meriting a recommendation for further assessment of bedding, boarding and water application guidelines for extreme outdoor temperatures. An Emergency Livestock Weather Safety Index (LWSI) condition was observed inside the trailer when outdoor temperature exceeded 10 °C (50 °F); although the validity of LWSI to indicate heat stress for pigs during transport is not well established. Extreme pig surface temperatures in the rear and middle zones of the trailer were more frequently experienced than in the front zones, and the few observations of pigs dead or down upon arrival were noted in these zones. Observations indicate that arranging boarding placement may alter the ventilation patterns inside the trailer.

The publication of the \"Recommendations of husbandry and welfare of sheep and goats\" by the German Small Ruminant Veterinary Association provides guidelines that are also used for assessing animal welfare. The included statements concerning lameness are reviewed according to the available literature and commented on with the help of practical examples. Diagnostic tools, criteria, appropriate measures and target values are discussed to facilitate the application of the guidelines.