Newsletter - May 2010 22009January/February 09

Although Britain is considered to be a nation of animal lovers there aren’t many events where we can learn more about our pets and other animals.

Learning About Animals was set up to provide information and promote interest in the welfare and behaviour of animals. The aim is to bridge the gap between professionals/scientists working with animals and the public.

If you have any suggestions for future events or if you would like to be considered to be a speaker please contact me.

I am also a qualified equine behaviourist and run consultations in Surrey and the Home Counties.  For more details please visit the relevant section of the web site.

EVENTS LIST

Coming up...

• Small furry pets: understanding their needs and behaviour 22nd May 2010 (morning event with Suzanne Rogers). Taking bookings. Details £10 (adults), £5 (concs)

•  DOGS: A walk in the park - what your dog really wants from a walk (July 17th 2010 morning event with Winkie Spiers; Taking bookings. details)

• Science in a Nutshell series (various speakers):
  Science in a nutshell: Inside the animal’s mind (day event with Emma Lethbridge 7th August 2010 Details Taking bookings.)  
  Science in a nutshell: how animals learn
  Science in a nutshell: animal sentience
  Science in a nutshell: animal welfare
• HORSES: Equine behaviour - a day with Heather Simpson (Day event; details coming soon)

• DOGS: Understanding canine aggression with Kendal Shepherd
  9th October 2010 (Day event). £45 (details; Taking bookings.)

• DOGS: Predatory chase workshop with David Ryan 13th November 2010
  (Day event; £45, details; Taking bookings.)

• HORSES: exploring the latest findings in equine cognition (morning event autumn 2010; speakers to be confirmed soon)

The views expressed by the speakers are not necessarily those held by Learning About Animals

On the web

1. An interview with Marc Bekoff and Jonathan Balcombe - two scientists who have dedicated their careers to researching the emotional lives of animals. Bekoff talks about Avatar and the lessons about our relationships with non-human animals here.

2. Internet lecture: Robert Sapolsky - The uniqueness of humans
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/robert_sapolsky_the_uniqueness_of_humans.html

Smiling dog?

Just thought I'd share with you this example of totally inaccurate interpretation of dog behaviour. This video shows a short feature that appeared on Japanese TV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=991ugfaioiQ&feature=player_embedded

It shows a ‘smiling dog’- the owner is very proud to show that his dog only ‘smiles’ when he is near. It would be a lovely story if this was what was really going on - however, as I’m sure most of you will see, this dog is anxious and fearful rather than smiling. If you’re not sure then consider the nearly closed eyes, the ear position, tail position, lip retraction, lip licking and tremble towards the end all together telling us that this dog is sadly actually very nervous of her owner.

Isn’t it so sad that humans, in our desire to put human attributes onto animals, can sometimes totally misunderstand what animals are telling us? For so many people, animals are their most endearing when they are dressed up in clothes, walking on their hind feet, or behaving in a way that makes them look more human. And it is even more sad when these views towards animals aren’t good for the animals - as in this case, where a fearful dog is not recognised.

Cat behaviour mornings

In the past Learning About Animals has struggled to get enough interest to hold many cat-focused events but that seems to be changing. In February and April 2010 LAA held two events about cats with veterinary behaviourist Amber Batson. The first event explored the myths surrounding cats and their behaviour, the second focused on feline body language and communication. The events were well-attended and so I will try to organise more....cats are such a common pet in the UK but still sadly misunderstood. A review of the second event, written by cat expert Celia Haddon, is here.

Conference Review: The first Pan-African seminar on working equines

At the end of March I left the dismal weather in the UK for the sunny Gambia to present at the first Pan-African Conference on Working Equines. The conference, entitled 'Better Management, Improved Performance' was organised by the World Association for Transport Animal Welfare and Studies (TAWS) in association with The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust (GHDT). Speakers and experts with experience of working across Africa attended for the 2 day seminar and then a field trip to the GHDT head-quarters.

Thirty years ago, horses and donkeys were rare in The Gambia, with oxen providing the majority of the draught power, but there are now 25,000 horses and 40,000-50,000 donkeys in The Gambia working hard helping to plough fields, carry water and other loads on their backs or draw carts. [I nearly said ‘pull carts’ but one of the first lessons when you start learning about working horses is that they don’t ‘pull’ carts – they ‘push’ into their harnesses to move the cart. There are fun ways you can show this practically but they don’t work so well on paper...]

The dramatic and relatively rapid increase in the number of equines used in transportation and agriculture in a country with little experience of managing and caring for equines has resulted in welfare problems. Ill-health of the animals can be catastrophic for the farmers dependent on them as they can often only afford a single horse or donkey. The GHDT has been working in The Gambia since 2002, and in the eight years of providing basic veterinary support at the nearby markets, they have come across a range of diseases, some of which were previously unknown in The Gambia. The conference covered up-to-date research on these diseases and included some very gruesome slides! The need for education of owners to prevent some of these diseases and problems resulting from poor care was an ongoing theme and formed the focus of some of the presentations, including mine presenting in my role with WSPA, on the second day.

Putting theory into practice

The two-day seminar was followed by an optional extension to the GHDT base in the village of Sambel Kunda, 230 km and an 8 hour journey from the comfort of the conference hotel. Here delegates got a taste of how horses and donkeys are kept in rural areas. There were some practical demonstrations. Ann Varley led a lively session in which some bemused horses and donkeys were painted (it washed off afterwards!) to show their skeletons and then to demonstrate how harness design should enable maximum comfort to the animals and maximum efficiency. Anyone who thought that learning about cart design would involve donkeys doing the work was in for a surprise as Professor Ramsay Hovell harnessed people to the carts so that delegates could truly feel the difference between the effects that different designs had on the ease of drawing a cart.

Making a difference

As eloquently summarised by Heather Armstrong (GHDT) “Horse and donkey owners across Africa face significant challenges to keep their animals in good condition to work productively. Some of these challenges can be overcome with simple changes in their management and some challenges are more difficult to deal with. Equines are vital to the economy of the country and they and their owners deserve our support. It is essential that Gambians are taught about how to care and manage these animals.”

The conference brought together delegates whose work spans many countries in Africa and provided an opportunity to learn from each other and to consider how to best work in often challenging field conditions. The practical demonstrations were particularly memorable and I wouldn’t be surprised if a few more horses and donkeys across the world might shortly find themselves being painted!

For a longer version of this article, including more photos see the Equine Independent, it will be on there soon if it’s not already.

Learning about Lurchers

In November and December 2009 we acquired two lurchers from Celia Cross Greyhound and Lurcher rescue. Pebbles is a saluki cross greyhound now 12 months old and Woody is a labrador cross greyhound, about 11 months old.

Despite looking innocent in the photo they have their mischievous moments. Our current challenge is to be more exciting than the rabbits that seem to be covering the fields where we walk them. But at least rabbits eventually go down - chasing deer is much more worrying as they don’t go down (like rabbits) or up trees (like squirrels do). When there are no distractions they both have pretty much perfect recall, when there are rabbits around about no chance!

The good thing at the moment is that Pebbles hasn’t discovered that she should be able to jump fences. As a saluki cross jumping should be very natural for her and she boings with all four feet off the floor sometimes in the house, and through fields, but hasn’t yet thought to apply this skill to propel herself over fences and we’re in no hurry at all for her to have this realisation!

The best thing about Woody and Pebbles is that they are friendly. Our previous dog was fearful around strangers and would bite anyone who approached him (so we didn’t let people approach him). Woody and Pebbles, however, like coming to the pubs, especially when other dogs from the village are there.

As I write this they are doing what lurchers do best, being asleep but such peace is only short-lived, it won’t be long until our next walk among rabbits.

Newsletter contributors

If you would like to contribute to future editions of this Newsletter please do get in touch. Currently I write it all but it would be good to get other perspectives.

Animal blogs

1. The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors Blog covers articles about pet behaviour and comments on some news events. APBC blog

2. Patricia McConnell’s blog - ‘the other end of the leash’ is a brilliant blog about dogs, their behaviour, training and relationship with us. I especially like the one about hugging dogs (Feb 3rd 2010).

3. The Nature blog - The ramblings of an amateur naturalist (his words not mine!)

4. Animal Ethics philosophical discussion blog

5. Animal Science blog. Learn more about how the environment is affecting animals, birds and more as well as the biological studies of anything living and nonhuman.

6. Animal sentience blog run by CIWF

7. Jill’s blog. Animal Asia Foundation’s Jill Robinson blogs about their work.

8. Dog’s blog - dog rescue blog.

Pot Luck Books

Fundraiser: Send a cheque (payable to TAWS) for £2.50 to the address below and you’ll receive a used paper-back - you won’t know what title until you get it in the post!

TAWS (World Association for Traction Animal Welfare and Studies) runs projects and supports research into working horses, ponies, donkeys, mules, oxen and camels around the world.

Address: 6 Fern Cottages, Dorking Road, Abinger Hammer, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6SA.

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The Equine Independent

‘The Equine Independent’ (http://www.theequineindependent.com) is a new Internet magazine passionate about promoting equine welfare in training and management. It is an entirely independent publication covering current horse training methods, trends in horse training and management, ethical issues in training and husbandry, and scientific discoveries in the field.

The magazine will be of interest whatever your involvement with horses if you are interested in ways of keeping horses that meet all their innate behavioural needs and consider a working relationship that considers the welfare of the horse a paramount concern. ‘The Equine Independent’ will always endeavour to promote equine welfare and strive to bring knowledgeable and balanced material to its readership.

Examples of recent articles include:

• Horse health, management and training - why we need science (By Alison Averis)
• What does it meant to train a horse? (by Ben Hart)
• Positive reinforcement in Practice - including interviews with Ben Hart, Becky Holden, Alexandra Kurland and The Natural                             Animal Centre (by Catherine Bell)
• Can horses be naughty? (By Suzanne Rogers)

The magazine is an interactive site with articles being published regularly through the month, to get involved in the discussion simply register and log in. If you have a question about equine management, behaviour or training you can ask the writers by sending your question to – mail@theequineindependent.com.

You might well recognise some of the writers!

Rabbit welfare not in the news....

A ‘rabbit whisperer’ has been in the news recently (for example, see this link) and it was disappointing that none of the coverage mentioned that this method of handling is a real welfare issue for pet rabbits.

As a defence mechanism rabbits play dead when they feel very threatened, this is termed tonic immobility. In this state rabbits can go floppy – if caught by a predator this could work as a last ditch attempt to escape as the predator might relax its grip and provide a chance for the rabbit to make a bid for freedom. This can last for seconds to several hours. In the past inducing this state in rabbits has been used by vets to examine them (and it has even been suggested that they could be castrated during tonic immobility!) and some owners do this in the mistaken belief that it is enjoyable for the rabbit and call it ‘trancing’. Dr Anne McBride from Southampton University has worked extensively on this topic.

Researchers monitored the chemicals that are associated with stress in many rabbits and found that during this state they have the same physiological responses as after a stressful event. Behaviour has also been studied and it has been found that fearful behaviour was seen before and during researchers induced this state and afterwards rabbits were likely to hide more.  It can be seen that this is not a positive experience for rabbits.

It is also deemed an unacceptable handling technique in many veterinary text books. The ideal way to restrain rabbits would be for the rabbit to be used to regular handling and examination by humans; positive reinforcement can be used to prepare pets for such procedures.  

It is widely known in animal welfare circles that 'trancing' is not acceptable. The RSPCA' and UFAW joint publication 'Refining rabbit care: a resource for those working with rabbits in research' in section 1.7 explains the negative effects of 'trancing' rabbits and although it says that it migiht be acceptable to induce this state for potentially stressful veterinary procedures such as nail or tooth examinations (because it is less risky than anaesthesia) it should not be induced without good reason.

Many rabbit welfare and rescue organisations are well aware of this welfare issue and campaign to raise awareness in appropriate handling - and do not promote 'trancing' rabbits. It is such a shame that these messages are not widely enough known for them to be questioned by the press.