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| Unit name |
Animal Welfare and Disease |
| Unit code |
VETS33001 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
H/6
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
|
| Unit director |
Professor. Nicol |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None
|
| Co-requisites |
None
|
| School/department |
Bristol Veterinary School |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Health Sciences |
Description including Unit Aims
This unit develops and extends the principles of cell biology, physiology and immunology introduced in Level C and Level I units to show how these can be used for the scientific assessment of stress and suffering. It explores the complex inter-relationships between subjective experience of fear, anxiety, stress or pain and the functioning of the immune system and susceptibility to disease. It also explores the converse relationships between disease and well-being. Much of the teaching on this unit will be informed by recent research findings in the areas of psycho-immunology. The unit will provide a full and integrated understanding of the interactions between physical and mental well-being. In practical classes, students will address specific solutions to specific problems.
Aims:
- To engender an interest and understanding of emergent research in the interactions between mental and physical health in wild and domestic animals
- To encourage students to apply the knowledge gained so far to real life situations concerning animal use.
Intended Learning Outcomes
- Develop a detailed knowledge of the inter-relationships between pain, stress, immune function and disease susceptibility in animals.
- Critically evaluate the use of stress and immune variables as welfare ‘indicators’.
- Understand the likely impact of animal disease on welfare state.
- Demonstrate an understanding of how humans influence health and disease in wildlife populations.
- Be able to apply underlying principles and concepts and use a range of established techniques to assess animal welfare in new contexts, and to begin to propose solutions to welfare problems.
- Demonstrate and understanding of the basis and practice of law in relation to the keeping of animals in the UK.
Teaching Information
Lectures, practicals, seminars, visits, interactive sessions with guest lecturers
Assessment Information
Exam 80%, Coursework 20%.
Coursework assignment involves a welfare audit practical and the preparation of a document on novel measures that could be used in future welfare audits
Reading and References
- Farm Animal Welfare Council Reports
- European Union Scientific Committee Reports
- Animal Welfare (2nd Edition) 2011 Eds Appleby, M.C., Mench, J.A., Olsson, I.A.S. and Hughes, B.O. CABI International
- Smith J & Boyd K 1991 Lives in the Balance OUP Oxford
- Moberg, and Mench, J. (2000) The Biology of Stress, CABI
- Flecknell, P. and Waterman-Pearson, A.E. (Eds) Pain management in Animals.
- CJ Woolf & MS Chong (1993). Pre-emptive analgesia – treating post-operative pain by preventing the establishment of central sensitisation. Anesthesia and Analgesia 77, 362-379.
- Day, M. and Schultz, (2010). Veterinary immunology. Manson Publishing
- Textbook of Veterinary Physiology. Cunningham.
- Koolhaas, J. M. et al. 1999. Coping styles in animals: Current status in behavior and stress-physiology. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 23: 925-935.
- Blanchard, R. J., C. R. McKittrick, and D. C. Blanchard. 2001. Animal models of social stress: Effects on behavior and brain neurochemical systems. Physiology & Behavior 73: 261-271.
- Tamashiro, K. L. K., M. M. N. Nguyen, and R. R. Sakai. 2005. Social stress: From rodents to primates. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 26: 27-40.
- Johnson, R. W. (2002) The concept of sickness behavior: a brief chronological account of four key discoveries. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology 87 (3-4): 443-450
- Goymann, W. & Wingfield, J. C. (2004) Allostatic load, social status and stress hormones: the costs of social status matter. Animal Behaviour 67 591-602
- Simmonds, M. P and Brakes, P. (2011) Whales and Dolphins: cognition, culture, conservation and human perceptions, Earthscan.
