From: IN%"desmet.g@pg.com" 17-MAR-1996 08:52:55.87 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: intro new member Hello applied-ethology net members, As a new member Joe asked me if I could briefly introduce myself to the net. Well here I go: I am a Dutch ethologist / wildlife ecologist. I did my Biology studies in the Netherlands where I did my main research at the institute of Ethology and Social-ecology of Prof. dr. J.A.R.A.M. van Hooff. My thesis was about the social organisation and its regulation mechanisms within a herd of Icelandic horses. Soon after I was connected as supervisor or consultant of the management of large herbivores in several nature reserves. In 1988 I started to get involved with the reintroduction program of the Przewalski horse (or Takhi as I prefer) back to Mongolia. I first setup the (ethological)-research and monitoring program for the reintroduction and I supervised students working on this species. Later I trained the Russian scientists involved. In the mean time I was a Ph.D. student working at the Mathematical Modeling of Peat Growth (a bit of a sideline, but learning to model is interesting). When the Russians dropped out I was asked to do the monitoring, research and teaching of the Mongolians myself. At that time I also got involved in the setup of the whole nature reserve around the reintroduction. In 1992 I went with the first 16 Takhi by plane to Mongolia, where I stayed for more than 2 month. In 1993 I returned for 8+ month with two colleagues on a grant of the Dutch government. I was now responsible for the setup of the monitoring and research of all the wildlife in the reserve as well as the Takhi research. Education of the scientists, rangers, wardens and community participation of surrounding nomads was also part of the job. The vegetation work (the main responsibility of my colleague) and wildlife work was very much integrated at every level for all of us. In the mean time my husband and I moved to Sweden (1991), and to Italy (1994). After returning from Mongolia I analysed the data, and wrote several articles about them. (One will soon appear in Applied Animal Behaviour.) I was guest lecturer at the University of Uppsala and work to finish my Ph.D.. Currently I am looking for a new project, consultancy or other way to make my experiences beneficial to any (conservation) organisation or ethological research. This way it will also allow me to stay in close contact with colleagues, exchange views, mutual inspire the research and do what I can to keep this world liveable for everything and everybody. So, if anybody wants to know more, please contact me. Unfortunately we are at the X.400 network. But you can send (only) plain text files without any problem to: X.400:/S=DESMET/G=GEERT/I=G/P=PROCTERGAMBLE/A=MCI/C=US Otherwise send me a fax with your e-mail and I will mail first, you can use reply, that always works. mail address: Viale dei Noccioli 81 00040 Ariccia Italy tel: + 39 6 933 01 24 fax: + 39 6 500 90 994 drs. Machteld van Dierendonck - Desmet. From: IN%"jon.cooper@zoology.oxford.ac.uk" 17-MAR-1996 12:53:45.44 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Horse sense (Science) Hiya At the Cheltenham Festival last week,(which is the top National Hunt meeting in Britain (which is horse racing over fences)) ten horses were put down as a result of injuries sustained following falls. In a news item reporting this statistic (its a pretty high fatality rate, even for a jump meeting), a prominant trainer claimed that the reason for this was a) the increase in usage of mobile phones (presumably by race-goers) and b) the large number of stewards wearing flouresent coats (particurly a day-glo orange. which was similar to the colour of carrots). Whilst she may have been quoted out of context, and the real reason why so many horses were destroyed (forgive the euphamism) could be that they were being encouraged to try a wee bit harder than normal at a premier race event , does anyone know of any sound (as in scientifically investigated) reasons why either mobile phones or carrot coloured tops could distract (or scare) horses? Specifically why should mobile phone radio frequencies have a greater effect than any other frequencies and why should day-glo orange be any worse than any other colour? Best wishes Jonathan Cooper From: IN%"serpell@pobox.upenn.edu" 17-MAR-1996 15:16:22.76 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: horse sense (Science) In response to recent horse mortality at Cheltenham, I can only say that I would be more than a little astonished to learn that horses can 'hear' radio frequencies. Surely, the trainer was referring to the shrill audible tones produced by mobile phones when their carriers receive calls. So-called 'day-glo' materials contain tiny reflective particles or beads to increase their visual conspicousness. Orange and yellow are the usual colours because of the 'brightness contrast' effects of these colours against relatively dark or neutral backgrounds. It seems reasonable to postulate that horses, like people, find such materials eye-catching and distracting for these reasons, irrespective of any (dubious) learned association with conical, root vegetables. James Serpell From: IN%"MATTHEWSL@ruakura.cri.nz" 17-MAR-1996 17:40:05.97 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: stress-free blood sampling There has been considerable discussion recently about stress associated with blood sampling and readers may be interested in our solution to this problem. We and others have noted that even when animals have been habituated to handling that blood sampling via catheters is NOT without effects on various endocrine parameters (e.g. cortisol). In order to eliminate handling effects we spent several years refining a system for remote blood sampling. A device is fitted to the animal and the samples are collected while the animal is at pasture, on a vehicle or wherever. We find that the basal levels of cortisol are around 5ng/ml (in deer and cattle) and that we can detect quite subtle effects of handling on the animals (e.g. approach of a human) as well as more dramatic events on endocrine parameters. Lindsay Matthews ******************************************** Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research Centre AgResearch Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre Private Bag 3123 HAMILTON Phone: +64 7 838 5569 Fax: +64 7 838 5727 email: matthewsl@agresearch.cri.nz ******************************************** From: IN%"Martin.Smith@hint.no" "Martin Smith" 18-MAR-1996 03:33:34.70 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Predator-Livestock conflicts - an expanded search I have two additional requests for information from an associate in this project, Dr. John Linnell, that members of these mailing lists may help us with. Please respond direct to John at the address below or through me at the e-mail address (noted above). Thank you for consideration of our= requests. 1. Effects of disruption on carnivore social structure: the consequences of removing individual carnivores from a population. Selective removal of carnivores that are blamed for causing damage to domestic livestock is a standard technique in wildlife management. However it is not widely understood among managers that removing an individual from a socially structured population has more than the effect of reducing the population by one. The =ABhole=BB is likely to be filled by either nomadic adults, subadults, or neighbours expanding their territories. In some species such as lions and bears this can result in the death of young cubs if a new male moves into the hole. =20 What I am looking for is a list of references that describe what happens to the social structure of the population when an individual carnivore is removed from a population (natural mortality, control action, hunting mortality, accident, translocation, etc. ). Changes in behaviour, social structure, and survival are of interest. Data on all species of carnivore are of interest 2. Effects of different herding techniques on carnivore predation of domestic livestock. As part of a review of methods to reduce carnivore predation on livestock I would be interested in hearing of any references or reports that describe how different herding methods (sheperds, fencing, etc.) can help to reduce predation on livestock. Thanks for your time. John Linnell Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Hedmark College Dept. of Forestry and Wilderness Management 2480 Koppang NORWAY Phone 47 62 46 3000 FAX 47 62 46 3230 From: IN%"BJORN.FORKMAN@bbsrc.ac.uk" "Bjorn Forkman" 18-MAR-1996 08:17:07.69 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Modelling programs Dear All, I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has used Model-Maker for PC's. (Model-Maker is a program for constructing models of various phenomena, e.g. behaviour. It is supposedly very easy to use even for mathematical analphabets as myself.) If anyone has seen an article where this or another program has been used for modelling behaviour I would be very grateful for the reference. All the best Bjorn bjorn.forkman@bbsrc.ac.uk From: IN%"bjarne.braastad@nlh10.nlh.no" "Bjarne O. Braastad" 18-MAR-1996 08:17:45.23 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: sorry - more sex info. Fred Toates asked about experience with animals becoming sexually inspired by observing other animals copulating. The following reference may be relevant to this question: A study a number of years ago demonstrated that play-backing acoustic communication of copulating mink 20-25 min. per day during the last 20-25 days prior to start of the mating season led to a higher average litter size than in controls (0.34 kits more per litter). However, pregnancy rate was not affected. Reference: Tyutyunik, N.N., V.A. Berestov & G.G. Lavrinenko, 1983. The effect of vocalization during the breeding season on reproductive ability of standard mink. Scientifur 7 (4): 50. This is a CAB abstract of an article published in a Russian journal (Biol. I. Patol.Push.,Zverei.Tez.Dokl. K 3-1, Vses.Nauk.Konf. 164-165, 1981). I don't have the original. Best regards, Bjarne O. Braastad > > > > Bjarne O. Braastad Dept. of Animal Science, Agricultural University of Norway, P.O. Box 5025, N-1432 Aas, Norway e-mail: bjarne.braastad@ihf.nlh.no fax: +47 64 94 79 60 phone: +47 64 94 79 80 From: IN%"MAPPLEBY@srv0.bio.ed.ac.uk" "Mike Appleby" 18-MAR-1996 08:41:24.87 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: I am migrating west for the summer Dear All From 20th March until 18th September I shall be working with David Fraser's group in Ottawa, with the email number applebym@ncccot.agr.ca and the address below. Best wishes, Mike Appleby c/o Dr D.G. Fraser Centre for Food and Animal Research Agriculture Canada Building 94, Central Experimental Farm Ottawa K1A 0C6, Canada Telephone 001 613 993 6002 Fax 001 613 995 3845 From: IN%"rushenj@EM.AGR.CA" "Jeff Rushen" 18-MAR-1996 11:46:03.53 To: IN%"applied-ethology-error@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: I am migrating west for the summer -SUMMER??!! >>>>Dear All From 20th March until 18th September I shall be working with David Fraser's group in Ottawa, <<<<< Summer? I hope they told you that summer starts about 3 months later than March and ends about 2 months earlier than September Jeff From: IN%"katz@AESOP.RUTGERS.EDU" "Dr. Larry S. Katz" 18-MAR-1996 11:50:24.70 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "applied ethology" CC: Subj: observing sexual behavior Dear Fred Toates et al. Re. Your query about the effects of observing sexual behavior. We have been interested in this for some time. Here is an abreviated bibliography on this topic: Bulls: Mader and Price, 1984, J. Anim Sci 59:294-300 Boars: Hemsworth and Galloway, 1979, Anim Reprod Sci 2:387-394 Goats: Price, Smith and Katz, 1984, Appl Anim. Behav. Sci 13:83-92 Stallions: Pickett, Voss and Squires, 1977, Theriogenology 8:329-347 Sheep: Price, Wallach and Dally, 1991, Appl Anim. Behav. Sci 30:333-340 We have a manuscript in review currently on this topic. Unlike cattle, goats and pigs, ram sexual performance is not improved by the ability to view other males engaged in sexual activities. However, our current work shows that ram sexual performance is improved by the ability to physically interact (and presumably to sniff) with a male that has just mated. We're currently assessing the cues to which the male is responding. Larry Katz Dept Animal Science Cook College-Rutgers, The State University From: IN%"101675.152@compuserve.com" "MONKEY SANCTUARY" 18-MAR-1996 22:00:35.01 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Applied Ethology and Ani" CC: Subj: The Monkey Sanctuary-UK Hello all We like to introduce ourselves as new members of ' Applied Ethology' We are 'The Monkey Sanctuary Trust' , based in Looe, Cornwall (U.K.), and we just started to be on- line this week. From: IN%"101675.152@compuserve.com" "MONKEY SANCTUARY" 18-MAR-1996 22:02:07.57 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Applied Ethology and Ani" CC: Subj: The Monkey Sanctuary-UK 1994 sees the founding of a new charity 'The Monkey Sanctuary Trust' The Monkey Sanctuary trust has been established in Cornwall, England, in conjunction with the Monkey Sanctuary which has existed since 1964. The aims of the Trust are to promote the welfare, conservation and future survival of Woolly Monkeys both in captivity and in their natural habitat encompassing environmental education and conservation issues. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the charity is its potential for finding and organising the rehabilitation of captive and confiscated wild-born monkeys into protected parks and reserves in their natural forest environment. With thirty years experience of Woolly Monkey care the sanctuary is in a position to provide staff training both on site in South America and in Cornwall. In addition, the sanctuary's Worldwide reputation means that it is in a position to attract publicity and financial aid that would be very benificial to a project in South America. The Monkey Sanctuary was established in the 1960's as a sanctuary for Woolly Monkeys rescued from lives of isolation in zoos or as pets. The principal aim was to create a stimulating environment for the monkeys, allowing them to live as a natural social group. It quickly gained Worldwide recognition as the first breeding colony of Woolly Monkeys outside their natural home, the Amazon rainforest. The monkeys living at the sanctuary today are the descedents of the original colony members and they share an extensive territory comprising heated indoor rooms, huts and grassed outdoor enclosures. During the Summer the monkeys are able to forage for insects and climb freely in the sanctuary gardens. Woolly Monkeys are innately social animals who need the freedom to develop in a natural colony life. Over the years the Cornish-born monkeys have regained their social instincts, rediscovered the complex language and hierarchial structure of a social group. This, coupled with their tree-climbing and foraging abilities, make them ideal candidates for rehabilitation. In 1991, with the help of IBAMA the Brazilian environmental agency, the sanctuary was able to rehabilitate two of its sub-adult males to a wildlife reserve in Brazil. The reserve was providing a sanctuary for animals confiscated from the illegal pet trade. Many of the orphaned Woolly Monkeys were psychologically scarred by their experiences and Cornish monkeys were able to provide the stable physical and emotional support that they so desperately needed. The aims behind sending two monkeys from the Monkey Sanctuary in England to the Brazilian reserve were : to help rehabilitate wild-born monkeys by providing 'tutors' with highly developed social skills; to give captive-born monkeys a chance to live in their natural forest environment; and to demonstrate to the state authorities that it is worthwhile enforcing the monkey trade laws if the confiscated monkeys can be provided with a viable future. The reserve itself was also planned as an education centre for the local population and interested students, a The success of the introduction of the two captive-born males to the free-ranging group was remarkable both in its own right and in comparison with other primate projects; they adapted well to their new environment and their effect on the other monkeys was very beneficial. There were problems, however, the main one being a political difference between the director of the reserve and those supporting it. The sanctuary staff came to believe that the original aims of the project were no longer being adhered to, communication became increasingly difficult and eventually ceased altogether. The rehabilitation project in Brazil was the first of its kind and has impressed many in the conservation world both in its concepts and in its success. We have learnt that given a more stable setting, both captive-born and wild-born monkeys can benifit from such a project, and the Monkey Sanctuary Trust intends to build on this experience by giving the Woolly Monkeys remaining at the sanctuary the chance of a new life in a more natural forest habitat. If you would like more information about the Monkey Sanctuary Trust and our rehabilitation or educational interests we would be very pleased to communicate further, We are particularly keen to hear about existing or planned rehabilitation projects or of areas of protected habitat, which might be suitable for such projects. The beautiful Woolly Monkey deserves a chance for the future and we are sure that the best place to be working is in their natural home: the Amazon rainforest. From: IN%"signoret@tours.inra.fr" 19-MAR-1996 04:02:38.52 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: reaction of cattle and sheep to predators A vet student would be interested in references concerning the reaction of the social group of sheep and cattle to predators, and to dogs. Thanking you in advance references to be sent to J.P. SIGNORET inra 37380 NOUZILLY e-mail : signoret@tours.inra.fr J.P. Signoret From: IN%"R0036870@haac.ac.uk" "Tracy" 19-MAR-1996 05:04:51.66 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: (Fwd) Forwarded message: From: Self To: APP[LIED-ETHOLOGY@SASK.USASK.CA Subject: Reply-to: r0036870@haac.ac.uk Date: Wed, 28 Feb 1996 18:33:41 Hello Members I am a new member to the group, and I thought I would introduce myself. I am studying at Harper Adams Agricultural College in Shropshire, England. I am studying for a degree in Agriculture with Animal Science. For part of my degree, I have to undertake a study or experiment which will take around a year to complete. For this project, I have decided to study the effects on behaviour of pheromones in pigs. Therefore I would be very grateful if anybody who has undertaken any research in this area, would send me any information. My E-mail address is R0036870@haac.ac.uk Thankyou for reading this and for any further contact Tracy Peach From: IN%"peter.penning@bbsrc.ac.uk" "PENNING" 19-MAR-1996 05:55:40.44 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "applied ethology" CC: Subj: Reaction to predators Baldock (1985) Measured the effects of approaches to groups of sheep by sheep dogs, shepherd plus dog and shepherd alone. He also investigated the effects of driving sheep with dogs and various other 'husbandry' practices. He measured changes in heart rate of the sheep in response to these activities. During driving with dogs heart rate increased from about 80bpm to > 250. When sheep were approached by man and/or dog increase in heart rate was greater when a dog was present. As far as I know these results have not been published but are contained in Baldock's Ph.D. Thesis. (Baldock N.M. 1985. Heart rate and behaviour recorded in sheep during undisturbed conditions and various husbandry practices. Ph. D. Thesis University of Reading. pp 141.) Peter.Penning@bbsrc.ac.uk IGER, North Wyke. From: IN%"uknierim@Itt.tiho-hannover.de" 19-MAR-1996 10:15:33.22 To: IN%"signoret@tours.inra.fr" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: reaction of cattle and sheep to predators > A vet student would be interested in references concerning the reaction of > the social group of sheep and cattle to predators, and to dogs. In MacArthur, R.A., R.H. Johnston & V. Geist (1979): Factors influencing heart rate in free-ranging bighorn sheep: a physiological approach to the study of wildlife harassment. Can. J. Zool., 57, 2010-2021 the authors report from maximal cardiac and withdrawal responses of ewes in a sanctuary to coyotes and free-ranging dogs but interestingly lower reactions to leashed dogs accompanying humans. From: IN%"rushenj@EM.AGR.CA" "Jeff Rushen" 19-MAR-1996 13:59:21.37 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE:Reaction to predators Baldock (1985) Measured the effects of approaches to groups of sheep by sheep dogs, (snip) As far as I know these results have not been published but are contained in Baldock's Ph.D. Thesis.<<<< Some of Baldock's results (including the dog study) are in Applied Animal Behaviour Science 1990, vol 28:15-39. Jeff Rushen From: IN%"bob@hutch.com.au" 20-MAR-1996 05:36:02.80 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Does anybody out there know how many ... A/ domestic dogs there are in the world B/ Domesticated cats in the world C/ Domesticated Horses in the world failing this, how many dogs, cats, and horses doemstic or not! Failing this does anybody know where I can find out I think you can tell I kind of need to know this stuff!!!! Please reply to - bob@hutch.com.au (attn Sonia Harding) Many thanks - Bye "Ultrascience II" Beyond Productions Pty Ltd Unit 14 175 Gibbes Street Chatswood NSW 2067 Australia ACN 003 433 216 ph: +61-2-417-3300 fx: +61-2-417-0413 fx: +61-2-417-1920 From: IN%"rushenj@EM.AGR.CA" "Jeff Rushen" 20-MAR-1996 07:40:20.14 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca", IN%"applied-ethology-error@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: a billion times over >>>Does anybody out there know how many ... A/ domestic dogs there are in the world B/ Domesticated cats in the world C/ Domesticated Horses in the world>>> We have had this one before. Billions!!!! (Although it is not clear what a billion is) From: IN%"arowan@OPAL.TUFTS.EDU" 20-MAR-1996 10:18:19.91 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Dogs, Cats and Horses For what it is worth, here are some of the numbers for dogs, cats and horses from different countries (in millions). Dogs Cats Horses USA 52 55 8 Canada 4 4 Japan 16 7 Denmark 1 0.5 Norway 0.2 0.3 Sweden 1 1 Finland 0.5 0.5 Belgium 1.5 2 NLands 1.5 2 Germany 3.5 4 Austria 0.6 1 Switzerland 0.5 1 France 7 5 UK 7 6 Ireland 0.7 0.5 Portugal 1.5 0.8 Spain 3 1.5 Italy 6 7 Greece 0.5 0.6 Australia 3 3 South Africa 3.5 1 In general, somewhere between 15 and 40% of households own dogs and between 10 and 30% of households own cats. Stray dogs are not a major issue in developed countries but stray and feral cats may run as high as 80% of the owned cat population. If there are 6 billion people in the world and about 1.5 billion households (assuming an average of 4 persons per household - lower in developed countries), then somwehere around 0.5 billion households may own an average of about 1-2 to 1.3 dogs each. Cat ownership will be lower but owning households tend to have more cats per household and then there are the stray and feral cats. Horse ownership is low in developed countries (about 2% of households or less but owning households may average about about 4 horses apiece). I have no idea what the level of horse ownership is in developing and non-industrial countries but assume that horses are still likely to be luxury items. Andrew N Rowan Director Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy School of Veterinary Medicine 200 Westboro Rd N. Grafton, MA 01536 Phone: (508) 839 7991; Fax: (508) 839 2953 Email: arowan@opal.tufts.edu Andrew N Rowan Director Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy School of Veterinary Medicine 200 Westboro Rd N. Grafton, MA 01536 Phone: (508) 839 7991; Fax: (508) 839 2953 Email: arowan@opal.tufts.edu From: IN%"t-friend@tamu.edu" 20-MAR-1996 12:35:19.80 To: IN%"rushenj@EM.AGR.CA" "Jeff Rushen" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: ISAE journal survey- description Jeff, I have a question. In the ISAE journal survey description and the survey, you asked about subscription rates and gave us an excellent comparison with other journals. One thing that seemed to be missing, however, was a discussion of page charges. For example, although ASAS has a subscription fee of $100.00 US ($125.00 US for Europeans), ASAS charges $85.00 per printed page for publishing manuscirpts, if you are a member of ASAS. If no authors are members of ASAS, they charge $170.00 US per page. The high page charges for JAS is a major concern for many U.S. researchers. When we publish an 8 page article in JAS it costs us $680.00 US, not including charges for extra reprints. This can have a tremendous impact on someone just starting out with very little research money. We also try to make JAS manuscripts as short as possible, which fosters minimal discussion and makes them relatively hard to understand. If I remember correctly, you once told me there would have to be page charges with an ISAE journal, but I do not recall the amount of the estimated page charges. Do you still anticipate a need for page charges for an ISAE journal? A journal not only needs subscriptions, but it also needs articles to publish. Before we publish something in JAS, we look very carefully at our other options (page and/or reprint charges of other journals) and the amount of funding I have for a project. Applied Animal Behaviour Science's policy of no page charges plus some complimentary reprints, in my mind (and bank account), more than compensates for the relatively high subscription rates Elsevier charges. One can always go to a library or request reprints from authors if you cannot afford a journal, but a journal must have a reasonable supply of high quality articles to exist. I have mixed feelings about establishing our own journal, partly because of the costs, but also because Elsevier has done a commendable job of accommodating the ISAE. Everything you included in question No. 10, (reproduced below) for example, is already included in Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. except for the newsletter. I know of no organizations that include a newsletter with their journal because of the time lag involved in shipping journals, possible adverse effects on postal rates, etc. 10. What would you like to see included in the journal? (indicate as many as necessary) -primary research articles_______________ -critical review articles_________________ -published peer commentary on articles_________________ -ISAE newsletter_________________ -ISAE conference proceedings___________________ -information about other conferences_________________ -book reviews________________ -other (please explain:__________________________) Also, ISAE has a tremendous amount of influence on the quality of publications and the review process. The Editors-in-Chief and most members of the Editorial Advisory Board are members of ISAE. Representatives from Elsevier make a major effort each year to meet with every member of the Editorial Advisory Board to get our thoughts on the direction of the journal, quality of articles, should the Editors-in-Chief be retained, etc. The "quality" of the articles depends largely on the two reviewers (usually ISAE members) who happen to receive a manuscript to review, anyway. I have been on the review boards of a number of journals and found Ken Plaxton (Elsevier) to be refreshingly responsive to issues. I would be nice if elected representatives of a society "set" journal policy, but that is not often the case when a society has its own publication. At JAS, we almost always end up turning to the business manager/technical editor/publisher for the final approval because business decisions, computer software, etc., are the most controlling factors. For example, we have often asked JAS to start including inclusive page numbers in the "literature cited" (as App. Anim. Behav. Sci. does) but costs and other factors usually give the technical editor ultimate control. One last thing that some ISAE members may be interested in is that the Sci. Journal Citation Reports for 1994 ranked Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci 9th out of 42 agricultural journals in regards to impact factor. Although AABS is not an "agricultural" journal, it still scores higher than such excellent agricultural journals as Anim. Feed. Sci. Tech., Can. J. Anim. Sci., J. Agr. Research, etc. Unfortunately Citation Reports does not rank AABS under other categories. From: IN%"rushenj@EM.AGR.CA" "Jeff Rushen" 20-MAR-1996 16:10:13.12 To: IN%"t-friend@tamu.edu" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: the "Friend"ly ISAE journal survey Ted Friend writes: (Friend) I have a question. In the ISAE journal survey description and the survey, you asked about subscription rates and gave us an excellent comparison with other journals. One thing that seemed to be missing, however, was a discussion of page charges. (Rushen): Page charges are certainly a problem with US journals, who use this as a mechanism to keep subscription prices low. Where the journal is published by a scientific society, it is also a way for research institutes to subsidize the scientific society. I believe they are almost unknown in Europe, and make it difficult for European researchers to publish since their institutes and grants often don't allow for this. Friend: If I remember correctly, you once told me there would have to be page charges with an ISAE journal, but I do not recall the amount of the estimated page charges. Do you still anticipate a need for page charges for an ISAE journal? Rushen: Our current plans involve NO PAGE CHARGES (read my lips) and this is what the cited cost of 40 pounds was based on. Friend: Applied Animal Behaviour Science's policy of no page charges plus some complimentary reprints, in my mind (and bank account), more than compensates for the relatively high subscription rates Elsevier charges. Rushen: Our journal would not have page charges either and the subscription price would be about one third (33%) of that of AABS Friend: I have mixed feelings about establishing our own journal, partly because of the costs, but also because Elsevier has done a commendable job of accommodating the ISAE. Rushen (having the final word): AABS has certainly improved in editorial action and publication time etc. since the "bad old days" (although I am still waiting to receive my January issue). A cynic might suggest that this improvement was because Elsevier knew that the ISAE was considering having its own journal. However, there are a number of points to consider. First, the cost. AABS costs about 500 pounds for libraries and 120 pounds for ISAE members (and it is uncertain how long the special arrangement will last). We would charge 150 pounds for libraries and 40 pounds for ISAE members.The journal would be smaller, but of higher quality. In terms of affordability, there is no contest. Second, although Elsevier has made some effort to accommodate us, we have no real influence over editorial matters, and basically play an advisory role. They could change the editors, or to decide not to listen to us, and there would be nothing we could do. Since scienitifc journals are written by scientists, and for scientists, I don't see why scientists shouldn't control them. Third , I don't believe that AABS has succeeded in capturing the centre ground, and becoming an integrative journal, linking applied ethology in farm, zoo, lab, and companion animals. By publishing the best articles in each area, and articles of general interest, our journal would be able to do this. Fourth, (and here I tread on toes), it is my impression that many of the better scientists in our field don't consider AABS a particularly high quality journal despite its limited success in the Citation counts. I will be honest (and risk being thrown off the editorial board) and say that this is my opinion. Many people I know take the approach that if they have a very interesting paper they send it somewhere else (e.g. Animal Behaviour) rather than AABS. If it is OK, then it goes to AABS. Very many good papers are published in AABS, but very many are published elsewhere, and very many not-very-good ones are published in AABS. Why? I wish I knew, then I could tell Elsevier. I suspect the very high subscription price requires a fairly large journal, so that too many papers have to be accepted. Doubtless Mike Appleby will have something to say on this, when he steps off the plane. I am convinced that a journal published by the ISAE would rapidly become the best in its field. Jeffrey Rushen, Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PO Box 90, 2000 Route 108E, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada J1M 1Z3 Ph. 1-819-5659171 Fax: 1-819-5645507 Email: rushenj@em.agr.ca http://res.agr.ca/PUB/CDRN/portfoli/private/jeff/jeff.html From: IN%"LPINHEIRO@APS.UoGuelph.CA" 20-MAR-1996 16:55:47.62 To: IN%"arowan@OPAL.TUFTS.EDU", IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: Dogs, Cats and Horses Dear all: I don't have numbers for dogs and cats. But the horse world population is 60.376 millions head. This figure and figures from any country about the population of farm animals can be found in FAO Yearbook, vol. 47, 1993. > stray and feral cats. Horse ownership is low in developed countries > (about 2% of households or less but owning households may average about > about 4 horses apiece). I have no idea what the level of horse ownership > is in developing and non-industrial countries but assume that horses are > still likely to be luxury items. In my "non-developed" country Brasil, there are 6.3 millions horses, while in USA there are 5.48. The human population in Brasil is 156.6 millions, and in USA 257.5 millions. Our soccer rival neighbour Argentina has 3.3 millions horses and 33.5 millions people. All together South America has 14.86 millions horses, and North and Central America 14.3, but 6.18 millions of them are in Mexico ("non- developed"). In Brasil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguai, and I think most of South American countries, the horse is widely used for work (handling and managing cattle and sheep), especially in farms. Many farmers and rural workers refuse to sell "for sausage" their old horses. They keep the animals in pasture and let they enjoy the "retirement". The horse plays a very important role in the culture of rural populations in South America. I hope people in this list realize that the separation of the world between "developed" and "developing", or "non-developed", or "first" and "third" (where is the second, by the way?) worlds may be offensive for some people. It is for me. I am very proud of my nationality, and I don't feel like I or anyone from my country is either worst, "third", or better, or "first" than anyone else. I don't want to be unpolite with anybody, and I realize that most of the people that use those denominations are not aware that they are being offensive. But if even the "batery cage" chickens deserve political correctness, why we - from the south - would deserve to be called "third"? PS: Population of horses, mules and asses: (in millions) horses mules asses World 60.4 15.1 43.9 N C America 14.3 3.7 3.7 USA 5.5 0.028 0.056 Mexico 6.2 3.2 3.2 S America 14.86 3.4 4.08 Brasil 6.3 2.08 1.36 Argentina 3.3 0.17 0.09 Asia 16.1 6.2 21.5 China 10.0 5.6 11.0 Israel 0.004 0.002 0.005 Japan 0.027 n/a n/a Europe 4.2 0.27 0.86 Germany 0.5 n/a n/a Poland 0.8 n/a n/a Russia 2.6 0.001 0.02 Oceania 0.43 n/a 0.009 Australia 0.27 n/a 0.002 New Zealand 0.08 n/a n/a --------------------------------------------- Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho Univ. Federal de Santa Catarina University of Guelph CCA - Dep. de Zootecnia Dep. of Animal & Poultry Sci. Florianopolis, SC - BRASIL 88040-900 Guelph, ONT - CANADA N1G 2W1 FAX:(55-48) 234-2014 FAX:(519) 836-9873 Bolsista CNPq - Brasil Sponsored by CNPq - Brazil From: IN%"Per.Jensen@hhyg.slu.se" 21-MAR-1996 06:45:29.77 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Jeff R stressed? (not science) Dear all, I took some minutes lately to have a look att different web sites, among them the one of Jeff Rushen. Interesting reading. A very nice and informative home page. Among others, the reader will learn that almost all Jeff's research interest and projects deal with aspects of stress ('stress physiology', 'stress and maternal behaviour', etc.). Quite a few of Jeff's later publications also deal with stress, at least that's what the titles tell us. I'm happy about this! Welcome in the gang Jeff! (Or perhaps the website is erroneous, maybe you were stressed when you made it?) Regards, Per ******************************************************************* Per Jensen, Professor of Ethology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Dept of Animal Hygiene, Section of Ethology POB 345 S-532 24 Skara, Sweden Phone: +46 (0)511 67219 Fax: +46 (0)511 67204 ******************************************************************* From: IN%"William_R_STRICKLIN@umail.umd.edu" 21-MAR-1996 11:36:48.25 To: IN%"applied-ethology-error@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: sorry - more sex info. In courses on "Reproductive Physiology and Artifical Insemination", it is routinely taught that when bulls in artifical insemination (AI) studs are collected, not only sexual behavior but semen quality (including spermatoza numbers) increases when the bulls are allowed to watch others being collected. I thought that this work was done by Hale and Almquist at Penn State in the 1950's but I have been unable to find a reference. Hafez (The Cornell Veterinarian, Vol L:No. 4, 1960; pages 384-411; Analysis of ejaculatory reflexes and sex drive in the bull) lists "jealousy stimulus - the males watch copulation performed by another male" as a precoital stimulation method of increasing sexual behavior. Hafez's 3rd edition of Domestic Animal Behavior in the chapter on Cattle also gives a fairly good review of factors influencing sexual behavior - of course up to only about 1975. I still believe that it was Hale and Almquist (and maybe Amman) who are generally credited in AI circles as being most responsible for working out the semen collection techniques for bulls in studs, with of course E.B. Hale being the behaviorist (and Almquist and Amman the physiologists) - but I can't find the reference. In talks to producers I freqently list this as an example where behavior has application to production animal agriculture. It may be that these authors never published the info - or that I have been continuing to give out information that is not correct regarding who should get credit! Ray Stricklin Department of Animal Sciences University of Maryland >Dear all, >My last request for information was most successful. Several people sent me the >Baker information and two sent extra sources. Thanks again to everyone for their >time and attention. As the initial trigger to this issue, I found the subsequent >debate about morals etc very interesting indeed. > >I now have another request and sorry but it again concerns sex. Does anyone know >of any information for any species indicating that being in the presence of an >animal that is already copulating tends to arouse sexual behaviour in an >otherwise sexually inactive animal - Something like a Galef or imitation effect. >Since I live in a rat world maybe I am cut off and this is all common knowledge >to people working with domestic species. > >I tried two sexperts, Tim Halliday, who merely said it rings a bell somewhere >and never managed to do better than that. To Michael Domjan it didn't even >appear to ring a bell. > >So does it ring any bells out there? > >Any help would be much appreciated. > >Thanks, >Fred > From: IN%"TAYLORA@EM.AGR.CA" "Allison Taylor" 21-MAR-1996 15:04:35.44 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Tschanz Refs? All, Could anyone point me towards any (English?) works of B. Tschanz on indicators of animal welfare? Many thanks, once again, to the collective wisdom, Allison Taylor Centre for Food & Animal Research Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada Central Experimental Farm Ottawa ON K1A 0C6 taylora@em.agr.ca From: IN%"rushenj@EM.AGR.CA" "Jeff Rushen" 21-MAR-1996 16:41:37.95 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: ISAE Journal survey As many of you will have realized, the ISAE journal survey has been sent out to those of you who sent me your email addresses. It is possible that I missed some addresses, so if you sent me your address and you didn't receive the questionnaire, please contact me. Although I gave the end of May as the "final date", I would greatly appreciate receiving your responses before the 1st April if at all possible. (After that I am invading Denmark for six weeks). Thank you to those who have already responded. Please be understanding if I don't acknowledge everyone individually. If you ARE in the ISAE, and you ARE reading this, and you DID read my last message saying that it would make my life much easier if you contacted me by email, and you HAVEN'T, there is no need to FEEL GUILTY! Just SEND ME A MESSAGE at: rushenj@em.agr.ca with the subject header "ISAE Journal survey", with your name only in the message, and I will send you the questionnaire. Thank you Jeffrey Rushen, Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PO Box 90, 2000 Route 108E, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada J1M 1Z3 Ph. 1-819-5659171 Fax: 1-819-5645507 Email: rushenj@em.agr.ca http://res.agr.ca/PUB/CDRN/portfoli/private/jeff/jeff.html From: IN%"ivanvar@uzvm.uzvm.bg" "Ivan Varlyakov" 22-MAR-1996 07:05:42.78 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: color vision Dear all, Please, send me more information - literature or your experience, about color vision of rabbits. What you think - CAN THE RABBITS DISTINGUISH THE COLORS? I wait your comments ... ================================== ! Ivan Varlyakov ! ! Thracian University ! ! Stara Zagora, Bulgaria ! ! Email: ivanvar@uzvm.uzvm.bg ! ================================== From: IN%"bsas@ed.sac.ac.uk" "British Society of Animal Science" 26-MAR-1996 06:50:56.67 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: IN%"bsas@ed.sac.ac.uk" Subj: CHOICES MEETING Please disregard previous email: CHOICE MEETING, 18-19 September 1996, Bodington Hall, University of Leeds, England Joint occasional meeting BSAS/RSPCA/ISAE. ANIMAL CHOICES A 2-day Occasional Meeting to consider and discuss all aspects of choice in anim al husbandry. Animal Choices is about the underlying factors of awareness, cognition, motivation and decision making in animals. The meeting will encompass: how preferences and motivation are measured; the environmental, social and nutritional choices made by farm animals and how these can be used to improve animal welfare. The more basic aspects of choice will be integrated with applications to farm species and will be of interest to a wide range of participants including psychologists, behaviourists, nutritionists, physiologists and those applying science to domesticated animals. Wednesday 18 September 1996 10:00 Registration/Coffee 10:30 Introduction Dr M Potter, RSPCA 10:45 Animal awareness Dr K Kendrick 11:15 Models motivation/Decision making Speaker to be confirmed 11:45 Measuring preferences Dr A B Lawrence 12:15 General Discussion 12:30 Lunch 14:00 Human-animal interations agriculture and their impact on animal welfare and performance Dr P Hemsworth RSPCA/BSAS Prize winner 1996 14:45 Environmental choices of farm animals Dr C Nicol 15:15 Tea 15:45-17:45 Workshops* and summing up 19:30 Dinner Thursday, 19 September 1996 09:00 Social choices of farm animals Dr M Mendl 09:30 Nutritional choices Dr I Kyriazakis 10:00 Engineering choices into animal environments Prof C Wathes 10:30 Coffee 11:00 Workshops* 12:30 Lunch 13:45 Workshops and summing up 15:30 Coffee/tea End of Meeting For further details and application form contact BSAS, PO Box 3, Penicuik Midlothian, Scotland, EH26 ORZ. TEL +44 131 445 4508, Fax +44, 131 535 3120. email: BSAS@ed.sac.ac.uk. Would you kindly distribute details to members of Applied Ethology. Please note I omitted to include venue of meeting on previous fax. From: IN%"bsas@ed.sac.ac.uk" "British Society of Animal Science" 26-MAR-1996 07:14:02.94 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: IN%"bsas@ed.sac.ac.uk" Subj: CHOICES MEETING ANIMAL CHOICES A 2-day Occasional Meeting to consider and discuss all aspects of choice in anim al husbandry. Animal Choices is about the underlying factors of awareness, cognition, motivation and decision making in animals. The meeting will encompass: how preferences and motivation are measured; the environmental, social and nutritional choices made by farm animals and how these can be used to improve animal welfare. The more basic aspects of choice will be integrated with applications to farm species and will be of interest to a wide range of participants including psychologists, behaviourists, nutritionists, physiologists and those applying science to domesticated animals. Wednesday 18 September 1996 10:00 Registration/Coffee 10:30 Introduction Dr M Potter, RSPCA 10:45 Animal awareness Dr K Kendrick 11:15 Models motivation/Decision making Speaker to be confirmed 11:45 Measuring preferences Dr A B Lawrence 12:15 General Discussion 12:30 Lunch 14:00 Human-animal interations agriculture and their impact on animal welfare and performance Dr P Hemsworth RSPCA/BSAS Prize winner 1996 14:45 Environmental choices of farm animals Dr C Nicol 15:15 Tea 15:45-17:45 Workshops* and summing up 19:30 Dinner Thursday, 19 o nee a :m3fftRTer9elb Thursday, 19 September 1996 09:00 Social choices of farm animals Dr M Mendl 09:30 Nutritional choices Dr I Kyriazakis 10:00 Engineering choices into animal environments Prof C Wathes 10:30 Coffee 11:00 Workshops* 12:30 Lunch 13:45 Workshops and summing up 15:30 Coffee/tea End of Meeting For further details and application form contact BSAS, PO Box 3, Penicuik Midlothian, Scotland, EH26 ORZ. TEL +44 131 445 4508, Fax +44, 131 535 3120. email: BSAS@ed.sac.ac.uk. From: IN%"rushenj@EM.AGR.CA" "Jeff Rushen" 27-MAR-1996 14:25:58.73 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Web Site-animal welfare/behaviour Those with access to the web might want to check out the "Animal Behavior and Welfare Sites" home page at http://www.wam.umd.edu/~jaguar/welcome.html It is mainly a list of other places on the web that deal with animal behaviour and welfare, which at the moment aren't numerous. However, it is a good start. I don't know who is responsible for setting it up. Jeffrey Rushen, Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PO Box 90, 2000 Route 108E, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada J1M 1Z3 Ph. 1-819-5659171 Fax: 1-819-5645507 Email: rushenj@em.agr.ca http://res.agr.ca/PUB/CDRN/portfoli/private/jeff/jeff.html From: IN%"Nabil.Brandl%Foulum%Husdyr1@sh1.sh.dk" 28-MAR-1996 05:07:49.49 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Introduction Dear Users I would like to introduce my self to the users of applied-ethology group. I am Research Scientist in animal science, belong to research group: Animal welfare assessment, Dept. of Animal Health and welfare, The Danish Institute of Animal Science, Research Center foulum. Since 1972, I worked in Team work group of swine managment in field test project until 1992. From 1992 I employed with remote sensor; image analysis, which help researcher and pigs producers to monitor animal in their houses. The main objective of this work is to improve animal housing, in a way that meet the welfare rquirements. More information about my work, please turn my homePage at Web-server: http://www.sh.dk/~nabil That's it for time being Best regards Nabil Brandl e-mail: Nabil.Brandl@dh.dk HomePage: http://ww.sh.dk/~nabil Vioce: 45-89991342 Fax: 45-89991500 From: IN%"F.Toates@open.ac.uk" "F.Toates (Fred Toates)" 28-MAR-1996 06:15:21.51 To: IN%"A.Q.Jones@open.ac.uk" "A.Q.Jones (Quentin Jones)", IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca", IN%"H.L.Boyce@open.ac.uk" "H.L.Boyce (Helen Boyce)", IN%"M.J.Watson@open.ac.uk" "M.J.Watson (Madeline Watson)" CC: Subj: mad cows Dear ethology network member and other friends, I have not seen so far any mention of beef and the BSE/CJD issue on the network and so may I, as a mere psychologist, venture to express an opinion and a request for information. Even given the credentials just mentioned, it would seem to me to be utter insanity to try to turn around several hundred million years of evolution over-night and to feed dead sheep to cows. Was an ethological and veterinary voice raised against this at the time? Alas we didn't have the network then. It was not a peculiarly British phenomenon though apparently the British were the slowest to react when trouble appeared. Surely if anyone in power had any kind of green/ecological feelings this would never have been allowed to happen. I can only suppose that commercial interests dominated all else. We British say that sex, politics and religion should be avoided in order to keep friends. Having in earlier communications had my share of comments on the first, and I think lost no friends, I shall now risk the second. In my view such things as this have to be seen and discussed openly in a political context. We have had in Britain now for 18 years a philosophy that the market always knows best. Indeed our last prime minister was very frank about this "Society doesn't exist. It is just a collection of individuals" and one of her chief ministers said "What should governments be remembered for? Doing nothing at all". Deregulation has been the key to so-called success. We now know that on a recent spot check at least 40% of British slaughterhouses were violating the rules for the slaughter of beef in a way that might risk BSE/CJD. Green activists have been held to ridicule in the national popular press and yet ironically now there is a sudden demand for organically raised meat. An entirely analogous situation has prevailed regarding transport. Ecological considerations have been ignored in the rush to build more and more roads, to deregulate the buses and the trains. Vehicle inspectors have been reduced in number in spite of a large percentage of lorries violating the rules. Natural habitats have been and are still being destroyed and pollution levels have consistently violated European guidelines. The projection is still for a doubling of cars on British roads by about 2020. As with agriculture the unsafe options have received the subsidies whereas the safe options have been forced to struggle for survival. I believe that there is a real danger that these ideas might get exported to Europe and elsewhere, though mercifully BSE might help to change the direction. I think that it is imperative that behavioural scientists add their voice to the debate on what sort of an environment and society we want to build. Thank you for your time. Regards, Fred (Toates) From: IN%"lhenley@sunmuw1.muw.edu" "Lani Lyman-Henley" 28-MAR-1996 08:47:08.75 To: IN%"F.Toates@open.ac.uk" "F.Toates (Fred Toates)" CC: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: mad cows I was under the impression that it is common practice in large-scale cattle production (and other animal production for that matter) to mix animal protein (read: slaughterhouse scraps, ground fish, etc.) into the feed to increase growth and weight gain. I hadn't thought it odd that sheep parts made it into cow feed, just that there wasn't more care taken to insure it was "safe." I mean, I thought scrapie-associated disease had already been linked to human CNS prion disorders. It does seem that following this "unnatural" practice would increase the chances for such normally herbivorous animals to pick up so many new pathogens they would otherwise not be exposed to. Like Trichinella, among many others... I'll stop rambling now..:) Lani Lyman-Henley From: IN%"William_R_STRICKLIN@umail.umd.edu" 28-MAR-1996 08:56:35.01 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Behavior/Welfare Web Site The Behavior/Welfare web site that Jeff Rushen recently mentioned is the result of work (and ideas) by Marina Haynes. Marina is a graduate student here at the University of Maryland investigating play behavior in calves. She had a paper at the North American ISAE meeting last summer entitled, "Is Domestication a Single Gene Trait?" Ray Stricklin University of Maryland From: IN%"BORELL@mluitzs1.landw.uni-halle.de" "Eberhard von Borell" 28-MAR-1996 10:07:58.41 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: mad cows In reply to Fred Toates view on BSE: I agree with most of what he stated in his message. However, we should not imply that conventially raised cows are potentially infected with BSE and organically raised cows are not. We had a few cases of BSE here in Germany. I heard of one case where a cow from an organic farm (Galloway imported from Britain) was infected with BSE. Eberhard von Borell From: IN%"D.B.MORTON@bham.ac.uk" 28-MAR-1996 10:59:02.69 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: mad cows Dear All, I hope the farmers won't become scapegoats as they inevitably must because it is the Feed Manufacturers together with their nutritionalist scientific advisers that put cattle and sheep offal (and no doubt day- old chicks, fish offal, condemned meat etc etc) into meat and bone meal. I believe the farmers had no choice about what they bought as it is unlikely to have been specifically labelled as such. More likely labelling would be generic (eg. cow/calf rearer, breeder, finisher), together with production details (batch number, expiry date) and content in terms of nutritional value eg digestible protein, fibre, fat etc. Fred Toates mentioned the 'sudden demand for organically raised meat'. But will this circumvent the above problem?? I thought, probably mistakenly, that organics in this sense was about feed additives (pesticides, antibiotics etc), not feed sources. FT also thought "it would seem to me to be utter insanity to try to turn around several hundred million years of evolution over-night and to feed dead sheep to cows. Was an ethological and veterinary voice raised against this at the time?" Is this being wise after the event or are there many practices that can be likened to 'unnatural' (although I note he wisely did not use that word) that have not caused any problems? I don't see what it has to do with evolution. Such practices may push evolution in a certain direction, look at turkeys and bulldogs (sadly). But look also at domestication of animals. >>Deregulation has been the key to so-called success. We now know that on a recent spot check at least 40% of British slaughterhouses were violating the rules for the slaughter of beef in a way that might risk BSE/CJD.<< I wholeheartedly agree here. Money rules OK? Unless welfarists can demonstrate increased productivity it becomes hard to introduce, and have accepted, welfare measures Why don't dogs get BSE like cats and mink do? Prof.David.B.Morton | Janet: D.B.Morton@uk.ac.bham Biomedical Science and Ethics | Internet: D.B.Morton@bham.ac.uk The Medical School | University of Birmingham | Birmingham | Tel: +44 - (0)121 414 3616 B15 2TT, UK Fax: +44 - (0)121 414 6979 From: IN%"jswanson@oz.oznet.ksu.edu" "JANICE SWANSON" 28-MAR-1996 11:02:54.86 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Mad cows Before we jump into a mire of political controversy over the handling of the BSE issue, I think some reasonable questions need to be explored. Who out there on our network can answer: 1.Is there empirical evidence that directly connects BSE with CJD in humans beyond the similarity of a prion disorder? 2. Has there been a rise in CJD in humans that is concurrent with the prevalence of BSE in Britain's bovine population? If so who is affected? 3. Assuming that there is evidence for a linkage (question #1) is it possible to contract this through the eating of a cooked meat product or are the producer's handling the cows at risk? 4. Is CJD a contagious disease? 5. It seems,as suggested by Fred, that the rendering process is suspect, therefore, has there been any work done to suggest what temperatures need to be reached to kill the organism causing BSE (I can not imagine there has not been any study of this process due to this disease)? I can think of many more questions that need to be explored here. The rendering of animals into consumable by-products has been occuring for centuries. Part of the reasoning is that if you are going to expend the energy to kill an animal you might as well use it to the fullest extent. It was, and still is, considered economically efficient. Of course modern technology has expanded on this. Similar to Lani I had not thought this to be odd, at least in terms of human behavior. I can sympathize with Fred's frustration. It seems incumbent upon the developed world to be responsible role models for the wise management and use of natural resources and our total environment. We have similar battles going on in the US. The ultimate problem to tackle is world population growth. More and more roads usually signal more and more people. As Lani said " I'll stop rambling now". Janice Swanson jswanson@oz.oznet.ksu.edu From: IN%"n.ambrose@bham.ac.uk" 28-MAR-1996 11:06:56.28 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: mad cows Dear All, I had a big juicy steak last night, mainly because i am a poor student and the stuff is damn expensive normally!!!! As a poor student i normally get forced to eat those nasty meat pies full of prions(?) so if you *can* catch bse (or cjd) from beef i've already got it (there was bse in them there hills a good few years ago)!!!!! So to all those fatalists out there i hear that beef is half price in the Selly Oak (Birmingham, UK) Sainsbury's, but you'll have to be quick i finish work in half an hour!!!!!!!!!!!!! yours neil ps I read somewhere that the only thing that kills off the bse agent is chloride ions... useful things stomachs ;) pps Maybe the people who caught it recently belonged to a strange british sect of cannibals????? XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X Neil Ambrose X X Department of Biomedical Science and Ethics X X The University of Birmingham X X Edgabaston X X Birmingham X X B15 2TT X X 0121 414 5390 (W) 0121 427 9839 (H) 0589 236 345 (M) X X Email - N.Ambrose@bham.ac.uk - Main mail X X or - nxa585@isdugp.bham.ac.uk - Unix account X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX From: IN%"serpell@pobox.upenn.edu" 28-MAR-1996 11:29:50.65 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: mad cows In his message, David Morton asks: > >Why don't dogs get BSE like cats and mink do? Unlike cats and mink, the ancestors of dogs preyed upon sheep, cattle and other ungulates. As domestic animals they probably also subsisted mainly on ungulate bones and offals. Is it possible that they evolved some resistance to scrapie-like infections the process? James Serpell From: IN%"STOOKEY@sask.usask.ca" 28-MAR-1996 12:30:26.35 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Mad cows For more information on BSE you might want to look at a recent publication from the USDA. You can find the article on their web page at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov and click on publications. Fred Toates is not the only person that seems to be complaining about the fact that farmers are feeding "ruminants to ruminants". There are similar remarks in our papers. Animal rightists and vegetarians are having a hay-day with the BSE issue. I wonder what their true agenda might be? Congratulations to several on this network who have correctly pointed out that meat and bonemeal, fishmeal, blood meal, etc. are all byproducts that have traditionally served the animal industries (livestock, pets and zoo animals) quite well in the past and will continue to do so in the future. The amount of byproducts fed to our livestock in my opinion is wonderful not tragic! The most important thing to worry about is whether the practice is safe, not whether it is against the nature of things! Many animals, including ruminants, are opportunists when it comes to taking in nutrients. I read an article several years ago in Natural History about the predation on gull or tern chicks (I can't remember which) by SHEEP! The chicks were a readily available source of protein, calcium and phosphorous. The sheep didn't appear to suffer any pychological tramma by deviating from their ancesteral diet as a herbivore to a more catholic approach! In fact, it probably saves their lives under the harsh island conditions these sheep were living. Even the act of cannabalism is not as rare as people think. An article by Martha L. Crump (1991. You eat what you are. Nat. History 2:46-50) points out that cannabalism has been documented in more than 1,300 species from insects to mammals! Animals are quick to take advantage of readily available nutrients and they apparently do it without any moral debate. If the recent cases of CJD in Britian are BSE linked it is truly tragic, but in my estimation it would also be tragic to be apart of a society that makes no attempt to recycle nutrients into the food chain which can be done by feeding byproducts (plant and animal) to our livestock, pets, zoo animals or wildlife. My question is: If cattle get BSE from eating scrapies infected sheep, why don't people get CJD from sheep? Joe ================================== Joseph M. Stookey Department of Herd Medicine and Theriogenology Western College of Veterinary Medicine University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0W0 Canada stookey@sask.usask.ca ================================= From: IN%"STOOKEY@sask.usask.ca" 28-MAR-1996 12:58:01.60 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Mad cows > Unlike cats and mink, the ancestors of dogs preyed upon sheep, cattle and > other ungulates. As domestic animals they probably also subsisted mainly on > ungulate bones and offals. Is it possible that they evolved some resistance > to scrapie-like infections the process? > James Serpell Good point James! Unlike cat and mink, the ancestors of modern man preyed upon sheep, cattle and other ungulates. As domestic animals they probably .......evolved some resistance to scrapie-like infections in the process?? Joe ==================================== Joseph M. Stookey Department of Herd Medicine and Theriogenology Western College of Veterinary Medicine University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0W0 Canada stookey@sask.usask.ca =================================== From: IN%"kckissan@alpha.delta.edu" "Kelly Caithlin Kissane" 28-MAR-1996 13:20:28.01 To: IN%"jswanson@oz.oznet.ksu.edu" "JANICE SWANSON" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: Mad cows I can answer some of your questions on prions. First, it's not clear if these are truly "organisms", they are in the same limbo as viruses. Cooking the meat may not make it safer, as I believe that the first prion disorder to be described (whose name escapes me - I'll have to go through my notes) was found in a native island people who had the cultural habit of cooking and eating the brains of the dead. The disease affected mostly women and small children, and it was theorized that they were affected because the women were the ones cooking the brains, and the small children were probably hanging around the mother as she cooked. I will look up the article for more information. Kelly C. Kissane From: IN%"rushenj@EM.AGR.CA" "Jeff Rushen" 28-MAR-1996 16:03:35.76 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: mad fred-wooops! should be "cows" Fred Toates blasts away with both barrels but I am not sure he knows where he is aiming. There is an excellent web page (hastily constructed) at http://dairy.umd.edu/varner/bse.html with links to a Scientific American article describing prions, official statements from various bodies, and newspaper articles from The Times. The evidence for the link between BSE and CJD seems very thin. Apparently 10 cases of CJD, with unusual symptoms, were found among people much younger than is usual for CJD. The link with BSE (as far as I can tell) was proposed largely because of the lack of any alternative explanation. I heard one story that some of these people worked in an abbatoir, but I have not heard that repeated. According to the Institute for Food Safety and Technology in the UK there is quite a lot of evidence that it would be hard to transfer BSE/CJE from cows to people, especially by eating meat. Apparently, the prion proteins are very similar for sheep and cattle, so that transmission that way would be expected, but they are very different for people and cows. Other scientists seem to dispute this. In the Times of Wednesday there is a commentary by Simon Jenkins on the political misuse of scientific data, and the willingness of scientists to alter their estimates of "risk" according to what they think the government wants to hear. Interesting reading. By the way, prions seem to be proteins normally found in the brain but which become structurally deformed when they contact other prions, so they aren't really "organisms" at all. Jeffrey Rushen, Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PO Box 90, 2000 Route 108E, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada J1M 1Z3 Ph. 1-819-5659171 Fax: 1-819-5645507 Email: rushenj@em.agr.ca http://res.agr.ca/PUB/CDRN/portfoli/private/jeff/jeff.html From: IN%"LPINHEIRO@APS.UoGuelph.CA" 28-MAR-1996 16:16:45.30 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: Mad cows I received the information below about BSE from a friend. It came without the origin of that, maybe the dairy-list or this USDA web site already mentioned (sorry, I forgot who mentioned that). I think the info is useful anyway, and answers some of the questions asked in this list. So, I am posting it. Regards, Luiz Carlos. -------------------------------------------- 'MAD COW DISEASE' March 22, 1996 Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) CHRONOLOGY: 1920's - Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) neurodegenerative condition described in humans; classified as a "slow virus" because of the extremely long incubation period (10-40 years). Brains from affected humans are histopathologically classified as having spongiform encephalopathy (SE). Kuru is a human SE disease seen in certain New Guinea natives which practice cannibalism of brains. Scrapie is a SE disease in sheep. Late 1986 - First bovine case diagnosed as BSE on dairy in Kent, England. Diagnosed as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE); possible cattle variant of scrapie in sheep. Became known as "Mad Cow Disease." Investigations and epidemiological evidence from the UK indicated feeding calves meat and bone meal processed from sheep infected with scrapie may have caused BSE, with further spread by feeding cattle by-products from rendered BSE-infected cattle. The first reported incidence in which a disease agent survived the rendering process. Since 1986, BSE was found in native cattle in N. Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, Portugal, and France. Cattle exported from Great Britain to Oman and the Falkland Islands developed BSE. July 18, 1988 - UK banned feeding ruminant derived animal proteins to ruminants. Referred to as the Specified Ban of Offal (SBO). 1989 - U.S. National Renderers Association and the Animal Protein Processors Industry suggested to their memberships that sheep greater than one year old not be rendered; if sheep were rendered, resulting protein product not be sold for inclusion in cattle rations. FDA survey of compliance shows that the voluntary ban has been effective when viewed industry wide; however, when focused on the geographical areas where 85% of the sheep slaughter occurs, the voluntary ban was "not as effective as FDA had hoped." This led to FDA proposed rule in Aug., 1994 (q.v. below) July, 1989 - U.S. prohibits import of live cattle and zoo ruminants from UK ("and any country which has had BSE" - may have been interpreted as a BSE epidemic, meaning the UK). Embryos and semen can be imported only with special certification. Sheep and goat imports have been prohibited for many years because of scrapie in England. May, 1990 - BSE targeted surveillance program begins in U.S.; cattle brains examined histologically at National Veterinary Services Lab in Ames, Iowa if signs of CNS disease. Subjects include suspected Foreign Animal Disease investigations, rabies- negative cases, slaughterhouse collections, and submissions from veterinary diagnostic labs. There is heightened awareness of the potential for BSE in cattle at all diagnostic facilities. Targeted surveillance in U.S. also includes exam every 6 months of 459 live cattle imported from GB and Republic of Ireland between Jan. 1, 1981 and July, 1989. About 113 are left alive in the U.S. as of March, 1996 (31 of these are in Alabama). These animals are prohibited from entering the food chain. Nov, 1993 - One BSE case in Canada in cow imported from UK as calf in Jan, 1989. Aug, 1994 - FDA proposed a rule to prohibit specified offal (any tissue from brain, spinal cord, spleen, thymus, tonsil, lymph notes or intestines) from adult sheep and goats for use in ruminant feed. Status of this rule is unknown at this time. Mar 21, 1996 - UK Health Secretary (Stephen Dorell) announces that an independent scientific advisory committee (Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee - SEAC) makes a possible link between 10 cases of "a variant" of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans (18-42 years old) and BSE. However, there is no proof of a connection between BSE and these CJD cases. The SEAC concludes "On current data and in the absence of any credible alternative the most likely explanation at present is that these [CJD] cases are linked to exposure to BSE before the introduction of the SBO ban in 1989." Announced in House of Commons. This is a change of course for the British government, which has steadfastly maintained that BSE is not linked to human disease. News articles appear worldwide (NY Times, Montgomery Advertiser) and pieces run on all three major U.S. TV networks. Several european countries ban imports of British beef products. Statements are made that the entire 11 million head of cattle in GB may have to be depopulated. OTHER NOTABLE FACTS: - No cases of BSE have been diagnosed in the U.S. No cases of BSE have been reported in native cattle in the Americas. - Mean age at onset of BSE clinical signs in cattle is 5 years. - The BSE epidemic in GB has reached its peak and the numbers are declining. The peak was reached in 1992-93 with 900 - 1,000 cases a week. In January, 1996 there were about 300 cases or less a week. It is hypothesized that the cases still being seen in animals born after the SBO ban in GB were infected by contaminated feed that was still in the pipeline. However, the SEAC in GB has said that they cannot be certain this is the case. - There is no direct evidence of dam-to-offspring BSE transmission; however, one epidemiologic study demonstrated a statistically significant risk for animals born up to three days after a subsequently affected animal calved. The placenta of scrapie infected sheep has been used to transmit scrapie orally. - Oral transmission in lab has been achieved by feeding relatively large amounts of brain tissue to sheep, goats, mink, and mice; but not after feeding mice with milk, udder, spleen, placenta, or lymph node. - CJD occurs worldwide in humans at annual incidence rate of 0.5-1 per million per year. Usually fatal in 6 months. No increase in rate in GB. Usually occurs in older persons; hence the attention paid to the 10 cases of CJD in younger patients. - "CNS tissue from mature cattle does not get into human or animal food supplies in the US." - Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE): CJD (humans), scrapie (sheep), Kuru (humans), Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy (TME), chronic wasting disease of deer and elk, and Feline Spongiform Encephalopathy (FSE). - Oral transmission has been established for some of the TSE diseases: Kuru, scrapie, and BSE. - FSE: before 1990 there was no evidence Felidae were naturally affected by TSE's; between May, 1990 and Sept., 1994 57 cases of FSE were diagnosed in domestic cats in GB. All cases were in cats born before 1990 when the offal ban was extended to protect animals, including cats, from exposure to BSE. Five large captive cats developed spongiform encephalopathies; they had been exposed to raw CNS tissue from cattle potentially infected with BSE. - TSE agent is characterized as a prion, or a filterable protein devoid of detectable nucleic acid that is resistant to typical means of sterilization. Has survived three years burial outside in soil and charring 360 degrees C. They are tubulovesicular structures, approximately 30 nm diameter. - CJD has been transmitted iatrogenically by use of human growth hormone injections when drug was harvested from pituitaries of patients with CJD. - There are no ante-mortem tests available for TSE-caused diseases. Diagnosis is confirmed only by post mortem histo-pathology and immunohistochemical staining of appropriate brain tissues. - According to Dr. Will Hueston, USDA epidemiologist, BSE may have developed because of the interaction of several independent risk factors: in the UK there was a dramatic increase in the sheep population relative to cattle, along with an increase in the prevalence of scrapie; changes in the rendering industry occurred that allowed the survival of the scrapie agent in meat and bone meal (these changes may have been related to higher energy costs); the incorporation of significant amounts of meat and bone meal as protein supplements for commercial cattle and calf rations; and "the age structure of the dairy industry." - USDA epidemiologists have concluded that "The overall risk of a large scale BSE epidemic in the Americas appears to be very small". ------------------------------------------------------------- Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho Univ. Federal de Santa Catarina University of Guelph CCA - Dep. de Zootecnia Dep. of Animal & Poultry Sci. Florianopolis, SC - BRASIL 88040-900 Guelph, ONT - CANADA N1G 2W1 FAX:(55-48) 234-2014 FAX:(519) 836-9873 Bolsista CNPq - Brasil Sponsored by CNPq - Brazil From: IN%"William_R_STRICKLIN@umail.umd.edu" 28-MAR-1996 17:04:33.74 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Mad Cows and World Politics Dear All: Questions raised by Fred Toates (which arose around the Mad Cow issue) are interesting and important ones that I believe need to be addressed. Addressing these questions in a complete manner, however, is not possible in a few email messages or even in a few articles or symposia. Some of the questions he raises, I believe, lie at the very heart of current world political trends. I will offer a few incompletely defined and undefended observations that I believe related to his questions. In one sense, the world appears to be in a period of major revolution - thankfully, only partly of a militant nature. The opening of China (even if only partially), the collapse of the Soviet Union, the establishment of a more representative government in South Africa are some of the changes of monumental significance that have occurred in a relatively short period of time. These major paradigm shifts are indirectly contributing to political shifts in the U.S., Britain and elsewhere. For example, the lack of a militant threat from the old USSR has contributed to a feeling among Americans that is roughly equal to asking; Why should I continue to give up so much control over my live (and pay relatively high taxes) to a central government when there is no longer a need to band together for mutual protection from a major external threat? And, why shouldn't there be greater empowerment of me as a Black person in America especially now that persons in South Africa have made many recent gains? Also, there has been a tendency toward Balkanization (possibly fueled by feelings of persons seeking more individual empowerment) not only within the old Soviet Union, but also in increasingly active separatists movements in Canada, Britain, etc. (And possibly as important and probably more threatening, these world changes are also paralleled by an apparent rise in fundamentalism [both numerically and ideologically] in each of the three major western religions; Judaism, Muslemism, and Christianity.) In short, I believe that much of the political climate today (especially in the US) is not one so much of a conservative political movement, but rather a social-political atmosphere in which individuals in society are asking, voting, and maybe even demanding in some cases, less governmental interference in their individual lives - more personal empowerment which is coupled with a move toward less centralized governmental control. Paradoxically, many of these same persons appear unwilling to give up the _benefits_ from services, oversight, etc. of a central government. I believe the current collective social movement is seeking a political system that will provide the benefits of government services and oversight and at the same time somehow provide persons with a feeling of empowerment over their own lives - and of course these two positions or wishes seem to be in direct conflict. If what I am suggesting is correct, then persons such as those of us who in some form are proposing more governmental regulation for purposes of animal welfare, ecology, food safety, or whatever may be working against a current social trend that we may not fully understand. Possibly we still tend to identify societal differences of opinion only in terms of political parties and(or) political ideologies. But what we may be confronting today may not be the old traditional liberal vs. conservative positions. Ironically, we may be facing a new trend wherein the public is asking for less actual regulation but at the same time asking for greater benefits from policy related protection. In the US a majority of persons respond to questions indicating that they support protecting the environment but a majority also say they support granting greater individual property rights (allowing the owners of land to build, remove trees, fill in wetlands, etc.) - two positions which appear to be in direct contradiction from a policy viewpoint. This would appear to be an unsolvable problem. But in fact the US "solution" may be sought through a continued practice of electing a president from one political party and at the same time filling the Congress will members from the other political party. Many employees in the government-academic establishment may not view this as a solution for it seems to thwart development and implementation of policy. But it may also be society's collective way of saying, "I want solutions that are effective but at the same time, not intrusive to my life." Somewhat related, the politically conservative literature in the US has spoken rhetorically of the arrogance of the "liberal educated elite" who view themselves as being so superior to others that they are willing to advocate rules dictating how all persons should conduct their lives. William Buckley, a noted American conservative columnist, calls this the "shower adjuster" phenomenon - that these liberals are the equivalent of a person who while bathing in a public shower turns the water temperature controls of the persons standing adjacent to them - and says that they are making such adjustments for the other persons' benefit. I think Buckley's definition is dated and not directly related to what I am suggesting herein - because many issues (human health threats from Mad Cows, ecology questions, etc.) are much, much more than simply a matter of controlling the bath water temperature of another person. But at the same time, I think that we should acknowledge that when we propose policy (animal welfare or whatever), we are proposing adjustments in the lives of other persons. Granted the ethical dilemma is that there are also the lives of animals (or the collective health of all persons, or the eco-system, or whatever) involved - but therein lies an example of the conflict involved in all questions of ethics. Ideally, I would like to see the animal welfare issue resolved without regulation - for it would mean that a solution based on actions had occurred through gaining a common understanding and not a resolution based on one group deciding and then dictating what another group should be doing. Yes, this is the view of an idealist, but I acknowledge and express my gratitude to be lucky enough to be in a paid position where I can still advocate should potential solutions. Having said all this, I have not directly addressed some of the questions that Fred Toates raised - and now will attempt to address only one, the question about possibly basing diets of animals on the evolutionary history of a species. Domestic animals have since the very earliest stages of domestication been treated as "managed scavengers" by humans. It is the table scraps, crop surplus, crop residue and otherwise unusable (by humans) foodstuffs that have been always been the food of domestic food animals. By- products from distilleries, canneries, fisheries - even pulp and paper industry waste - continue to be used as animal feed. This is not based on evolutionarily sound biological principles for these are not traditional foodstuffs of animals - but one could argue that these practices may be not only economically feasible but also they may be ecologically sound principles, for it is form of recycling. As another example, the litter from poultry houses is a highly palatable "foodstuff" for cattle (they eat it like it is candy!) and it is an excellent source of nitrogen (which micro-organisms in a rumen can convert into protein). Feeding the feces of one species to another sounds like an unsound principle if one only views from an evolutionary viewpoint, but as long as there are no known disease, etc., effects then, I would suggest, it still has a place in animal agriculture. (It could later prove to be unsound, and therefore, the question Fred Toates raises is quite valid and important.) The Mad Cow issue (as the message from Janice Swanson indicates) has moved to the level of being one that questions former practices but does not necessarily indicate that these practices are altogether wrong in total. Ray Stricklin Department of Animal Sciences University of Maryland From: IN%"William_R_STRICKLIN@umail.umd.edu" 28-MAR-1996 17:44:30.35 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Mad Cows and Englishmen Dear All, Below is information selectively copied from an article reported in the Washington Post, March 28, 1996, page A21: A Scare Story of Mad Cows and Englishmen: Politics, Press, Profit Motive Combine to Frighten the Wits Out of Beefeaters by Fred Barbash LONDON, March 27 - The critical fact about Britain's "mad cow disease" disaster is the lack of critical facts. Nobody knows, for sure, what causes the disease. Nobody knows if it can be passed to humans and if so how, since not a single case of such a transfer has been proven. And nobody knows, therefore, what troubles might lie ahead. The lack of such information has allowed the British government and beef industry, for 10 years, to play down the potential risk of eating beef products. At the same time, it has allowed a few scientists to play up the risks, to the point of predicting an AIDS- like catastrophe. Contributing to the crisis atmosphere here have been a government with low credibility; a hyper-partisan political environment; the absence of an independent regulatory authority similar to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; sensationalist media; the self-interest of European countries and industries from the Baltic to the North Sea; and the nature of the perceived contamination itself. ... The disease - which also affects cattle in at least seven other European countries, but not the United States - reached its height here in 1992, with about 37,000 reported cases in a national cattle population of 11 million... But in 1990, a cat named Max that had consumed beef products in its pet food died with "mad cow" symptoms, setting off the first nationwide panic... In 1992, however, the respected British medical journal Lancet reported the first case of Creutzfeldt- Jakob in a farmer regularly exposed to cattle with "mad cow disease." Then, last week, came the loudest alarm, when researchers in Edinburgh reported cases of a CJ- like disease in 10 people and concluded - without evidence that any of them had consumed contaminated beef - that a link between the human and animal disease was "likely." ... A panel of scientists advised the government, nonetheless, that the "mad cow" risk to humans was minimal - an assessment passed along by the government to the public with assurances that British beef was safe to consume. The media, the political opposition, then went into high gear. Some reported - uncritically and under huge headlines - one scientist's speculation that 500,000 people could die over the next decade from CJ... But none of this bore any direct relationship to the questions at hand: Is eating beef dangerous? Few principals in the debate could be said to be truly neutral. Nearly all of the country's newspapers are openly partisan in their reporting; politicians all have careers on the line; and the Conservative government has a sorry history of secrecy and deception... With the government of Prime Minister John Major holding a majority of just one seat in the House of Commons, its survival may be at risk as the result of the "mad cow" scare, and it knows it. The threat comes not only from opposition accusations, but from a widely voiced suspicion, heatedly denied, that the government has been slow to embrace the confidence-building "solution" advocated by farmers - a selective slaughter of cattle born before the sheep-mix feed was abandoned in 1992. The government has failed to take this step, the argument goes, because the enormous cost of compensating farmers would be a drain on the treasury that could ruin its hopes of providing Britons with an election-year tax cut. From: IN%"jerryt@bio.uio.no" "T. Warren" 29-MAR-1996 00:52:36.54 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Prions, mad cows and scrapie In response to recent/increasing interest: Two highly readable works on prions, BSE, CJD, scrapie etc. are Prusiner, S.B. 1995. The prion diseases. Scientific American Jan. 1995. Prusiner, S.B., Collinge, J., Powell, J. and Anderton, B. (eds.) 1992. Prion dieseases of humans and animals. Ellis Horwood Publ. New York. Tom Warren Biol. Inst. Box 1050, Blindern Univ. of Oslo 0316 Oslo Norway email: jerryt@bio.uio.no From: IN%"Nabil.Brandl%Foulum%Husdyr1@sh1.sh.dk" 29-MAR-1996 01:28:12.02 To: IN%"applied-ethology-error@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: Behavior/Welfare Web Site What is the addresse of Behaviour/welfare Site ? Nabil From: IN%"pdkaio@pobox.ruu.nl" 29-MAR-1996 02:52:13.24 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: do cows eat meat? Dear all, A few years ago an ecologist at the Agricultural University Wageningen made a nice picture of a cow eating a dead rabbit or hare (I forgot which). We have an expression that says "Who knows how a cow catches a hare?". It doesn't! It waits untill it dies; but why? The particular cow was one of a population under study in a semi-wild, poor pasture area, and was probably deficient in some respect. Pica behaviour could lead to ingestion of meat/bone. The question remains what is natural and what not. Deficiencies do occur in nature. Frank van den Broek * Department of Laboratory Animal Science * * Utrecht University ( ) ( ) * * PO.Box 80.166, 3508 TD Utrecht O O * * The Netherlands = o = * * Phone: ++ 31 30 2532033 Fax: ++ 31 30 2537997 * * 3 R's: Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of animal experiments * From: IN%"jnm13@cus.cam.ac.uk" 29-MAR-1996 04:35:10.74 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: SEAC Statement on CJD Below is the official statement from the advisory committee that has sparked all this off. Its always better to hear it from the horse's (or cow's) mouth than second-hand in various news reports etc. We all know how reliable the press can be! > SEAC Statement The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee have considered 10 cases of CJD which have occurred in people aged under 42 which have recently been identified by the CJD Surveillance Unit, Edinburgh. The Committee have concluded that the Unit has identified a previously unrecognised and consistent disease pattern. A review of patients' medical histories, genetic analysis to date and consideration of other possible causes, such as increased ascertainment, have failed to explain these cases adequately. Although there is no direct evidence of a link, on current data and in the absence of any credible alternative the most likely explanation at present is that these cases are linked to exposure to BSE before the introduction of the Specified Bovine Offal ban in 1989. This is cause for concern. CJD remains a rare disease and it is too early to predict how many further cases, if any, there will be of this new form. Continued surveillance is of the utmost importance and the committee are actively seeking further data from both the UK and abroad to help assess the full significance of the Unit's findings. The Committee emphasised it is imperative that the current measures to protect the public health are properly enforced and recommend constant supervision to ensure the complete removal of spinal cord. The Committee also recommended: a. that carcasses from cattle aged over 30 months must be deboned in licensed plants supervised by the Meat Hygiene Service and the trimmings must be classified as SBO's. b. a prohibition on the use of mammalian meat and bonemeal in feed for all farm animals. c. that the Health and Safety Executive in consultation with SEAC should urgently review their advice in light of these findings. d. that the Committee urgently consider what further research is necessary. The Committee does not consider that these findings lead it to revise its advice on the safety of milk. If the recommendations set out above are carried out the Committee concluded that the risk from eating beef is now likely to be extremely small. > On the back of this Statement, the cattle industry in the UK is at crisis-point within a matter of days. The EC has banned imports of British Beef, abatoirs are shutting, jobs are going, livestock markets are at a standstill and all farmers will be affected. The Government is being urged to implement a slaughter policy just to allay human fears and try and stabilise the market, not because its thought that it'll make beef any safer. This could involve the wholesale slaughter of millions of animals - can this in any way be justified? At one point, the slaughter of the entire UK national herd was being mooted! I have no doubts that these fears about meat safety will have a knock-on effect into the poultry, pig and sheep industries. In the short term, sales in these sectors are increasing but in the long term we could see an overall decrease. As abatoirs shut, points of slaughter will become even more widespread, transport distances will increase. At the moment, this story seems set to run and run. Last night, an 11th 'new' CJD victim was announced - as each new case turns up, the story is reinforced. All-in-all, plenty to mull over...... Dr. Jeremy Marchant, Animal Welfare and Human-Animal Interactions Group University of Cambridge, Dept. of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ES, UK. tel: +44 1223 330843 fax: +44 1223 330886 jnm13@cus.cam.ac.uk From: IN%"lhenley@sunmuw1.muw.edu" "Lani Lyman-Henley" 29-MAR-1996 08:09:51.31 To: IN%"STOOKEY@sask.usask.ca" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: Mad cows Just another observation to add to Joe's comment about the commonality of cannibalism and opportunistic feeding upon animal protein- long ago (I won't specify ;> ) I was a student in a mammalogy class on a field trip on which we conducted a rodent census with kill-traps. The animals caught were logged, measured, etc. etc., and then we students practiced making study skins with them. I remember having to get up particularly early to check trap lines for chipmunks, since if we didn't get to them before the other chipmunks awoke, the little buggers would eat the brains of their fallen compatriots. Not only did that ruin skins and skulls, but it grossed out the more squeamish students among us. :) Lani Lyman-Henley (waiting for the coffee to brew....) From: IN%"peter.penning@bbsrc.ac.uk" "PENNING" 29-MAR-1996 08:35:29.86 To: IN%"fignet@leeds.ac.uk" "FIGNET FIGNET", IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "applied ethology" CC: Subj: BSE To FIGNET members cc Applied Ethology Much discussion on BSE within the Applied Animal Etholgy discussion group but nothing on FIGNET. I have just read the proposal that cattle over 30 months old will be prevented from entering the human food chain but they will be slaughter as normal in slaughter houses and then the carcasses disposed of. Surely, this raises the question about cleaning/disinfecting equipment to avoid the spread of contaminated material. We have heard that charing at 360 C will not render the material safe and, that in human surgery, surgical instruments used on patients with CJD are destroyed after use as it is considered that they can not be sterilised successfully. From: IN%"serpell@pobox.upenn.edu" 29-MAR-1996 08:51:37.77 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Mad cows Joe Stookey asks: > >My question is: If cattle get BSE from eating scrapies infected sheep, why >don't people get CJD from sheep? > Perhaps they do. I read an article some years ago which proposed that the exceptionally high incidence of CJD in middle eastern countries could be due to the prevalence of sheep-eating (eyeballs, brains, etc.). Unfortunately, I can't remember any of the details of the article. While we're on the subject: how do sheep get scrapie? James Serpell