02:58
A Clinical Skills Laboratory (CSL) is important for teaching surgical and medical skills to veterinary and medical students. Our recent article at http://rebrand.ly/2018/CSL (also at https://AndrewKnight.info) and summarised here, describes steps and considerations important during the establishment of a successful CSL, based on our experiences in establishing and directing the state of the art...
03:42
Many thousands of greyhounds continue to be seriously injured whilst racing, and many of these are killed. Injuries and deaths are partly due to the speeds at which greyhounds race. They are the fastest breed of dog, able to maintain average running speeds of around 40 mph (65 km/h). However, many factors relate to the design of the tracks and races themselves, and are preventable. My report 'I...
03:44
Some claim vegan pet food may be less palatable, or may compromise animal welfare. But are such claims actually true? In 2020 we surveyed dog or cat guardians asking about behaviours displayed by their pets at meal times. Analysis of the behaviour of 2,308 dogs and 1,135 cats revealed no significant differences overall, between animals fed vegan or meat-based diets (conventional or raw meat). O...
04:35
Plant-based pet foods are rapidly developing, driven by distrust of conventional pet foods, and concerns about their impacts on pets, farmed animals, and the environment. But are plant-based pet foods nutritionally sound? Do consumers really need to be worried about conventional pet foods? Our recent study explored in detail, steps taken by pet food manufacturers to ensure the nutritional sound...
06:03
Thousands of alternatives to harmful animal use are now available. Why, then, are well over 100,000 animals used annually for educational purposes, within the EU alone? To find the answers, we studied the publicly available summaries of scientific and educational animal use in EU member states. The most common reasons provided by educators for not using humane alternatives, were: 1) the perceiv...
01:05:12
Andrew Knight is Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics, and Founding Director of the University of Winchester Centre for Animal Welfare, and Adjunct Professor in the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University, Queensland. An experienced cat and dog veterinarian, he's also a European, American, New Zealand and RCVS -recognised Veterinary Specialist in animal welfare and related fi...
05:47
Vegan dog food is less damaging to the environment, and to the welfare of animals processed into pet foods. But – are vegan diets good for dogs? To test this, we collected data on 2,536 dogs fed a conventional meat (1,370 = 54%), raw meat (830 = 33%) or vegan (336 = 13%) diet for at least one year. We examined seven general indicators of ill health: unusual numbers of veterinary visits, medicat...
04:12
Over 70 billion chickens are slaughtered globally each year. Almost all are meat breeds, typically housed in very large barns with a litter floor. Recently however, modern cage systems have been developed which provide very limited space and stack several tiers high. There is debate about the impacts of such modern cage systems on chicken welfare. Accordingly, we systematically reviewed studies...
05:05
We studied 1,369 cats fed vegan or meat-based pet food, for at least one year. Cats fed vegan diets had better health outcomes for each of seven general health indicators studied. Collectively, this represents a strong and consistent trend. Additionally, the prevalence of 22 of the most common feline health disorders was studied. Forty two percent of cats fed meat, and 37% of those fed vegan di...
05:17
What would the environmental benefits be, if the world’s dogs, cats and people all consumed vegan diets, and how many additional people or pets could be fed with the food energy saved? How much livestock consumption is due to pet food? After analysing pet food ingredients in detail, as well as food consumed by people, I was able to calculate these benefits. They are game-changingly large. Vegan...
04:08
Cell-based seafood is produced by taking cells from live sea creatures and cultivating them in appropriate growth media in bioreactors. Identical to conventional tissue at the DNA level, cell-based products appear to be safe for human consumption and might present a viable alternative to wild-caught or farm-raised seafood in the near future. This might take pressure off aquatic ecosystems and m...
04:29
Most new and emerging human diseases come from animal populations, and among these, viruses - especially influenza viruses - are the most dangerous. Viral transmission and mortality can be very high. Influenza pandemics have previously killed many millions of people. Pigs and poultry are readily infected and can transmit disease to people. Intensive pig and poultry farms include large animal gr...