qualitative behaviour assessment

Using Qualitative Behaviour Assessment to guide decision-making on donkey welfare

Jo Hockenhull
Stuart L. Norris
Holly Little
Francesca Dai
Ben Hart
Nikki Bell
Sarah Worth
Laura M. Kubasiewicz
Tamlin Watson
Francoise Wemelsfelder
Presentation date

Over recent decades Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) has been gaining acceptance as a method for assessing the lived experience of animals. It is incorporated into welfare assessment protocols for multiple species, including those developed by the Welfare Quality® and AWIN projects. QBA brings animals’ subjective experience into welfare assessment by using 15-20 qualitative descriptors to score different aspects of animals’ behavioural expressivity (e.g. relaxed or fearful), complementing animal and resource-based measures to generate a more holistic assessment of animal welfare. The Donkey Sanctuary (TDS) have pioneered the use of QBA in the practical environment to provide an evidence-base for decision-making on donkey welfare. In this presentation we will describe how The Donkey Sanctuary have incorporated QBA into their working practices in an array of scenarios. These include the assessment of individual donkey quality of life, assessment of the impact of herd structure and social groupings, as well as assessment of the impact of environmental factors on donkey welfare such as husbandry changes, different grazing opportunities and enrichment provision within the sanctuary. Outside the sanctuary, QBA has been used to evaluate the emotional experience of donkeys in European milk farms and donkey derbies, as well as provide evidence in welfare-related court cases. Incorporating QBA into all such facets of TDS work has facilitated the improvement of donkey welfare and also led to increased consideration of donkey subjective experience in people working in donkey-facing roles. This large-scale application of QBA, in combination with other forms of data-collection, illustrates the value of embedding animal welfare science into everyday practice, to develop an animal-centred, evidence-based approach to the management of donkey and mule welfare.

Application of QBA to assess the emotional state of horses during the loading phase of transport

To identify feasible indicators to evaluate animals’ emotional states as a parameter to assess animal welfare, the present study aimed at investigating the accuracy of free choice profiling (FCP) and fixed list (FL) approach of Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) in horses during the loading phase of transport. A total of 13 stakeholders were trained to score 2 different sets of videos of mixed breed horses loaded for road transport, using both FCP and FL, in 2 sessions. Generalized Procustes Analysis (GPA) consensus profile explained a higher percentage of variation (80.8%) than the mean of 1000 randomized profiles (41.2 ± 1.6%; p = 0.001) for the FCP method, showing an excellent inter-observer agreement. GPA identified two main factors, explaining 65.1% and 3.7% of the total variation. Factor 1 ranging from ‘anxious/ to ‘calm/relaxed’, described the valence of the horses’ emotional states. Factor 2, ranging from ‘bright’ to ‘assessing/withdrawn’, described the arousal. As for FL, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) first and second components (PC1 and PC2, respectively), explaining on average 59.8% and 12.6% of the data variability, had significant agreement between observers. PC1 ranges from relaxed/confident to anxious/frightened, while PC2 from alert/inquisitive to calm. Our study highlighted the need for the use of descriptors specifically selected, throughout a prior FCP process for the situation we want to evaluate to get a good QBA accuracy level.

Journal
Volume
12
Issue
24
Start page
3588
Publication date
Research output
Country

Engagement behaviour of donkeys during equine assisted activities

Presentation date

There is a wealth of research citing the benefits of Equid Assisted Interventions (EAI's) but these are often anthropocentric and fail to include measures that capture donkey engagement behaviours during sessions. This observational bias, possibly quite common in EAI research, reinforces the assumption that animal activities are somehow enriching for the non-human animal thus welfare interests can be overlooked. By designing and implementing a unique Quality of Engagement Tool (QET), I was able to capture engagement behaviours of both donkeys and autistic children during interaction sessions and identify potential enrichment or welfare measures for both species participants.

Should autistic children and donkeys be equal participants?

Presentation date

We have seen a rise in research investigating equine assisted interventions to relieve problematic traits in children with autism. Parents have been exposed to promises about the potential changes that such interventions achieves but the evidence for non-verbal complex children with autism has been sadly thin and such research usually assumes equines are a homogenous group without considering that their individual characters and emotional state could play a role in the encounter.  Often Autism research focuses on dis-ability rather than the autists’ unique abilities which could provide an alternative lens into AAI. This project aims to mark a new era of multidisciplinary AAI research that answers Birke’s question ‘what’s in it for the animals’ by using The Qualitative Behaviour Assessment tool that includes welfare and emotional state of, in this case, donkeys, Minero et al. A Narrative Inquiry method measures both children and families interpretation of the encounters.

This research aims to identify if the synthesis of encounter between donkey and autistic child can (a) drive a new respect for equine- human sensibility whilst (b) providing a genuine enrichment experience for donkeys living in an animal welfare sanctuary and (c) could these sessions show parents and families the unique potential of their autistic child, evidence of a capacity that could facilitate a better understanding of the child’s perception?

  • Human Participants: 4 non-verbal Autistic children with complex needs between 4-8 years old
  • Donkey Participants: 4 AAI facilitators from a UK animal sanctuary.

Methodology:

  • Repeated Measures design with 2 non participant observers (one child, one donkey focused) with controlled conditions
  • Semi structured interviews were conducted with families, grooms and AAI staff as well as the children using augmentative communication
  • Early findings: are showing some correlation of outcomes between each child and donkey pair.

The synthesis of encounters among autistic children and donkeys: Does this particular form of animal assisted intervention show positive outcomes for both species?

Presentation date

We have seen a rise in research investigating equine assisted interventions to relieve problematic traits in children with autism.  Parents have been exposed to promises about the potential changes that such interventions achieves but the evidence for non-verbal complex children with autism has been sadly thin and such research usually assumes equines are a homogenous group without considering that their individual characters and emotional state could play a role in the encounter.  Often Autism research focuses on disability rather than the autists’ unique abilities which could provide an alternative lens into AAI.  This project aims to mark a new era of multidisciplinary AAI research that answers Birke’s question ‘what’s in it for the animals’ by using The Qualitative Behaviour Assessment tool that includes welfare and emotional state of, in this case, donkeys, Minero et al. A Narrative Inquiry method measures both children and families interpretation of the encounters.  

This research aims to identify if the synthesis of encounter between donkey and autistic child can (a) drive a new respect for equine- human sensibility whilst (b) providing a genuine enrichment experience for donkeys living in an animal welfare sanctuary and (c) could these sessions show parents and families the unique potential of their autistic child, evidence of a capacity that could facilitate a better understanding of the child’s perception?

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