Animal Welfare and the Acknowledgment of Cultural Differences

GnRH-immunocastration: an alternative method for male animal surgical castration

Castration of male animals is intended to produce high-enhance quality of animal meat, prevent unpleasant taste, reduce aggressive behavior, and manage overbreeding. Over the years, Tranditional methods of mechanical and surgical castration have been employed over the years, but they fall short of meeting animal welfare requirements due to the associated risk of infection, pain, and stress. Immunocastration, specifically Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-immunocastration, targeting the hypothalamic-pituitary-testis (HPT) axis, has emerged as an animal-friendly alternative to surgical castration, effectively addressing these issues. This review seeks to systematically summarize the principles, development, current applications and challenges of GnRH-immunocastration, offering insights into its role in promoting animal welfare.

Time to consider animal data governance: perspectives from neuroscience

Introduction

Scientific research relies mainly on multimodal, multidimensional big data generated from both animal and human organisms as well as technical data. However, unlike human data that is increasingly regulated at national, regional and international levels, regulatory frameworks that can govern the sharing and reuse of non-human animal data are yet to be established. Whereas the legal and ethical principles that shape animal data generation in many countries and regions differ, the generated data are shared beyond boundaries without any governance mechanism. This paper, through perspectives from neuroscience, shows conceptually and empirically that there is a need for animal data governance that is informed by ethical concerns. There is a plurality of ethical views on the use of animals in scientific research that data governance mechanisms need to consider.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. Overall, 13 interviews with 12 participants (10 males and 2 females) were conducted. The interviews were transcribed and stored in NviVo 12 where they were thematically analyzed.

Results

The participants shared the view that it is time to consider animal data governance due to factors such as differences in regulations, differences in ethical principles, values and beliefs and data quality concerns. They also provided insights on possible approaches to governance.

Discussion

We therefore conclude that a procedural approach to data governance is needed: an approach that does not prescribe a particular ethical position but allows for a quick understanding of ethical concerns and debate about how different positions differ to facilitate cross-cultural and international collaboration.

Shelf-Life Evaluation of Pork Loins as Influenced by the Application of Different Antimicrobial Interventions

The objective of the study was to determine the impact of antimicrobial interventions and refrigerated dark storage on the shelf-life of pork chops. Boneless pork loins (n = 36) were split and stored for 1, 14, 28, and 42 days at 2–4 °C after being treated with the following antimicrobials: water (WAT), Bovibrom 225 ppm (BB225), Bovibrom 500 ppm (BB500), Fit Fresh 3 ppm (FF3), or washing solution 750 ppm (WS750). After the end of dark storage, pork loins were further processed and sliced into chops, overwrapped in trays, and displayed for up to an additional 96 h in a retail case. Instrumental and visual color measurements as well as mesophilic and psychrotrophic aerobic bacteria, and lactic acid bacteria were measured. BB500 and FF3 performed better in inhibiting the growth of indicator bacteria under 6 logs; however, FF3 presented the best stability for color during storage. Principal component analysis clustered initial dark storage days with a* and chroma while % discoloration, hue, b* and microorganisms where clustered with longer dark storage times. In general, treatment FF3 presented the best performance, both in inhibiting microbial growth and maintaining the stability of color, thus increasing the shelf-life of pork loins.