Forty-eight goats were selected at eight-time points (1, 7, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, and 84 days of age; 6 goats per group) and slaughtered for the evaluation of the anatomical and morphological development of gastrointestinal tract. The newborn goats fed maternal colostrum (MC) from birth to 7 d, maternal milk (MM) until 28 d, and maternal milk plus solid diet (MMSD) later. While at 60 d, the goats were weaned and offered only solid diet (SD). Body weight (BW) and carcass weight (CW) showed significant increase with age (p < 0.01). The absolute growth rate (AGR) of BW and CW were higher (p < 0.05) at MMSD phase than MM phase. Internal and external organs as a percentage of BW decreased with age (p < 0.01). However, the complex stomach percentage increased (p < 0.01) with age. The rumen and omasum weight experienced synchronous AGR with age (p < 0.01), especially at the SD phase. In contrast, the AGR of reticulum and abomasum were the highest (p < 0.01) at MMSD and MC, respectively. After weaning, the goats reared on SD showed the highest (p < 0.05) papillae height, lamina propria, muscle layer thickness (MLT), and epithelial thickness (ET). Compared the MMSD phase, the SD phase showed the highest (p < 0.01) colonic mucosa thickness and ileal MLT and villus height. However, the crypt depth (CD) was higher (p < 0.01) at MMSD phase than MM phase. Moreover, the CD and MLT of the jejunum increased (p < 0.01) with age. Furthermore, duodenal CD, MLT, and ET increased (p < 0.01) in SD phase. Overall, these findings contribute to a better understanding of the effective development pattern of the rumen and ultimately contribute to optimal feeding management, offset weaning challenges, and avoiding digestive disorders in newborn goats.

The ability to spend more time in lying down is extremely important on dairy cattle welfare. Lying behavior provide impending data on how cows interact with their environment. To assess how well the lying behavior of dairy cows in tie-stalls were varied with the THI, we assessed a total of 170 Holstein-Friesian and Jersey crosses lactating cows belongs to four agro-ecological zones which differ from environmental temperature and sea level height (UP-Up Country, MC-Mid Country, CT-Coconut Triangular and WP-Western Province). Lying behavior was recorded using electronic data loggers (HOBO Pendant G Acceleration Data Loggers), which attached to the cow’s hind leg, below the hock after validating for recording positions at 30 sec intervals for 5 consecutive 24-h periods. Variation of temperature and Relative Humidity (RH) inside the cattle shed was recorded throughout the experimental period using HOBO^® temperature loggers (HOBO U23 Pro v2 Temperature/RH Data Loggers) in five minutes’ interval of time. Recorded data were converted into a readable mode using SAS 9.4 version and then further statistical analyzes were continued using SPSS 23.0 version. Greater resting behaviors were attained by dairy cows in UP and MC areas with longer lying times (11.74 h/d, 11.26 h/d respectively) and lying duration (78.0 min, 84.95 min respectively) compared to WP and CT (lying times - 9.00 h/d, 9.26 h/d respectively and lying duration 48.32 min, 64.34 min, respectively). Significantly higher frequency of lying bouts were perceived in WP (13.22), and others remain comparable (UP = 11.87, MC = 9.82, CT = 9.67). All cows in four agro-ecological areas, prefer to lie on their left side. However, majority (78%) were in thermal stress condition (Discomfort – 72 < THI < 75, Alert – 75 < THI < 79, Danger – 79 < THI < 84, Emergency –THI > 84) and elevated THI had significantly (p < 0.05) reduced total lying time (p = −0.492), lying duration (ρ = −0.341), total lying time at right side (ρ = −0.213), total lying time at left side (ρ = −0.429), right side lying duration (ρ = −0.353), and left side lying duration (ρ = −0.341). Thus, we can conclude, heat stress condition due to climatic changes could diminish the welfare of cows and their sustainability.

Street dogs survive on food handouts provided by individuals or the wider community yet receive limited or no veterinary care. They are also known to carry various zoonotic diseases such as Rabies, posing a high risk to public and dog population health. Dog sterilization is one of the most humane and effective methods available to control the street dog population. Dog sterilization programs run with limited resources, and data recordkeeping is often challenging, and thus post-operative return to each specific individual’s capture area is frequently not achieved. Street dogs are territorial, and dislocation results in several welfare issues and an increased risk of post-operative complications, in some cases resulting in death. Humane Society International developed a mobile phone-based application called “SETU”, drawing on years of field experience in street dog location recording, clinical and post-operative treatment data collection. SETU app makes sure that dogs are released back at the exact captured location, which improves welfare significantly and generates a variety of useful data reports to maximize the authenticity of sterilization programs.

Today, the kennel is considered one of the crucial concerns of the human-animal relationship, since it is very often regarded as animals dump, a place where dogs exile and thus a burden on society. Therefore, drawing up strategies for a new “kennel conception”, as an added value for human society, environment and dogs as well is mandatory. Accordingly, this shelter dog in southern Italy represents a model multifunctional structure aiming towards the One Health perspective.

Animal welfare and environment protection, together with human-dog relationship are the aims of such a dog shelter. It normally relies on the initial on a careful behavioral assessment and categorization by veterinary behaviorist, in order to guarantee the most suitable life conditions for the animals in the kennels, increase the chances of adoption and involve dogs in projects tailored to their predispositions.

In this respect, dogs housed there are normally included in training courses with the aim of increasing the skills to be used in different human social contexts, such as support to the inmates, rescue in the rubble, animal assisted interventions, as well as zooanthropology projects in schools. All these activities allow an improvement of the awareness degree, that is at the basis of the human animal relationship, thus reducing the risk of aggression and damage by the dog, as well as the creation of dysfunctional relationships.

A strength of this shelter is represented by the environmental protection schedule, where the objectives, established every three years, are the continuous improvement and minimization of the environmental impact, which are technically and economically sustainable. The shelter uses chemical-physical purification areas and phytovaporation of wastewater, thus reducing environmental pollution of the area.
A single health for animals, humans and environment is the task for the shelter approach.

Empethy is a digital free platform that aims to facilitate the meeting between demand (pet owner) and offer (shelter dog, dog's association, volunteer, etc.) relating to the adoption of animals throughout the Italian territory. This platform will definitely give the possibility to carry out a questionnaire aimed at detecting the level of compatibility between the potential future owner of the dog/cat and the corresponding alter ego.

The matching query is based on a series of questions related to the habits, lifestyles, and personality traits of the prospective owner, compared to the corresponding characteristics of the dog/cat.

Each animal has its own history and needs, which will become characteristics that meet lifestyle and needs of the future owner.

Empethy’s ads are built with the aim of highlighting these characteristics in a clear and detailed manner, to accompany and support future adopters in the process of choice. The complexity of the human-animal relationship requires an interdisciplinary approach with a view to one welfare, and it is important to create a network around new adopters through the internet platform. Several studies show, in fact, that not all human-dog relationships are healthful, leading to the creation of dysfunctional bond that result in kennel abandonment and behavioural problems. One of the main causes underlying such an issue is attributed to a mismatch between dog characteristics (age, breed, size, health, character, behavior), and owner's expectations. Mismatch often occurs when the owner has not made a fully conscious and reflective choice, also driven by an "impulsive adoption", or following purely aesthetic canons. Therefore, this platform points to make it possible, reducing the impact of expectations bias through the "perfect match" through behavioural screening and evaluation tools.

Romania has a long history in milk production, but in spite of its great potential, the entrance into the E.U represented a vivid challenge for the dairy livestock, composed of millions of small family farms, lacking modern technology. In these farms the incidence of bovine mastitis is very common. Studies carried out previously have shown that keeping bovine mastitis under very strict control may be achieved by implementing early detection tools such as infrared thermography (IRT). Although the results have been extremely promising, the cost of the equipment used in those studies limits their use in family-type farms. Therefore, the aim of our study was to evaluate the possibility of using less expensive equipment, more precisely, a portable phone-connected infrared thermal vision camera (Flir One Pro) for the early detection of bovine mastitis in Romanian Black and White cows and compare thermography and somatic cell counts results. To our knowledge, this type of approach has not been tested previously. The study was carried out on 5 different family-sized farms from the northeast of Romania, in the period July-September 2021. The Infrared images were taken from the teats in the area of Furstenberg’s rosette, from a number of 21 cows, before milking, in the early morning. Milk was collected from each quarter and the somatic cell count was determined in the Laboratory of Food Safety and Animal Biology within SCDCB DANCU. The number of somatic cells correlated positively (r= .709, p < .001) with the infrared thermography results measuring the skin surface temperature of teat sphincters in both healthy and cows with subclinical mastitis. Small-scale farms are vital to the rural economy, particularly for small and marginal farmers, thereby it is imperative for these cattle breeders and the Romanian economy to obtain milk according to E.U. standards, in order to valorize it at an advantageous, competitive price. The use of a low-cost non-invasive tool such as a phone-connected infrared thermal vision camera may be a feasible solution for small farmers since it enables them to monitor the udder health status, cow-side, in an easy, rapid manner, with lower costs.

Most farm animals are gregarious species, i.e., living in group is a natural behavior. However, some livestock systems deprive the social interactions among animals, e.g., sow gestation stalls, or early cow-calf separation, with calf reared alone. In contrast, sustainable livestock systems aim to allow animals to express their natural behaviors. The gregarious species have a complex social organization, which includes negative (agonistic) and positive (affiliative) interactions that affect the group dynamics, individual behaviors, and access to resources. Both interactions are important to ensure group stability and animal welfare. Socio-negative behavior can affect the welfare of animals, and in particular of subordinate animals due to the limited access to resources. On the other hand, socio-positive can mitigate the stress that animals are subjected to in the reared environment, like decreasing heart rate and reducing stress responses to new environments. Among the socio-positive behaviors, allogrooming (e.g., licking in cows) and spatial proximity between pairs, occur while grazing and resting. From the observation of these behaviors, we can determine degrees of affinity between pairs, and establish groups of animals with some degree of affinity. Strong affinity relationships are usually formed between more closely related animals. Through the awareness of animal’s affinity, it is possible to adapt some livestock practices, like, in cattle, groups with high affinity may be easier to handle, e.g., during milking and transport. We also would like to highlight that socio-positive behaviors should be considered in studies with animals, as it has a large impact on animal behavior. Animal handling would be less stressful for both animals and handlers, if these factors were considered. Therefore, recognizing the social behavior of animals in handling is respectful to the animal’s life, allowing the production to be done in an ethical, ecological, and sustainable way.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of pre-slaughter handling on lamb welfare and meat quality of Merino lambs exposed to different pre-slaughter handling conditions. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of transportation distance and lairage duration on creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), carcass and meat quality from Muscularis longimissius thoracis et lumborum (LTL) characteristics Merino lambs slaughtered at a commercial abattoir. Data was collected from eight-month old female Merino lambs (n=100). Exsanguination blood for the analysis of the activities of CK and LDH were collected using vacutainer tubes treated with EDTA. Carcass measurements, pHu, temperature and meat colour coordinate readings were carried out 24 hours after slaughter. Furthermore, thawing loss (TL), cooking loss (CL) and warner braztler shearforce (WBSF) was measured from the LTL after 7 days post slaughter storage (-20 ºC). Lambs that travelled for a longer distance had higher levels of LDH compared to those that travelled a shorter distance. Lambs transported for a longer distance also had a higher TL and tougher meat. Lambs placed at the lairages for longer duration at the lairages had a higher cooking loss compared to the shorter duration. The results indicate that longer transportation and lairage durations made the lambs more susceptible to pre-slaughter stress and negatively affected the meat quality.

Poultry production in Sonora, Mexico has various production gradients. In some native communities, backyard production remnants subsist. This work delimits the knowledge with which the community of Térapa, Sonora, Mexico manages backyard poultry production from its original ethnoecotechnological worldview under current emergencies, mainly the climatic one. The backyard poultry production system is affected by global climatic conditions and the aridity of the territory, while at the same time it is pushed to the limit of its stability by complementing this population with its protein nutrition diet. Backyard poultry (Gallus gallus) productive units in the Ópata - mestizo native community of San Clemente de Térapa, Mexico were analyzed by means of an observational retrospective, workshop participation and the grounded theory of Glasser and Strauss. Poultry production units, having differences in their direction, strategy and approach to managing backyard production, present various challenges. The ethnoecotechnological management and vision is manifested in the units studied, including techniques adapted to the various contemporary strategies to alleviate extreme climatic effects.

The major objective of this research paper was to investigate the effect of enrichment with different oil sources on the egg quality traits in laying hens. A total of 300 one-day-old pullets were used. There were seven dietary treatments of 10 % diet of the following: soybean oil (SO), sunflower oil (SFO), canola oil (CO), flaxseed oil (FLO), fish oil (FO), a mix of fish oil and soya oil (SO+FO), and DHA algal biomass oil. Each treatment contained six replicates with seven birds each. Random samples of 10 eggs per treatment were used for analysis. The organoleptic parameters included tests on smell, taste, color, and texture. The results revealed that there were no significant differences between the eggs from hens fed the different dietary treatments in terms of the organoleptic parameters used. Fatty acid composition analysis by gas chromatography revealed reflects the fatty acid composition of the used experimental diets. Flaxseed oil, Fish oil and a mixture of Soy oil +Fish oil can be efficiently used to enrich poultry eggs with n-3 PUFA. However, FLO and flaxseeds can be safely used to avoid the fishy smell of poultry products, if present upon reheating.