Applied Animal Behaviour Science 59 1998.

3948

Applied ethologyits task and limits in veterinary

practice
H.H. Sambraus
Department for Animal Husbandry and Animal Behaiour of the Technical Uniersity of Munich, D-85350
Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany

Abstract
In the animal welfare laws of several European countries terms such as appropriate for the
animals behaviour and freedom of movement for the activity needs of the animals occur. When
a veterinarian has to decide whether the conditions in a husbandry system are animal specific or
not, he first looks at the hygienic conditions. The reason is: the veterinarian has learned about
hygiene, but not about ethology. Ethology has 2 aspects. It is, like anatomy and physiology, part
of the biology of an animal and like these subjects, it should be taught at the beginning of the
veterinary curriculum. The amount of teaching in ethology should be similar to that of anatomy
and physiology. In this part of the course the ethograms of all domesticated species should be
considered. There is also a quantitative component that includes questions like: how often can a
bull mate in a day? Or: how often does a calf suck from its mother in a day? In this part of his
course the veterinarian-to-be must also learn how to handle animals. In the clinical part of the
study of veterinary medicine abnormal behaviour and its therapy should be considered. An
abnormal behaviour is a substantial and continuing deviation from the behavioural norm. Such
deviations may include: altered behaviour patterns, actions at non-adequate objects, actions
without object vacuum activity.; and apathy. Some examples are mentioned, where abnormal
behaviour patterns occur in different function circles. Despite a clear definition in some cases it is
impossible to decide whether a behaviour pattern is abnormal or if it is an adaptation to a special
situation. As an example, food flinging in cattle is mentioned. q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All
rights reserved.
Keywords: Behaviour; Ethology; Abnormal behaviour; Animal welfare; Analogy

1. Ethology and veterinary medicine

Experienceat least in central Europeshows the following: when a veterinarian
has to decide whether the conditions in a husbandry system are species specific or not,
he first looks at the hygienic conditions. Although they appear in many European animal
welfare laws, the following conditions seems to be of lesser importance.
0168-1591r98r$19.00 q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII S 0 1 6 8 - 1 5 9 1 9 8 . 0 0 1 1 9 - 1

40

H.H. Sambrausr Applied Animal Behaiour Science 59 (1998) 3948

Is the husbandry system appropriate for the animals behaviour?

Is there enough freedom of movement for the activity needs of the animals?
The reasons for this rather one-sided judgement is that the veterinarian has learned
about hygiene but not about ethology. This may have been the extreme in past
generations of veterinarians, but it is generally not the case for those trained in recent
years. However, these rather unflattering views of ethology cannot be put aside.
Let us review the importance of ethology in the education of veterinary science. In
Germany, behaviour science ethology. and animal welfare are examination subjects.
Students are tested on these subjects at the very end of the study. Naturally the
appropriate lectures are given at the end of the course and they are included in a package
of subjects, including animal epidemics, judicial veterinary medicine, animal welfare,
behaviour science and vocational science. Sixty hours are provided for all these subjects
combined. Dividing these into equal hours allows only 12 h each for ethology and
animal welfare.
Two things seem to be badly structured here: first the scope of behavioural science
and animal welfare and secondly, their placement at the end of the course of study.
Ethology is concerned with behaviour patterns of animals. Together with anatomy
and physiology, ethology gives comprehensive and complete picture of the biology of an
animal. This knowledge of the biological being is the basis of veterinary science. It is
self-evident at all places of veterinary education, that anatomy with histology and
embryology. and physiology with biochemistry and physiology of nutrition. are taught
at the beginning of the curriculum. Likewise it should be self-evident that the teaching
of ethology should also occur at that time of study.
Also, the amount of teaching in ethology should orientate towards anatomy and
physiology. After the German certified system440 h are taught in the fields of
anatomy, histology and embryology. The subjects of physiology, biochemistry and
physiology of nutrition are taught for another 300 h. No one should demand a few
hundred hours of study in ethology also without further thought. The extent of the study
should be dependent upon: the volume of the entire special knowledge and its importance to the specific trainee for the veterinary profession.
In the pre-clinical part of the study, 2 aspects of ethology should be covered:
fundamental principles and ethograms of the individual species.
Included in these fundamental concepts, in which the veterinarian is often confronted
in practice, are terms like: key stimulus, vacuum activity, accumulation of action
specific energy and releasing mechanism.
Such fundamental principles should be taught in their own lecture. I believe 30 h of
study to be sufficient.
With the ethograms of the individual species, all functional circles are to be
considered, including: social behaviour, sexual behaviour, mother-infant-behaviour, etc.
Every student of veterinary science should know, however, before entering the
clinical part of his study where he has direct contact with the animal. which motor
patterns belong to the normal behaviour of each animal species.
In social behaviour, for example, he must not only know how the animals fight with
each other; he must also understand the behavioural patterns of the conflict. An animal
never attacks without previous notification and it shows aspects of expressive behaviour

H.H. Sambrausr Applied Animal Behaiour Science 59 (1998) 3948

41

prior to the attack. Only those who understand and take notice of this expressive
behavioure.g., threateningcan avoid an attack in future confrontations with the
animal.
This is an example of the qualitative part of ethology. There is also a quantitative
component that includes questions like: how often can a bull mate in a day? How often
does a calf suck from its mother in a day?
Consider the problems of fertility in a herd of cattle. There could be more questions
raised about fertility when a bull is mating than when one is not. The reason for reduced
fertility in the latter case is easy to explain. When decreased fertility occurs when a bull
is mating, the problem could be that the bull has a restrained libido. The bulls libido is
dependent on its breed, age, nutrition, condition of health and the husbandry conditions.
The bulls of beef breed mate essentially fewer times a day than those of the dual-purpose breeds. In a herd of 50 cows, it is very possible that there are 5 or 6 cows in heat in
a day. An AberdeenAngus bull would encounter too much in such a situation, leading
to too many breedings and decreased fertility; however, a Simmenthal bull would not.
The veterinarian-to-be should, for example, also know that a calf sucks 68 = from
its mother a day in the first months of its life. If calves are raised without a mother, they
only get milk replacer twice a day. By deviating from the biological norm, problems
concerning health can appear. For these aspects of ethology, I reckon 30 h of study to be
sufficient.
There is a third aspect to consider. The veterinarian-to-be must not only know the
behaviour of the animal. He must also be able to handle it. He must know how to
approach an animal and know how to calm it down. He must know in which order to
treat the animals when treating the whole group. The theoretical knowledge is insufficient here. One must have practical experience of at least one time, to learn and
memorise the reactions of the animals.
Today, such things are discussed in the propaedeutic parts of veterinary courses. It
should be stressed here the ethological conceptions also must be conveyed. In the
clinical part of the study of veterinary practice, all ethological aspects should be covered
already, apart from that which is pathological, like abnormal behaviour or behavioural
disorders and their therapy.
It is equally difficult to define the term behavioural disorders as is to define the
term illness. One could make it easy and say that a behavioural disorder is a
substantial and continuing deviation from the behavioural norm. This means that we
must know what the normal behaviour is. This may be taken for granted, as the
recognition and understanding of normal behaviour is covered in the pre-clinical part of
the study. Still, it is not always easy to say whether a specific behaviour is disturbed or
whether one must accept the behaviour as adaptation.
It is especially difficult to set quantitative boundaries to normal behaviour. One
should see it as being normal, that every dog being a beast of prey. will bite in some
situations. However, if it nearly always biteswhich means that the threshold of
irritation to bite is extremely lowthen the dog is disturbed in this aspect of its
behaviour. But where is the boundary? It is very difficult to say.
Another example: everyone knows that outside of batteries. hens scratch for food.
When we feed hens, they will scratch relatively little. This little scratching is obviously

42

H.H. Sambrausr Applied Animal Behaiour Science 59 (1998) 3948

not a behavioural disturbance, but rather an adaptation. Obviously the judgement in such
cases is highly dependent on how one defines the norm, and under which circumstances one accepts a norm.
It is easier to define a behavioural structure as a disturbance when it is a deviation
from the norm in a qualitative way, for example when it deviates from the norm in:
behaviour pattern, actions at non-adequate objects, actions without object vacuum
activity., and apathy.
Usually behavioural disturbances are equated with stereotypy. In English-speaking
countries especially, behavioural disorder and stereotypy are almost synonymous. I am
not happy with this definition. After all, movement characteristics of standard animal
behaviour, such as rumination and locomotion, are often stereotypical.
To further illustrate:
a. Cattle usually stand on the hind limbs first and then on the front. In boxes close to
the wall or when tethered too tightly the opposite occurs: the cattle stand up on their
front legs first and then on their hind.
b. When pigs get only a small amount of concentrates, then this is devoured quickly.
The animals are food satiated but they still have the urge for mouth activity.
Single-held pigs then demonstrate bar-biting.
c. Cattle on pasture are known to pull a clump of food into their mouth with their
tongues. When roughage is fed, for example corn silage, the tongue isnt used enough.
The animals then demonstrate tongue movements as a vacuum activity, which we call
tongue rolling.
d. Every behaviour pattern on the ethogram should be shown at least in special
situations, and there should be a recognisable specific activity. If this is not the case,
then it is also a deviation of the typical species behaviour. For example, hens do not
scratch for food in cages.
In some cases, even with great carefulness, we still cannot recognize whether specific
behaviour is a disturbance or an adaptation, meaning a somewhat significant act. Here I
especially think of food flinging. Some cows in the stable take the given fodder in their
mouth and toss it backwards with abrupt movement Fig. 1.. A part of the fodder thus
lands on the back of the animal. The majority, however, lands on the equipment of the
stable or on the ground. Often the slits in the slatted floor become filled and so lose their
drainage function.
We know there are differences between breeds with respect to this behaviour. The
amount of fodder flinging is higher in Brown Swiss than in Simmenthal cattle. We know
that this activity is strongly present at the beginning of the feeding, and then gradually
becomes less. We also know that this food-flinging activity is strongly correlated with
the frequency of eyelid beating. The frequency of eyelid beating is known to be an
indicator of an animals state of excitement Wittke and Bartsch, 1967.. Thus the
flinging of food could be associated with the level of excitement of the animal.
Owners try various things to stop this activity. For example, they place a halter on the
head of the animal with a sort of hammer on it Fig. 2.. Each time the animal flings its
head back, it is punished with a knock on the head. But whether this food-flinging is a
significant behaviour for the animal in any way, we still do not know.
Scientists have the urge to put everything in a system. This can be done in a

H.H. Sambrausr Applied Animal Behaiour Science 59 (1998) 3948

43

Fig. 1. Food flinging.

convenient way for behavioural disorders also. One can order them by functional circles,
thus grouping disturbances as: feeding behaviour, resting behaviour, and locomotion and
so forth.
In some cases the grouping can go one step further still. The feeding characteristics
can be subdivided into: food intake, preparation of fodder chewing., and swallowing.
There are behavioural disturbances in each of these three fields. As an example for
the assimilation of fodder, consider the previously mentioned tongue rolling of cows.
The behaviour also appears with giraffes, the only kind of mammal next to cattle who
use their tongues for food intake.
With respect to the preparation of the fodder, consider the empty chewing of the
breeding sow, which should be judged similarly to the bar-biting of single-kept sows.
For swallowing, consider cribbing of horses as a swallowing movement.
Behavioural disorders are significant for 2 reasons: they can have consequences we
do not wish, and they can have causes we do not wish. The consequences may be of the
economical kind, but they may also be animal-welfare problems. With respect to the
causes, we must always reckon that they are relevant to animal welfare. That is why one
should always try to treat these disorders of behaviour.
But this is where animal behaviour science reaches its limits. In former times, the
opinion was that the reasons for disorders were to be found in that functional circle

44

H.H. Sambrausr Applied Animal Behaiour Science 59 (1998) 3948

Fig. 2. Cow head with a halter.

from which the problem must have appeared. It is striking for example, that the most
disorders appear in those groups that have been most changed or reduced with farm
animals: feeding behaviour and locomotion.
Still we would say that behavioural disturbances only have their reason in the same
group of functional circles as where they appear. Feeding behaviour and locomotion are
2 very important functional circles for the animal. They are easily activated. It even
seems to be the case, that a frustration is easily manifested inside them.
Then, however, we have quickly reached the boundaries of behavioural science. The
search for the reasons becomes difficult. Let us take cannibalism among pigs. Due to the
pattern of movement, it is beyond doubt associated with feeding behaviour. However,
the reason for this disturbance seldom lies in feeding behaviour. Reasons could be: too
large groups, too high density of occupation, endo- or ectoparasites, breakdown of water
supply, irregular feeding, high levels of noise, or high concentration of poisonous gas in
the stables air NH 3 , H 2 S etc...
All these reasons have something in common, they excite the animals. The pigs thus
want to abrogate their excitement. In strawed stables, the available straw is used. In
stables with a slatted floor and therefore no bedding, this abreaction occurs towards a
next of kin Fig. 3..

H.H. Sambrausr Applied Animal Behaiour Science 59 (1998) 3948

45

Fig. 3. An extreme case of cannibalism in pigs.

Naturally, the causes referred to and the example of the slatted floor are exogenous
factors and must, hence, be categorised as releasers in the ethologists eyes. But there
are further factors: cannibalism did not occur with earlier types of swine, being the more
phlegmatic old type of lard hog, but instead with the more modern meat hog. And
female animals are more affected than castrates.
Thus endogenous components are also present. The endogenous components are
surely also present with many other kinds of behaviour disorders. In the past, one
reckoned that some substance was missing in the fodder if the animal showed some
abnormality in its feeding behaviour. This is surely wrong. A reality is that reactionary
behavioural disorders, being caused by the conditions of husbandry, is only one of
several categories of disturbance.

2. Ethology and analogy in assessment of animal suffering

It has become clear over recent years that of all scientific disciplines, behavioural
science has the strongest bond with animal protection. Based on existing morphological
and physiological factors, one can obviously accept the relevance of animal protection,
but the ethologists feel particularly responsible for it. This is a risky business. Firstly,
until recently, while always caring for the well-being of the animals, many veterinarians
felt that the striving for animal protection quickly went too far. The second restriction
will be explained hereinafter.
The difficulty lies in the essence of animal protection. All things against which we try
to protect the animals are sensations: pain, suffering, fear, hunger, thirst, etc. Actual
damages are often associated with these, but only those which are allied with pain and
suffering. Damaged fur or plumage of an exhibition animal can be viewed as damage to
its owner, but no one would ever consider such damage in the context of animal welfare.

46

H.H. Sambrausr Applied Animal Behaiour Science 59 (1998) 3948

We can prove none of the sensations named above. But we cannot deny that animals
can have negative, animal-protection-related sensations. Animal protection is always
sensation protection.
The exercise now is the search for sensation indicators. What must be particularly
stressed is the fact that we can no more than indicate the indicators. From these
indicators, we must suspect pain, suffering, fear, etc.
This is surely an exceptional procedure in science, moving away from the usually
procedures of exact science. This method is subject to much criticism. And as this
method is mainly used by ethologists, they are observed most critically. To avoid
misunderstandings: not the seizing of objective criteria is being criticized, but rather the
subsequent conclusion regarding sensations. But this cannot be avoided, asI repeat
animal protection only deals with sensations.
A recent publication Hemsworth et al., 1995. begins as follows: The problem in
objectively assessing welfare from any standpoint is the inherent inadequacy of the
abstract concept of welfare. This problem is difficult to solve when definitions of
welfare include well-being, suffering or other subjective feelings.
I say in reply to this: animal protection is only affected when dealing with the
well-being, suffering, pain or other subjective feelings. Animal protection is sensation
protection, nothing else.
It is impossible to methodically objectivise sensations. Sometimes we must delay
solving problems regarding animal protection until methods are found to objectively
evaluate sensations. This must be contradicted by saying that such is scientifically
impossible. Sensations are bonded to the individual. All that we can measure and count
may be correlated with feelings like pain, well-being or suffering, but it is neer the
actual sensation itself.
Where we cannot record the animals sensations, how can we assume that animals
possess sensation at all? The answer is: by the analogy-conclusion of mankind Sambraus,
1981, 1995..
The following happens in this respect: it is heard from time to time that research is
not advanced enough to portray sensation. If more exact instruments for measurement
were available, one could probably be more precise about it, because the sensation could
be registered directly. The problem then becomes a scientific-theoretical question. Of
course one could measure accompanying phenomenons even more precisely but such
would be completely superfluous.. But sensations can only be perceived by the
individual itself. They are not measurable and never will be.
There is another aspect in this context: every person should be ethically obliged to be
confronted with animals sensation. Due to his job, this aspect is particularly relevant for
the veterinarian, because in Germany, through the Federal license to practice for
veterinarians, every certified veterinarian is appointed, to presere the animals from,
reliee them and to heal them of suffering and illness. If veterinary medicine takes its
responsibility seriously, and there is no doubt it does, then it must find a way to make
suffering thus sensations. recognizable. As a matter of fact, every veterinarian does this
daily in hisrher practice. It also applies to responsible owners of animals. It is just that
sensations are not consciously ascertained, but rather noticed through indications.
Now every person knows feelings of most distinct kinds. He knows how it is to feel

H.H. Sambrausr Applied Animal Behaiour Science 59 (1998) 3948

47

pain. He knows fear, he has been dizzy before and he has felt hunger or thirst or cold.
Each human being knows his own reactions towards such sensations. The scientist, and
not only him, can discover through verbal contact, that such feelings are not unique to
himself, but occur in others as well.
When animals scream and shiver in some situation, when they have widely opened
eyes and have profuse perspiration, then there can be no doubt that they have sensations.
This conclusion becomes even more plausible when we realize that the sensation is
biologically useful, even an absolute necessity.
To make it clear again; the conclusion of analogy means the following: 1. Man has
sensations. He feels pain, hunger and thirst, and knows fear and nausea. 2. Such
sensations are accompanied by objectively observable accompanying phenomena. They
can be the cause of the sensation, for example, an injury when in pain or an intensive
search for food when hungry. In some cases physiological changes are demonstrable,
like a low level of sugar in the blood or high levels of adrenalin. 3. Deviations from the
morphological, physiological and ethological norm are also known with animals.
Furthermore, it can be proved that these distortions appear in distinct situations. 4. Thus
one can assume the presence of sensations. It is a conclusion in which man plays a
leading role.
To avoid misunderstandings, one thing must be stressed here: this is not about a
trivial analogy, e.g., because I do not want to spend the night on a pole, a hen does not
get one either. Of course the species-specific and natural behaviour of the animals are
taken into consideration. The conclusion of analogy only relates to very basic biological
phenomenon. The aim here in no way is a humanization of the animals.
Basically, the conclusion of analogy is something very general and usual. It is
imaginable that animal protection is traditioned in some aspects and happens unconsciously. Someone who has studied veterinary medicine, zoology or agriculture must
learn where to set his limits in distinct situations, and how to notice where these limits
are, for the protection of the animal. But he wont get very far with this knowledge, as
the problems are too diverse.
It is apparent that everyone, mostly unintentionally and unconsciously, uses analogy
to answer questions of animal protection. Thus, we recognize that the cries of an animal
are noted as pain and widely opened eyes are noted as fear. The examples in this paper
should have made clear that these reactions of the animals can be clear indications of
pain; but they are still no more than symptoms.
To use analogy in questions of animal welfare is not new. Thirty years ago the
Report of the Technical Committee to Inquire into the Welfare of Animals kept under
Intensive Livestock Husbandry Systems was created in Great Britain better known
under the name Brambell Report.. In chapter 4 of this report the following was
written: Nobody can experience the feelings of another individual, however well that
person may be known to them. They can be evaluated only by analogy with ones own
feelings, from what that person tells us, and from ones own observation of his looks,
behaviour, and health. The evaluation of the feelings of an animal similarly must rest on
analogy with our own and must be derived from observation of the cries, expressions,
reactions, behaviour, health and productivity of the animal.
Analogies can be made in anatomy, physiology and ethology. The analogy of

48

H.H. Sambrausr Applied Animal Behaiour Science 59 (1998) 3948

behaviour is recognized most easily, and is most understandable for the layman. So,
concerning problems in animal protection, the ethologist must stress and interpret the
ethological peculiarities, even if he is risking being seen as unscientific in doing so.
The partly insecure assertions of ethology are products of the modest research
intensity in this scientific discipline. More exact, and more numerous results can only be
expected, if the subject applied ethology becomes a more significant one at all colleges
of veterinarian medicine. This would also have a positive effect on the study and thus
knowledge of the practicing veterinarian.

References
Hemsworth, P.H., Barnett, J.L., Beverdige, L., Matthews, L.R., 1995. The welfare of extensively managed
dairy cattle: a review. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 42, 161182.
Sambraus, H.H., 1981. Tierschutz, Tierhaltung und Tierarzt Dtsch. Tierarzteblatt
29:252262, 342346.

Sambraus, H.H., 1995. Befindlichkeiten und Analogieschlu. KTBL-Schrift 370, 3139.

Wittke, G., Bartsch, W., 1967. Der Lidschlag als Erregungs-symptom beim Rinde. Zbl. Vet. Med. A. 14,
222229.