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The Welfare of Fighting Dogs: Wounds, Neurobiology of Pain, Legal Aspects and the Potential Role of the Veterinary Profession

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Dog fights are cruel and harmful events which have a clear impact on animal welfare. For this reason, many countries have banned these events via statute. However, in some regions of the world they are still legal. Moreover, the enforcement of legal bans can be problematic in countri...

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Autores principales: Mota-Rojas, Daniel, Mariti, Chiara, Marcet-Rius, Míriam, Lezama-García, Karina, Gazzano, Angelo, Hernández-Ávalos, Ismael, Mora-Medina, Patricia, Domínguez-Oliva, Adriana, Whittaker, Alexandra L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9454875/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36077977
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12172257
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author Mota-Rojas, Daniel
Mariti, Chiara
Marcet-Rius, Míriam
Lezama-García, Karina
Gazzano, Angelo
Hernández-Ávalos, Ismael
Mora-Medina, Patricia
Domínguez-Oliva, Adriana
Whittaker, Alexandra L.
author_facet Mota-Rojas, Daniel
Mariti, Chiara
Marcet-Rius, Míriam
Lezama-García, Karina
Gazzano, Angelo
Hernández-Ávalos, Ismael
Mora-Medina, Patricia
Domínguez-Oliva, Adriana
Whittaker, Alexandra L.
author_sort Mota-Rojas, Daniel
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Dog fights are cruel and harmful events which have a clear impact on animal welfare. For this reason, many countries have banned these events via statute. However, in some regions of the world they are still legal. Moreover, the enforcement of legal bans can be problematic in countries where they are illegal, and they may still occur. This article provides background information on dog fighting and the welfare implications of it. This includes consideration for the pain inflicted, and its mechanisms of perception and recognition. It also analyzes the injuries and emotions experienced by the animals and considers the profile of the breeders and handlers involved in the activity. Since welfare concerns often extend beyond the animals’ fighting lives, a discussion around the possibilities of reintroduction into suitable environments for these animals is also made. Finally, attention is turned to the role that veterinarians can and should play in dealing with these issues of welfare. ABSTRACT: Throughout history it has been common to practice activities which significantly impact on animal welfare. Animal fighting, including dogfighting, is a prime example where animals often require veterinary care, either to treat wounds and fractures or to manage pain associated with tissue and where death may even result. Amongst the detrimental health effects arising are the sensory alterations that these injuries cause, which not only include acute or chronic pain but can also trigger a greater sensitivity to other harmful (hyperalgesia) or even innocuous stimuli (allodynia). These neurobiological aspects are often ignored and the erroneous assumption made that the breeds engaged in organized fighting have a high pain threshold or, at least, they present reduced or delayed responses to painful stimuli. However, it is now widely recognized that the damage these dogs suffer is not only physical but psychological, emotional, and sensory. Due to the impact fighting has on canine welfare, it is necessary to propose solution strategies, especially educational ones, i.e., educating people and training veterinarians, the latter potentially playing a key role in alerting people to all dog welfare issues. Therefore, the aim of this review is to describe the risk factors associated with dogfighting generally (dog temperament, age, sex, nutrition, testosterone levels, environment, isolation conditions, socialization, education, or training). A neurobiological approach to this topic is taken to discuss the impact on dog pain and emotion. Finally, a general discussion of the format of guidelines and laws that seek to sanction them is presented. The role that veterinarians can play in advancing dog welfare, rehabilitating dogs, and educating the public is also considered.
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spelling pubmed-94548752022-09-09 The Welfare of Fighting Dogs: Wounds, Neurobiology of Pain, Legal Aspects and the Potential Role of the Veterinary Profession Mota-Rojas, Daniel Mariti, Chiara Marcet-Rius, Míriam Lezama-García, Karina Gazzano, Angelo Hernández-Ávalos, Ismael Mora-Medina, Patricia Domínguez-Oliva, Adriana Whittaker, Alexandra L. Animals (Basel) Review SIMPLE SUMMARY: Dog fights are cruel and harmful events which have a clear impact on animal welfare. For this reason, many countries have banned these events via statute. However, in some regions of the world they are still legal. Moreover, the enforcement of legal bans can be problematic in countries where they are illegal, and they may still occur. This article provides background information on dog fighting and the welfare implications of it. This includes consideration for the pain inflicted, and its mechanisms of perception and recognition. It also analyzes the injuries and emotions experienced by the animals and considers the profile of the breeders and handlers involved in the activity. Since welfare concerns often extend beyond the animals’ fighting lives, a discussion around the possibilities of reintroduction into suitable environments for these animals is also made. Finally, attention is turned to the role that veterinarians can and should play in dealing with these issues of welfare. ABSTRACT: Throughout history it has been common to practice activities which significantly impact on animal welfare. Animal fighting, including dogfighting, is a prime example where animals often require veterinary care, either to treat wounds and fractures or to manage pain associated with tissue and where death may even result. Amongst the detrimental health effects arising are the sensory alterations that these injuries cause, which not only include acute or chronic pain but can also trigger a greater sensitivity to other harmful (hyperalgesia) or even innocuous stimuli (allodynia). These neurobiological aspects are often ignored and the erroneous assumption made that the breeds engaged in organized fighting have a high pain threshold or, at least, they present reduced or delayed responses to painful stimuli. However, it is now widely recognized that the damage these dogs suffer is not only physical but psychological, emotional, and sensory. Due to the impact fighting has on canine welfare, it is necessary to propose solution strategies, especially educational ones, i.e., educating people and training veterinarians, the latter potentially playing a key role in alerting people to all dog welfare issues. Therefore, the aim of this review is to describe the risk factors associated with dogfighting generally (dog temperament, age, sex, nutrition, testosterone levels, environment, isolation conditions, socialization, education, or training). A neurobiological approach to this topic is taken to discuss the impact on dog pain and emotion. Finally, a general discussion of the format of guidelines and laws that seek to sanction them is presented. The role that veterinarians can play in advancing dog welfare, rehabilitating dogs, and educating the public is also considered. MDPI 2022-08-31 /pmc/articles/PMC9454875/ /pubmed/36077977 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12172257 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Mota-Rojas, Daniel
Mariti, Chiara
Marcet-Rius, Míriam
Lezama-García, Karina
Gazzano, Angelo
Hernández-Ávalos, Ismael
Mora-Medina, Patricia
Domínguez-Oliva, Adriana
Whittaker, Alexandra L.
The Welfare of Fighting Dogs: Wounds, Neurobiology of Pain, Legal Aspects and the Potential Role of the Veterinary Profession
title The Welfare of Fighting Dogs: Wounds, Neurobiology of Pain, Legal Aspects and the Potential Role of the Veterinary Profession
title_full The Welfare of Fighting Dogs: Wounds, Neurobiology of Pain, Legal Aspects and the Potential Role of the Veterinary Profession
title_fullStr The Welfare of Fighting Dogs: Wounds, Neurobiology of Pain, Legal Aspects and the Potential Role of the Veterinary Profession
title_full_unstemmed The Welfare of Fighting Dogs: Wounds, Neurobiology of Pain, Legal Aspects and the Potential Role of the Veterinary Profession
title_short The Welfare of Fighting Dogs: Wounds, Neurobiology of Pain, Legal Aspects and the Potential Role of the Veterinary Profession
title_sort welfare of fighting dogs: wounds, neurobiology of pain, legal aspects and the potential role of the veterinary profession
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9454875/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36077977
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12172257
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