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162 Best Animal Research Topics To Nail Your Paper In 2023

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The world is filled with living things. There are some animals that we know about, some that we will discover, and there are many that we might never know about. All our knowledge about animals is mostly dependant on researchers. Well, we are rooting for you to be the next great researcher. Be it zoology, veterinary, or live wild stock, your study needs a research topic. If you’re looking for the best animal research topics to nail this year, we’re here with your help.

Table of Contents

Best Animal Research Topics

We have 162 Animal Research Topics that will help you get the best grades this year.

Physiology of Animals Research Topics

physiology of animals research topics

  • Description of the knowledge required to work in animal physiology
  • Study of animal species with different specialties in the sciences of nature and life
  • Life sciences and socioeconomic impacts
  • Neurulation appendages birds
  • Exercises on gastrulation and neurulation
  • Gastrulation amphibians birds
  • Fertilization segmentation in the sea species
  • Gametogenesis: A Detailed Introduction
  • Study of Delimitation: bird appendages
  • Particularities of the developmental biology of certain species
  • Technical-commercial animal physiology
  • Terrestrial and marine ecosystems
  • Animal biology and forensic science: Is there a connection?
  • Animal Biology Biotechnology and molecules of interest regarding food and industry
  • The interest in biology in the diagnosis of animal and plant diseases
  • Toxicology and environmental health concerns in animal physiology
  • Animal and plant production
  • Fundamentals of animal physiology research and analysis
  • Behavior and evolution Genetics of behavior in animals
  • Adaptation and evolution of behavior
  • Comparative studies of general ecology, zoology, and animal physiology
  • Study of animals about the conditions prevailing in their immediate environment
  • Endocrine and neuroendocrine systems in animals
  • Studying the nervous systems in birds
  • Genitals and reproductive physiology of birds
  • Understanding of the anatomical and functional particularities of invertebrates
  • Biology and physiology of invertebrates
  • Reconstruction of phylogenetic trees
  • Morpho-anatomical arguments and the importance of fossils
  • Argued classification of animals
  • Study of the evolution of living organisms by making updates on recent advances in Animalia
  • Phylogeny and animal evolution
  • Principles of echolocation in the bats
  • Possible evolution of the increase in complexity of the primitive nervous system
  • The nervous system of the insect
  • Circulation in animal physiology
  • Animals without a differentiated circulatory system
  • Water and mineral balance in animals
  • Thermoregulation in animals
  • Musculoskeletal system in animals
  • Study of animal blood
  • Biological rhythms of animals
  • Skin and teguments of mammals
  • Animal nutrition and metabolism
  • Hormones and endocrine system of animals
  • Emerging organic pollutants
  • Mechanisms of toxicity in animals
  • Animal physiology in animals from temperate regions
  • Genetic correlations between animal species
  • Animal communities, forest ecology, and forest birds
  • Wildlife-habitat modeling

Looking for research topics in general? Read 402  General Research Paper Topics

Animal Research Topics For Student

animal research topics for student

  • Impact of the agricultural raw materials crisis on the marketing of livestock feed
  • Analysis of the competitiveness of poultry produced in the USA
  • Animal cruelty in USA and European countries
  • Seroprevalence of neosporosis in cattle herds
  • The peri-urban dairy sector
  • Effect of the liberalization of the veterinary profession on the vaccination coverage of livestock
  • Why do people kill animals? The psyche behind animal cruelty
  • Evaluation of the growth performance of three sheep breeds
  • Study on the protection of terrestrial ecosystems
  • Ecology of African dung beetles
  • Effects of road infrastructure on wildlife in developing countries
  • Analysis of the consequences of climate change related to pastoral livestock
  • Strategies for management in the animal feed sector
  • The feeding behavior of mosquitoes
  • Bee learning and memory
  • Immediate response to the animal cruelty
  • Study of mass migration of land birds over the ocean
  • A study of crocodile evolution
  • The cockroach escape system
  • The resistance of cockroaches against radiation: Myth or fact?
  • Temperature regulation in the honey bee swarm
  • Irresponsible dog breeding can often lead to an excess of stray dogs and animal cruelty
  • Reliable communication signals in birds

Also see:  How to Write an 8 Page Research Paper ?

Animal Research Topics For University

anima research topics for university

  • Color patterns of moths and moths
  • Mimicry in the sexual signals of fireflies
  • Ecophysiology of the garter snake
  • Memory, dreams regarding cat neurology
  • Spatiotemporal variation in the composition of animal communities
  • Detection of prey in the sand scorpion
  • Internal rhythms in bird migration
  • Genealogy: Giant Panda
  • Animal dissection: Severe type of animal cruelty and a huge blow to animal rights
  • Cuckoo coevolution and patterns
  • Use of plant extracts from Amazonian plants for the design of integrated pest management
  • Research on flying field bug
  • The usefulness of mosquitoes in biological control serves to isolate viruses
  • Habitat use by the Mediterranean Ant
  • Genetic structure of the  African golden wolf  based on its habitat
  • Birds body odor on their interaction with mosquitoes and parasites
  • The role of ecology in the evolution of coloration in owls
  • The invasion of the red swamp crayfish
  • Molecular taxonomy and biogeography of caprellids
  • Bats of Mexico and United States
  • What can animal rights NGOs do in case of animal cruelty during animal testing initiatives?

Or you can try 297 High School Research Paper Topics to Top The Class

Controversial Animal Research Topics

controversial animal research topics

  • Is it okay to adopt an animal for experimentation?
  • The authorization procedures on animals for scientific experiments
  • The objective of total elimination of animal testing
  • Are there concrete examples of successful scientific advances resulting from animal experimentation?
  • Animal rights for exotic animals: Protection of forests and wildlife
  • How can animal rights help the endangered animals
  • Animal experimentations are a type of animal cruelty: A detailed analysis
  • Animal testing: encouraging the use of alternative methods
  • Use of animals for the evaluation of chemical substances
  • Holding seminars on the protection of animals
  • Measures to take against animal cruelty
  • Scientific research on marine life
  • Scientific experiments on animals for medical research
  • Experimentation on great apes
  • Toxicological tests and other safety studies on chemical substances
  • Why isn’t research done directly on humans rather than animals?
  • Are animals necessary to approve new drugs and new medical technologies?
  • Are the results of animal experiments transferable to humans?
  • Humans are not animals, which is why animal research is not effective
  • What medical advances have been made possible by animal testing?
  • Animals never leave laboratories alive
  • Scientific interest does not motivate the use of animal research
  • Animal research is torture 
  • How can a layperson work against the animal testing?

Every crime is a controversy too, right? Here are some juicy  Criminal Justice Research Paper Topics  as well.

Animal Research Topics: Animal Rights

animal research topics animal rights

  • Growing awareness of the animal suffering generated by these experiments
  • What are the alternatives to animal testing?
  • Who takes care of animal welfare?
  • Major global organizations working for animal rights
  • Animal rights in developing countries
  • International animal rights standards to work against animal cruelty
  • Animal cruelty in developing countries
  • What can a layperson do when seeing animal cruelty
  • Role of society in the prevention of animal cruelty
  • Animal welfare and animal rights: measures taken against animal cruelty in developing countries
  • Animal cruelty in the name of science
  • How can we raise a better, empathetic and warm-hearted children to put a stop to animal cruelty
  • Ethical animal testing methods with safety
  • Are efforts being made to reduce the number of animals used?
  • The welfare of donkeys and their socioeconomic roles in the subcontinent
  • Animal cruelty and superstitious conceptions of dogs, cats, and donkeys in subcontinent
  • Efforts made by international organizations against the tragedy of animal cruelty
  • International organizations working for animal welfare
  • Animal abuse: What are the immediate measures to take when we see animal cruelty
  • Efforts to stop animal abuse in South Asian Countries
  • Animal abuse in the name of biomedical research

Talking about social causes, let’s have a look at social work topics too: 206  Social Work Research Topics

Interesting Animal Research Topics

interesting animal research topics

  • The urbanization process and its effect on the dispersal of birds:
  • Patterns of diversification in Neotropical amphibians
  • Interactions between non-native parrot species
  • Impact of landscape anthropization dynamics and wild birds’ health
  • Habitat-driven diversification in small mammals
  • Seasonal fluctuations and life cycles of amphipods
  • Animal cruelty in African countries
  • Evolution of the environmental niche of amphibians
  • Biological studies on Louisiana crawfish
  • Biological studies on Pink bollworm
  • Biological studies on snails
  • Biological studies on Bush Crickets
  • Biological studies on Mountain Gorillas
  • Biological studies on piranha
  • Consequences of mosquito feeding
  • Birds as bioindicators of environmental health
  • Biological studies on victoria crowned pigeon
  • Biological studies on black rhinoceros
  • Biological studies on European spider
  • Biological studies on dumbo octopus
  • Biological studies on markhor
  • Study of genetic and demographic variation in amphibian populations
  • Ecology and population dynamics of the blackberry turtle
  • Small-scale population differentiation in ecological and evolutionary mechanisms
  • Challenges in vulture conservation

Also interesting: 232  Chemistry Research Topics  To Make Your Neurochemicals Dance

Submarine Animals Research Topics

submarine animals research topics

  • The physiology behind the luminous fish
  • A study of Fish population dynamics
  • Study of insects on the surface of the water
  • Structure and function of schools of fish
  • Physiological ecology of whales and dolphins
  • Form and function in fish locomotion
  • Why do whales and dolphins jump?
  • Impact of Noise on Early Development and Hearing in Zebrafish
  • Animal cruelty against marine life on the hand of fishermen

Read More:  Accounting Research Topics

Animal Biology Research Topics

animal biology research topics

  • Systematic and zoogeographical study of the ocellated lizards
  • Morphological study of neuro histogenesis in the diencephalon of the chick embryo
  • Anatomical study of three species of Nudibranch
  • The adaptive strategy of two species of lagomorphs
  • The Black vulture: population, general biology, and interactions with other birds
  • Ocellated lizards: their phylogeny and taxonomy
  • Studies on the behavior of ocellated lizards in captivity
  • Comparative studies of the egg-laying and egg-hatching methods of ocellated lizards
  • Studies on the ecology and behavior of ocellated lizards
  • The taxonomic and phylogenetic implications of ocellated lizards
  • Research on the egg-laying and egg-hatching methods of ocellated lizards
  • Studies on the ecology and behavior of ocellated lizards in their natural environment
  • Comparative studies of the egg-laying and egg-hatching methods of ocellated lizards in different countries
  • Studies on the ecology and behavior of ocellated lizards in their natural environment in the light of evolutionary and ecological insights

Animal research topics are not hard to find for you anymore. As you have already read a load of them. You can use any of them and ace your research paper, and you don’t even need to ask permission. If you are looking for a research paper writing service , be it animal research, medical research, or any sort of research, you can contact us 24/7.

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research on animals topics

An Evolutionary ‘Big Bang’ Explains Why Snakes Come in So Many Strange Varieties

Snakes saw a burst of adaptation about 128 million years ago that led to them exploding in diversity and evolving up to three times faster than lizards

Jack Tamisiea

research on animals topics

Chimpanzees and Bonobos Have Surprisingly Different Parenting Styles

Chimpanzee “helicopter moms” often protect their offspring from bullies, but bonobo moms are more hands-off

Elizabeth Anne Brown

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Leaving Pet Poop on the Sidewalk Isn’t Only Bad Manners—It’s Hazardous

Signs reminding pet owners to “curb" their dog and scoop their pet’s poop have been joined in some places by posted warnings that pet waste can spread disease

Julia Wuerz, The Conversation US

research on animals topics

How Did an Aquarium Stingray Get Pregnant without a Mate?

Charlotte, a stingray in a small North Carolina aquarium, is taking a DIY approach to reproduction

Stephanie Pappas

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Why So Many Savanna Animals Mate for Life

From jackals to hornbills, many grassland animals form a deep bond with their partner

Devin Farmiloe

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Antarctica’s Penguins Could Be Devastated by Avian Influenza

Scientists are watching closely to see whether avian influenza will reach Antarctica before this year’s penguin chicks disperse for the season

Meghan Bartels

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Why Do Birds Have Such Skinny Legs?

The songbirds in your backyard hop around on such itty-bitty legs. Here’s why bird legs are so skinny and how they can support a bird’s weight

Asher Elbein

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Females Dominate Males in Many Primate Species

Most primate societies have long been assumed to be male-dominated, but a new study shows many have females in charge or feature power sharing

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Why Do Dogs Wag Their Tail?

Is your dog’s tail-wagging a side effect of domestication, or did humans select for it?

Tom Metcalfe

research on animals topics

A Dog Breed’s Size and Face Shape Might Predict How Long It Lives

Traits such as face shape, size and sex help predict a dog breed’s life span

research on animals topics

Stopping the Latest Outbreak Threat: Chronic Wasting Disease

A spillover of the neurological disease to humans from deer, elk, and other animals could be devastating

Jim Robbins, KFF Health News

research on animals topics

Why Insects Are Attracted to Light at Night

Contrary to popular lore, insects do not confuse artificial light for the moon

Rachel Nuwer

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Science News

A tiny brown frog sits just off center on a Brazilian real coin.

The Brazilian flea toad may be the world’s smallest vertebrate

Brazilian flea toads are neither a flea nor a toad, but they are almost flea-sized. The frogs are small enough to fit on a pinkie fingernail.

Snake venom toxins can be neutralized by a new synthetic antibody

A new book explores the transformative power of bird-watching, more stories in animals.

research on animals topics

Does this drone image show a newborn white shark? Experts aren’t sure

If a claim of the first-ever sighting of a newborn white shark holds, it could help solve a mystery of where adult white sharks give birth.

Five white and black rays are pictured swimming under sunrays filtering through the ocean's surface.

Migratory fish species are in drastic decline, a new UN report details

The most comprehensive tally of how migrating animals are faring looks at more than 1,000 land and aquatic species and aims to find ways to protect them.

Bull shark angled head on approach in blue water near surface with fish

Here’s how many shark bites there were in 2023

The chance of being bitten by a shark is still incredibly slim, according to a new report from the Florida Museum of Natural History.

A photograph of a pseudoscorpion (Nannowithius wahrmani) hitching a ride on the back of a scorpion (Birulatus israelensis).

The first known scorpion to live with ants carries mini hitchhikers

Small arachnids hitch a ride on the scorpion, possibly to get inside food-rich ant nests.

An assortment of dogs, some sitting and some standing, look at the camera. Shown breeds include a bulldog, a chihuahua, schnauzers and a Yorkshire terrier.

Explore the expected life spans of different dog breeds

An analysis of dogs in the United Kingdom found that breeds like miniature dachshunds have the longest life spans while bulldogs have the shortest.

A photograph of a rosy-faced lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis) against tree bark.

Parrots can move along thin branches using ‘beakiation’

The movement involves swinging along the underside of branches with their beaks and feet, similar to how primates swing between trees.

Multiple images of a yellow brimstone butterfly are shown via motion capture. The insect is flying in circles, with its back pointing toward an illuminated tube light inside a flight arena at Imperial College London.

Insects flocking to artificial lights may not know which way is up

Insects may use light to figure out where the ground is. Artificial lights send them veering off course, data from high-speed infrared cameras suggests.

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What parrots can teach us about human intelligence

By studying the brains and behaviors of parrots, scientists hope to learn more about how humanlike intelligence evolves.

A photograph of two lionesses walking through the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya with minimal tree cover.

How an invasive ant changed a lion’s dinner menu

An invasive ant is killing off ants that defend trees from elephants. With less cover, it’s harder for lions to hunt zebras, so they hunt buffalo instead.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.

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Articles on Animal research

Displaying 1 - 20 of 30 articles.

research on animals topics

Research shows giraffes can use statistical reasoning. They’re the first animal with a relatively small brain known to do this

Scarlett Howard , Monash University

research on animals topics

Can we ethically justify harming animals for research?

Julian Koplin , Monash University

research on animals topics

What is ethical animal research? A scientist and veterinarian explain

Lana Ruvolo Grasser , National Institutes of Health and Rachelle Stammen , Emory University

research on animals topics

Talking things out: How institutional transparency could improve animal research

Michael W. Brunt , University of Guelph

research on animals topics

We’re creating ‘humanized pigs’ in our ultraclean lab to study human illnesses and treatments

Christopher Tuggle , Iowa State University and Adeline Boettcher , Iowa State University

research on animals topics

Meet the Egyptian spiny mouse: this menstruating rodent may help us understand human pregnancy

Jarrod McKenna , Monash University

research on animals topics

Apes, robots and men: the life and death of the first space chimp

Alice Gorman , Flinders University

research on animals topics

‘Living fossils’: we mapped half a billion years of horseshoe crabs to save them from blood harvests

Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell , University of New England and Stephen Pates , Harvard University

research on animals topics

This lizard lays eggs and gives live birth. We think it’s undergoing a major evolutionary transition

Charles Foster , University of Sydney and Camilla Whittington , University of Sydney

research on animals topics

International Women’s Day: Female biologists bring much-needed perspective to science

Hannah Thomasy , University of Toronto

research on animals topics

Is it time for Australia to be more open about research involving animals?

Tyler Paytas , Australian Catholic University

research on animals topics

Animal research: is it a necessary evil?

Clara Mackenzie , University of Stirling

research on animals topics

Is the red wine compound resveratrol a miracle drug for infertility and ageing?

Lindsay Wu , UNSW Sydney

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Using monkeys for research is justified – it’s giving us treatments that would be otherwise impossible

Stuart Baker , Newcastle University

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Animal research: varying standards are leading to bad science

Lauren Emily Wright , University of Padua

research on animals topics

Men and women could use different cells to process pain

Edmund Keogh , University of Bath

research on animals topics

Climbing the tree: the case for chimpanzee ‘personhood’

Jane Johnson , Macquarie University

research on animals topics

The unknown crocodiles

Vladimir Dinets , University of Tennessee

research on animals topics

Fewer animals being used for research but testing is still vital to finding cures

Suzy Buckley , UCL

research on animals topics

Tighter rules mean Brazil is now kicking goals on animal welfare

Monika Merkes, La Trobe University and Rob Buttrose , The University of Melbourne

Related Topics

  • Animal ethics
  • Animal rights
  • Animal testing
  • Animal welfare
  • Medical research
  • Research ethics

Top contributors

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The University of Melbourne

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Honorary Associate, Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing, La Trobe University

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PhD Scholar, University of Sydney

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Senior Research Fellow, Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford

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Professor of Psychology, University of Bath

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Research officer, Macquarie University

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Postdoctoral Fellow, Macquarie University

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Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne

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Professor of Anatomical Neuropharmacology, University of Oxford

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Lecturer in Philosophy of Science, University of Sydney

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Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University

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Lecturer, UCL

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Research Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Tennessee

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Postdoctoral Researcher in Mitochondrial Biology and Metabolism, University of Padua

research on animals topics

Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Western Sydney University

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Animal Science Subject Guide — Research Topics

  • Starting Your Research Project
  • Searching Scholarly Databases
  • Encyclopedias & Handbooks
  • Finding Books
  • Other Information Sources
  • Useful Tools

Narrowing a topic

Sometimes narrowing to a specific topic does not come naturally and can be a difficult task. Here are some techniques available to make this process simpler.

  • First, pick a topic in which you are interested. You will spend a lot of time with your topic and you will do a better job with it if you find the topic enjoyable. As you search through potential topics, note which pique your interest and follow them further.
  • Look for a topic with some recent controversy or a set of related topics which can be compared and contrasted.
  • Pick a topic which you have some hope of understanding. If you cannot understand the basics you will not be able to write about it. Not all topics are appropriate for undergraduate paper writing.

Some additional sites with help on choosing and narrowing topics are listed below.

  • Choosing and Narrowing a Topic
  • Narrowing a Topic
  • Narrowing a Topic and Developing a Research Question
  • Identifying when a Topic is Too Narrow or Too Broad

Where to find possible topics for science papers

If you don't know on what topic you want to write a paper, start by looking in sources with broad spreads of relevant information. 

  • Search any database by a particular journal or review journal (Science, Nature, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, etc.)
  • Look for a classic topic in your textbook 
  • Scan popular science sciences magazines such as Bioscience, Scientific American, Discover, etc.
  • Go to the popular  website  www.sciencedaily.com which covers most aspects of science and search for a topic
  • Search for ideas in the encyclopedias, handbooks or other books listed in this guide on a separate page
  • If you have some idea of a topic, search for review articles on that topic in one of the science databases listed in this guide
  • Search the table of contents of a journal which specializes in review articles, such as Trends in Ecology and Evolution

Search Strategies for Topics

Part of picking a topic will involve conducting literature searches. As you search for your topic(s) start with searches as BROAD as possible, while remaining relevant to your topic. Starting broad will give a breadth of coverage that allows you easy options for narrowing your topic. If you start with a narrow topic it is much harder to broaden your topic later to explore more options.

Describe your topic in a sentence.

How did carnivorous plants evolve digestive enzymes?

What are your major concepts? Identify the main elements of your topic.

Think of related terms for your concepts. Use both common words and scientific terms.

Add Boolean Operators (AND & OR) to structure the search in a database search interface.

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  • Last Updated: Sep 14, 2023 10:44 AM
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How tracking animal movement may save the planet

Researchers have been dreaming of an Internet of Animals. They’re getting closer to monitoring 100,000 creatures—and revealing hidden facets of our shared world.

  • Matthew Ponsford archive page

Icarus with wings of solar satellite blades rising above the earth where animals can be seen like an elephant, snake, whale, flamingo and polar bear.

There was something strange about the way the sharks were moving between the islands of the Bahamas.

Tiger sharks tend to hug the shoreline, explains marine biologist Austin Gallagher, but when he began tagging the 1,000-pound animals with satellite transmitters in 2016, he discovered that these predators turned away from it, toward two ancient underwater hills made of sand and coral fragments that stretch out 300 miles toward Cuba. They were spending a lot of time “crisscrossing, making highly tortuous, convoluted movements” to be near them, Gallagher says. 

It wasn’t immediately clear what attracted sharks to the area: while satellite images clearly showed the subsea terrain, they didn’t pick up anything out of the ordinary. It was only when Gallagher and his colleagues attached 360-degree cameras to the animals that they were able to confirm what they were so drawn to: vast, previously unseen seagrass meadows—a biodiverse habitat that offered a smorgasbord of prey.   

The discovery did more than solve a minor mystery of animal behavior. Using the data they gathered from the sharks, the researchers were able to map an expanse of seagrass stretching across 93,000 square kilometers of Caribbean seabed—extending the total known global seagrass coverage by more than 40%, according to a study Gallagher’s team published in 2022. This revelation could have huge implications for efforts to protect threatened marine ecosystems—seagrass meadows are a nursery for one-fifth of key fish stocks and habitats for endangered marine species—and also for all of us above the waves, as seagrasses can capture carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. 

Animals have long been able to offer unique insights about the natural world around us, acting as organic sensors picking up phenomena that remain invisible to humans. More than 100 years ago, leeches signaled storms ahead by slithering out of the water; canaries warned of looming catastrophe in coal mines until the 1980s; and mollusks that close when exposed to toxic substances are still used to trigger alarms in municipal water systems in Minneapolis and Poland. 

a tiger shark seen underwater with a camera on its flank

These days, we have more insight into animal behavior than ever before thanks to sensor tags, which have helped researchers answer key questions about globe-spanning migrations and the sometimes hard-to-reach places animals visit along the way. In turn, tagged animals have increasingly become partners in scientific discovery and planetary monitoring.

But the data we gather from these animals still adds up to only a relatively narrow slice of the whole picture. Results are often confined to silos, and for many years tags were big and expensive, suitable only for a handful of animal species—like tiger sharks—that are powerful (or large) enough to transport them. 

This is beginning to change. Researchers are asking: What will we find if we follow even the smallest animals? What if we could monitor a sample of all the world’s wildlife to see how different species’ lives intersect? What could we learn from a big-data system of animal movement, continuously monitoring how creatures big and small adapt to the world around us? It may be, some researchers believe, a vital tool in the effort to save our increasingly crisis-plagued planet. 

Wearables for the wild

Just a few years ago, a project called ICARUS seemed ready to start answering the big questions about animal movement. 

A team led by Martin Wikelski, a director at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in southern Germany and a pioneer in the field, launched a new generation of affordable and lightweight GPS sensors that could be worn by animals as small as songbirds, fish, and rodents. 

Wikelski holding a bat with a tag on its leg

These Fitbits for wild creatures, to use Wikelski’s analogy, could produce live location data accurate to a few meters and simultaneously allow scientists to monitor animals’ heart rates, body heat, and sudden movements, plus the temperature, humidity, and air pressure in their surroundings. The signals they transmitted would be received by a three-meter antenna affixed to the International Space Station—the result of a €50 million investment from the German Aerospace Centre and the Russian Space Agency—and beamed down to a data bank on Earth, producing a map of the animals’ paths in close to real time as they crisscrossed the globe.

Wikelski and his peers hoped the project, formally the International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space, would provide insights about a much wider variety of animals than they’d previously been able to track. It also aimed to show proof of concept for Wikelski’s dream of the past several decades: the Internet of Animals—a big-data system that monitors and analyzes animal behavior to help us understand the planet and predict the future of the environment.

Researchers have been laying the groundwork for years, connecting disparate data sets on animal movement, the environment, and weather and analyzing them with the help of AI and automated analytics . But Wikelski had his sights on something even grander and more comprehensive: a dashboard in which 100,000 sensor-tagged animals could be simultaneously monitored as near-real-time data flowed in from Earth-imaging satellites and ground-based sources. 

By bringing together each of these snapshots of animals’ lives, we might begin to understand the forces that are shaping life across the planet. The project had the potential to help us better understand and conserve the world’s most vulnerable species, showing how animals are responding to the challenges of climate change and ecosystem loss. It also promised another way to monitor the Earth itself during a period of increasing instability, transforming our animal co-inhabitants into sentinels of a changing world. 

When ICARUS first went into space in 2018, it was widely celebrated in the press. Yet what should have been a moment of glory for Wikelski and the field of animal ecology instead became a test of his will. The ICARUS antenna first went down for a year because of a technical issue; it went back up but was only just out of testing in February 2022 when the Russian invasion of Ukraine halted the project altogether.

Wikelski and his peers, though, have used the time since to innovate and evangelize. They now envision a more complete and technologically advanced version of the Internet of Animals than the one they hoped to build even just a few years ago, thanks to innovations in tracking technologies and AI and satellite systems. They have made even smaller and cheaper sensors and found a new, more affordable way to work in space with microsatellites called CubeSats. Their efforts have even gotten NASA to invest its time and resources into the possibility of building the Internet of Animals.

Now Wikelski and his collaborators are again on the verge, with an experimental CubeSat successfully transmitting data as part of a testing phase that started last June. If all goes as planned, another fully operational ICARUS CubeSat will begin collecting data next year, with more launches to follow. 

The potential benefits of this system are extraordinary and still not yet fully understood, says Scott Yanco, a researcher in movement ecology at the University of Michigan. Perhaps it could help prevent mountain lion attacks or warn about a zoonotic disease about to make a jump to humans. It could alert researchers of behavioral changes that seem to happen in some animals before earthquakes, a phenomenon Wikelski has studied, and determine what conditions tell boobies in the Indo-Pacific to lay fewer eggs in years before strong El Niños or signal to weaver birds in the Niger Delta to build their nests higher up before floods. 

“You can talk to 100 scientists about this,” Yanco says, “and they’re all going to give you a different answer of what they’re interested in.”

But first, a lot still needs to go right. 

Animals as sentinels

When I first spoke with Wikelski, in early 2022, ICARUS was live, tracking 46 species from the ISS 400 kilometers overhead. Wearing a pair of square-rimmed glasses and speaking in a German accent with a tone of unfailing urgency, he was excited to tell me about a tagged blackbird who made a 1,000-or-so-kilometer crossing from Belarus to Albania. 

That was actually pretty routine, Wikelski said, but almost everything else he had been seeing over the past year of road-testing had been stranger than expected. White storks were crossing back and forth over the Sahara five times a season, without apparent reason. Cuckoos, which are tree-dwelling birds ill suited to long periods at sea, were making uninterrupted journeys from India to the Horn of Africa. “Now, any time you look, totally novel aspects appear, and novel connections appear across continents,” he told me.

This could have been a mystifying mess. But for Wikelski, it was “beautiful data.” 

The practice of tagging animals to monitor their movements has been used for more than 100 years, though it began with a stroke of luck. In the 1820s, a hunter in a village in central Africa threw a 30-inch spear that lodged itself nonfatally in the neck of a white stork. This became what might have been the world’s first tag on a wild animal, says Yanco: the bird somehow flew back to Germany in the spring, helping settle the mystery of where storks disappeared to in the winter. 

By the 1890s, scientists had started tracking wild birds with bands fitted around their legs—but 49 out of every 50 ring-tagged birds were never seen again. Starting in the 1960s, thousands of birds received very-high-frequency radio tags known as “pingers,” but these were only powerful enough to broadcast a few kilometers. To capture the data, researchers had to embark on cartoonish chase scenes, in which tagged birds were pursued by an oversize homing antenna pointed out the roof of a car, plane, or hang-glider. 

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Wikelski tried all three. During a stint at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in the mid-’90s, he was studying thrushes and would gun an Oldsmobile around the Midwest at over 70 miles per hour. He’d set off as the songbirds got going at around 2 a.m., which tended to draw the attention of local police. Wikelski found that contrary to the conventional wisdom, thrushes used just 29% of their energy on their overnight migrations, less than they expended hunting and sheltering during stopovers. But the hassle of his process, which also entailed capturing and recapturing birds to weigh them, convinced Wikelski that, among other things, he needed better tools.

Thinking bigger (and higher) 

It was not immediately clear that the solution to Wikelski’s problems would be in space, though the idea of tracking animals via satellite had been explored decades before his Oldsmobile experiments. 

In fact, NASA invented space-based animal tracking back in 1970 when it strapped a transmitter collar the weight of two bowling balls around the neck of Monique the Space Elk , a local news celebrity at the time. (Monique was actually two elks: the anointed Monique, who wore a dummy collar for testing and press photos, and another, who accidentally caught a misfired tranquilizer dart and subsequently got the satellite transmitter collar.) After the Moniques met untimely deaths—one from starvation, the other at the hands of a hunter—the project went dormant too. 

But its research lived on in Argos, a weather monitoring system established in 1978 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the French space agency. It pioneered a way to track a tagged animal’s location by beaming up a short stream of analog data and measuring wave compression—the so-called Doppler shift—as a polar-­orbiting satellite zoomed overhead at thousands of miles an hour. But this captured locations to only a few hundred meters, at best, and typically required a clear line of sight between tag and satellite—a challenge when working with animals below the canopy of rainforests, for instance. 

Wikelski worked extensively with Argos but found that the technology didn’t enable him to capture the highly detailed whole-life data he craved. By the late ’90s, he was on an island in Panama, exploring an alternative approach that followed hundreds of animals from 38 species, including small mammals and insects. 

Using six long-distance radio towers , Wikelski and Roland Kays, now the director of the Biodiversity Laboratory at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, started to develop the Automated Radio Telemetry System (ARTS) , a radio collar tracking system that could penetrate thick canopy. Crucially, ARTS revealed interactions between species—for example, how predatory ocelots support the island’s palm trees by eating large quantities of rabbit-like agoutis, after the rodents bury palm seeds underground as a snack for later. The researchers also found that despite what everyone believed, many of the animal inhabitants don’t remain on the island year-round, but frequently travel to the mainland. Kays and Wikelski had demonstrated in microcosm the kinds of insights that fine-grained multispecies tracking could provide even in challenging environments.

But Wikelski was frustrated that he couldn’t follow animals off the map. “If we don’t know the fate of an animal, we will never be able to really do good biology,” he says. The only solution would be to have a map with no edge. 

This was around the time that GPS trackers became small enough to be used in animal tags. While radio tags like those used by Argos estimated location by transmitting signals to receivers, GPS systems like those in cars download data from three or more satellites to triangulate location precisely. 

Wikelski became a man possessed by the idea of using this technology to create a truly global animal monitoring system. He envisioned digital tags that could capture GPS data throughout the day and upload packets of data to satellites that would periodically pass overhead. This idea would generate both excitement and a lot of skepticism. Peers told Wikelski that his dream system was unrealistic and unworkable.

At the turn of the millennium, he took a position at Princeton with the notion that the institutional pedigree might earn an audience for his “crazy” idea. Not long after he arrived, the chief of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory came for a talk, and Wikelski asked whether the agency would benefit from a satellite system that could track birds. “He looked at me as if I came from a different planet,” Wikelski remembers. Still, he got a meeting with NASA—though he says he was laughed out of the building. By this time, the agency had apparently forgotten all about Monique. 

Undeterred, in 2002 Wikelski launched ICARUS, a half-joke (for fans of Greek mythology) at his own immodest ambitions. It aimed to use digital GPS tags and satellites that would relay the information to a data center on Earth nearly as instantly as the ARTS system had.

Wikelski’s big ideas continued to run into big doubts. “At the time, people told us technology-wise, it will never work,” he says. Even 10 years ago, when Wikelski was making proposals to space agencies, he was told to avoid digital tech altogether in favor of tried-and-tested Argos-style communication. “Don’t go digital!” he recalls people telling him. “This is completely impossible! You have to do it analog.” 

Moving away from the fringe

In the two decades since ICARUS was established, the scientific community has caught up, thanks to developments in consumer tech. The Internet of Things made two-way digital communications with small devices viable, while lithium batteries have shrunk to sizes that more animals can carry and smartphones have made low-cost GPS and accelerometers increasingly available.

“We’re going from where we couldn’t really track most vertebrate species on the planet to flipping it. We’re now able to track most things,” says Yanco, emphasizing that this is possible “to varying degrees of accuracy and resolution.” 

The other key advance has been in data systems, and in particular the growth of Movebank, a central repository of animal tracking data that was developed from Wikelski’s ARTS system. Movebank brings together terrestrial-animal tracking data from various streams, including location data from the Argos system and from new high-res digital satellites, like ICARUS’s antenna on the ISS. (There are also plans to incorporate CubeSat data.) To date, it has collected 6 billion data points from more than 1,400 species, tracking animals’ full life cycles in ways that Wikelski once could only dream about. It is now a key part of the plumbing of the animal internet. 

The field also had some practical successes, which in turn allowed it to marshal additional resources. In 2016 in London, for instance, where air pollution was responsible for nearly 10,000 human deaths a year, researchers from Imperial College and the tech startup Plume Labs released 10 racing pigeons equipped with sensors for nitrogen dioxide and ozone emissions from traffic. Daily updates (tweeted out by the Pigeon Air Patrol account) showed how taking a pigeon’s path through the neighborhoods revealed pollution hot spots that weather stations missed.

Diego Ellis Soto, a NASA research fellow and a Yale PhD candidate studying animal ecology, highlights an experiment from 2018 : flocks of storks were outfitted with high-resolution GPS collars to monitor the air movements they encountered over the open ocean. Tagged storks were able to capture live data on turbulence, which can be notoriously hard for airlines to predict.

Among the critical roles for these animal sensors was one that was once considered eccentric: predicting weather and the world’s fast-changing climate patterns. Animals equipped with temperature and pressure sensors essentially act as free-roaming weather buoys that can beam out readings from areas underserved by weather stations, including polar regions, small islands, and much of the Global South. Satellites struggle to measure many environmental variables, including ocean temperatures, which can also be prohibitively expensive for drones to collect. “Eighty percent of all measurements in Antarctica of sea surface temperature are collected by elephant seals, and not by robots or icebreakers,” Ellis Soto says. “These seals can just swim underneath the ice and [do] stuff that robots can’t do.” The seals are now tagged yearly , and the data they collect helps refine weather models that predict El Niño and sea-level rise.

When the ICARUS antenna was installed on the ISS in August 2018, it seemed poised to unlock even more capabilities and discoveries. In the antenna’s short life, the project recorded the movements of bats, birds, and antelope in near-real time, from Alaska to the islands of Papua New Guinea, and transferred the data to Movebank. But when the experiment ground to a premature halt, Wikelski knew he’d have to do something different, and he concocted a plan by which ICARUS could continue—whether it could rely on a major space agency or not.

Another shot

Rather than a system of major satellites, the new incarnation of ICARUS will run on CubeSats: low-cost, off-the-shelf microsatellites launched into low Earth orbit (around the same height as the ISS) for around $800,000, meaning even developing nations that harbor space ambitions can be part of the project. CubeSats also offer the benefit of truly global coverage; the ISS’s orbital path means it can’t pick up signals from polar regions further north than southern Sweden or further south than the tip of Chile.

There’s currently one ICARUS CubeSat in testing, having launched into orbit last summer. If all goes well, a CubeSat funded by the Max Planck Society, in collaboration with the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, will launch next April, followed by another in winter 2025, and—they’re hoping—another in 2026. Each further addition allows the tags to upload once more per day, increasing the temporal resolution and bringing the system closer to truly real-time tracking. 

research on animals topics

Outfitting even small animals with lightweight, inexpensive GPS sensors, like the one on this blackbird, and monitoring how they move around the world could provide insights into the global effects of climate change.

Wikelski and his partners have also rededicated themselves to making even smaller tags. They’re close to the goal of getting them down to three grams, which would in theory make it possible to track more than half of mammal species and around two-fifths of birds, plus hundreds of species of crocodiles, turtles, and lizards. ICARUS’s tags are also now cheaper (costing just $150) and smarter. ICARUS developed AI-on-chip systems that can reduce the energy use by orders of magnitude to cut down on the size of batteries, Wikelski explains. There are also new tags being tested by scientists from the University of Copenhagen and Wikelski’s institute at Max Planck that harvest energy from animal movements , like a self-winding wristwatch. Finally, these new ICARUS sensors can also be reprogrammed remotely, thanks to their two-way Internet of Things–style communications. A new ecosystem of tag makers—professional and DIY—is further driving down prices, open-sourcing innovation, and allowing experimentation. 

Still, not everyone has bought into ICARUS. Critics question the costs compared with those of existing terrestrial monitoring initiatives like MOTUS, a national Canadian bird conservation program that uses a network of 750 receiving towers. Others argue that researchers can make better use of the thousands of animals already tracked by Argos, which is upgrading to more accurate tags and is also set to launch a series of CubeSats. The total cost of a fully realized ICARUS system—100,000 animals at any one time, some of which die or disappear as new ones are tagged—is around $10 million to $15 million a year. “If you’re thinking about how to tag a moose or bighorn sheep, you might need to hire a helicopter and the whole team and the vet,” says Ellis Soto, who has long collaborated with Wikelski. “So the costs can be extremely, extremely limiting.” 

But, proponents argue, the initiative would beget a lot more information than other Earth-imaging space missions and be significantly cheaper than sending humans or drones to collect data from remote locations like polar ice sheets. Wikelski also emphasizes that no one entity will bear the cost. He is working with local communities in Bhutan, South Africa, Thailand, China, Russia, and Nigeria and gets requests from people across the world who want to connect tags to ICARUS. With cheap satellites and cheap tags, he sees a route to scale. 

Even as ICARUS explores a grassroots future, one of the biggest changes since the initial launch is the backing Internet of Animals technology has received from the biggest giant in the field: NASA. The agency is now two years into a five-year project to explore how it might get more involved in building out such a system. “We’re very much focused on developing future mission concepts that will come after the current set of ICARUS missions,” says Ryan Pavlick, a researcher in remote sensing of biodiversity at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 2024, this will mean “architecture studies” that aim to understand what technical systems might meet the animal-tracking needs of stakeholders including NOAA, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the United States Geological Survey. 

While NASA’s project aims to deliver benefits for the American people, a fully realized Internet of Animals would necessarily be global and interspecies. When we spoke in November 2023, Wikelski had just got off the phone discussing how ICARUS can help monitor the global “deal for nature” established by the UN’s COP15 biodiversity conference, whose targets include reducing extinction rates by a factor of 10. 

Jill Deppe, who leads the National Audubon Society’s Migratory Bird Initiative, has boundless enthusiasm for how an Internet of Animals could affect organizations like hers. For a century, Audubon has watched migratory birds disappear on journeys to Chile or Colombia. A system that could tell us where birds are dying across the entire Western Hemisphere would allow Audubon to precisely target investments in habitat protection and efforts to address threats, she says.  

“Our on-the-ground conservation work is all done on a local scale,” says Deppe. For migratory birds, ICARUS can link these isolated moments into a storyline that spans continents: “How do all of those factors and processes interact? And what does that mean for the birds’ survival?”

Movebank’s live-updating dashboard also makes more dynamic conservation action possible. Beaches can be closed as exhausted shorebirds land, wind farms can halt turbines as bats migrate through, and conservation-conscious farmers—who already aim to flood fields or drain them at times that suit migrating flocks—can do so with real knowledge. 

In return, will animals really help us see the future of the planet’s climate? 

No one is suggesting that animals take over from the system of satellites, weather stations, balloons, and ocean buoys that currently feed into meteorologists’ complex models. Yet technology that complements these dependable data streams, that captures the ever-changing biological signals of seals, storks, sharks, and other species, is already starting to fill in gaps in our knowledge. Once considered cryptic signs from the fates, or harbingers of doom, their behaviors are messages that have only just begun to show us ways to live on a changing planet. 

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244 Awesome Animal Topics for Research Papers

animal topics for research papers

So, did your professor just asked you to write an exceptional animals research paper? You may think that it is an easy assignment, but it may not be. Don’t wait until the last possible moment to write this essay because you may not be able to do a good job on it. Even though you know how to write the paper, there is another problem you need to take into consideration: finding a great topic.

Truth be told, finding excellent animal topics for research papers is a lot more difficult than you think. Yes, you can find many such topics on the Internet, but you won’t be able to find an original one. Unfortunately, your classmates are using the same websites to look for ideas. This means that you could pick a topic that one or more of your classmates have already selected. Your teacher will definitely not appreciate it, and this will reflect on your final grade.

Looking for Awesome Animal Topics for Research Papers?

All students looking for research paper on animals should visit this page periodically. Our topics are the best and they are all 100% original. Also, many of them are relatively easy to use. Keep in mind that a good topic is one that has plenty of information about it on the Internet. Why spend days doing the research when you can start writing the paper right away?

But why would you choose our animal research topics? There are surely other good topics on the Internet. Well, there really aren’t that many good ideas on other websites. Here are just some of the reasons to take a look at our ideas and pick the best topics for your next research paper:

All our ideas are original at the time this article was written. These topics have been created by our experienced ENL writers. We are working hard to add new topics periodically. Also, we are removing topics that are not of interest anymore. You can use any of our topics without having to pay anything. Yes, this list of topics really is 100 percent free. You do not have to give credit to our website when you use a topic you find on this page. You are free to reword our topics as you see fit. You can always get in touch with our experienced writers and editors if you need more topics. We can compile a brand new list just for you in no time.

Choose One of Our 244 Research Topics About Animals

You can find everything from animal rights to veterinary doctor topics in our latest list of 244 animal topics for a research paper. Enjoy:

Easy Animal Topics to Write About

If you are looking for some easy animal topics to write about, we have the best ideas. Check out the ideas below and pick the best one for your next research paper:

  • Discuss a well-known Asiatic horse breed
  • Dog vs. cat as a pet
  • How to train a pony quickly
  • Polar bears at the South Pole?
  • Saving the last remaining orangutans
  • The weirdest 3 animals on Earth
  • Poaching and its negative effects
  • Best ways to train a dog
  • Negative effects of veal on humans
  • Best ways to train a cat
  • Discuss the classification of migratory birds
  • Why are penguins flightless birds?
  • Africa and its wildlife: an in-depth analysis
  • Can you have a pet spider?
  • Can Grizzly bears sense fear?
  • Methods to prevent poaching in wildlife preserves
  • Negative effects of pork meat on humans
  • The disastrous effects of palm oil

Interesting Animal Research Topics

If you are looking for some of the most interesting animal research topics on the Internet, you have arrived at the right place. Here are some ideas for you:

  • Are mosquitos useless insects?
  • Lion prides in African wildlife preserves
  • Talk about the anatomy of the hyena
  • An in-depth look at the Tardigrade
  • Discuss the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
  • Best wildlife parks in the United States
  • Animal adaptations to survive the desert
  • Endangered animal species in the UK
  • Analyze a butterfly’s life cycle
  • Are dolphins really as intelligent as they are portrayed?
  • Is medical testing on animals justified?
  • Pros and cons of zoos
  • Giant Panda and related conservation efforts
  • Benefits of poisonous animals
  • Should you spay or neuter your pet?
  • How do monkeys climb trees so quickly?
  • Largest whales in the world
  • Animal adaptations to survive the cold
  • What is a porpoise?
  • Ethical problems with animal testing

Research Questions About Animals

Take a look at our research questions about animals and pick the one you like. All of these questions should work great for 2023:

  • Should we test antibiotics on animals?
  • Why did the dinosaurs go extinct?
  • How do you care for an exotic pet?
  • Which is a better pet, a cat or a dog?
  • Which is the largest predator in the United States?
  • Are zoos inhumane prisons for animals?
  • Are dolphins friendly?
  • Do we have the right to kill animals?
  • Should we ban hunting for sport?
  • Should we give animals more rights?
  • Should we stop euthanizing stray animals?
  • How can we protect endangered species?
  • Which is the largest land mammal in Europe?
  • Should you buy a dog or adopt one?
  • Do you really need a pet?
  • Should exotic pets be banned in the UK?
  • Can we improve the life of zoo animals?
  • Should punishments for animal cruelty be more severe?
  • Can a fox be a good pet?
  • Is medical testing on animals justifiable?

Animal Rights Topics for Research Paper

Are you looking for awesome animal rights topics for research paper? No problem, we have a list of the most interesting topics right here:

  • Talk about animal rights in the US
  • Giving more rights to animals in the US
  • Discuss animal rights in China
  • Do feral dogs have any rights?
  • Analyze animal rights in Europe
  • Do invasive species have rights too?
  • Discuss animal rights in the United Kingdom
  • Fishing practices and animal rights
  • Analyze animal rights in North Korea
  • Discuss animal rights in zoos
  • Destroying predator animals without breaking the law
  • Discuss animal rights in India
  • Do feral cats have rights too?
  • Analyze the ethics behind pet euthanasia
  • Factory farming and animal rights
  • Discuss cow rights in India
  • Animal rights violations in the whaling industry
  • Cosmetics testing on animals
  • Analyze the decline of ivory trade worldwide
  • Cockfighting in the United States

Simple Animal Rescue Topics

We know you probably don’t want to spend too much time working on your research paper. Check out the following list of simple animal rescue topics and choose one:

  • Why should we rescue animals in need?
  • Effects of Australian bushfires
  • Poor social skills of rescue animals
  • What does animal rescue do?
  • Negative effects of wildfires on animals in the US
  • Should zoos be forced to rescue animals?
  • Euthanizing rescued animals
  • Exotic animals in the United States
  • Resource guarding problems with rescue dogs
  • Lack of veterinary care for rescued animals
  • Inadequate screening procedures for adoption
  • Anxiety problems in rescue dogs
  • Destructive behavior in rescue cats
  • The dangers of animal rescue operations
  • Where do rescued animals end up?
  • Are all rescued animals traumatized?

Veterinary Topics for Research Paper

Interested in writing about veterinary topics? Our experienced writers and editors have compiled a list of great veterinary topics for research paper:

  • What does being a veterinarian mean?
  • Challenges of the veterinary profession
  • What is Brucellosis?
  • Most common cat diseases in the United Kingdom
  • Discuss biomedical research conducted on animals
  • Talk about poor veterinary care in rural areas of Europe
  • Discuss natural animal feeds
  • Breakthroughs in veterinary technology
  • Best way to fight a Tapeworm infection
  • Diseases humans can get from pets
  • Most popular exotic animals as pets in 2023
  • Using punishments effectively for training purposes
  • Why it’s good to microchip your pets
  • Causes of mycotoxicoses
  • Ways to treat a Hookworm infection
  • Is there an effective cure for Rabies?
  • Most common dog diseases in the US
  • Can Campylobacteriosis infections cause death?

Animal Abuse Topics

If you want to write about animal abuse and other related subjects, we have a list of animal abuse topics that should get you a top grade on your next research paper:

  • Talk about animal abuse issues in the United States
  • Animal abuse issues in the United Kingdom
  • Animal cruelty versus animal abuse
  • Discuss animal abuse issues in China
  • Effects of animal hoarding behaviors
  • Staging animal fights is abuse
  • Animal abuse issues in Eastern Europe
  • Cruelty to animals leading to violence against people
  • Animal abuse issues in India
  • Is animal testing animal abuse?
  • Can neglect be considered animal abuse?
  • Animal abuse: rural versus urban cases
  • Shooting is an animal abuse
  • Animal abuse laws in the US
  • Animal abuse laws in the UK

Animal Topics for High School

Looking for some of the best animal topics for high school? Take a look at the list below and pick the most interesting idea:

  • Why is veterinary care so expensive?
  • Differences between dromedaries and camels
  • Should pets be allowed in school?
  • Compare and contrast lions and cheetahs
  • Wild animals as pets in the UK
  • The worst pet on Earth
  • Adopting an animal from the local animal shelter
  • Can elephants swim?
  • An in-depth look at the camel
  • Compare and contrast cats and dogs
  • Discuss irresponsible dog breeding in your city
  • Analyze the habitat loss of orangutans
  • How do killer whales hunt?
  • Animal rights issues in Asia
  • Discuss disastrous fishing practices
  • Animal welfare issues in adoption centers

Animal Testing Research Topics

Talking about animal testing research topics shouldn’t worry you, as long as you remain objective and impartial. Here are some relatively simple topics on this:

  • Is it ethical to test cosmetics on animals?
  • Animals used for chemical warfare testing
  • Lab mice and their awful fate
  • Testing vaccines on animals
  • Finding a cure for Covid-19 using animals
  • Stem cell research using animals
  • Worst medical tests done on animals
  • Banning animal experimentation in the UK

Animal Cruelty Topics

Looking for the best and most interesting animal cruelty topics you can find? We have a list of ideas right here for high school and college students:

  • Animal cruelty punishments in the US
  • What constitutes animal cruelty?
  • Puppy mills in the United States
  • Animal cruelty punishments in the UK
  • Exotic animals as pets: a form of cruelty
  • Dog fighting
  • Pet overpopulation in large cities
  • Factory farming
  • Animal abuse vs. animal cruelty

Persuasive Topics About Animals

Writing about animals in a persuasive manner shouldn’t be too difficult. If you have access to some good persuasive topics about animals to write about, things will get even easier:

  • Stop deforestation before it is too late
  • Avoid eating animal foods
  • The effects of global warming on wildlife
  • Stop using animals in circuses
  • Avoid eating pork
  • Get your pet a microchip
  • Is pet insurance worth the money?
  • Foxes are not meant to be pets
  • Adopt your pet instead (as opposed to buying it)
  • Negative consequences of pollution on animals
  • Banning factory farming practices

Endangered Animals Topics

Do you want to raise awareness about endangered species of animals? No problem, we have some of the greatest endangered animals topics right here:

  • Can we save the whooping crane?
  • Saving the bonobo monkey
  • Can we save the peregrine falcon?
  • The endangered Galapagos penguin
  • Can we save the black-footed ferret?
  • Save the South Asian river dolphin
  • Can we save the whale shark?
  • The dwindling population of Loggerhead sea turtles
  • Can we save the Monarch butterfly?

Advanced Topics About Animals

If you want to impress your professor, why not write your research papers on some advanced topics about animals? Here are a couple of interesting ideas for students:

  • The life cycle of an alligator
  • Most dangerous exotic pets
  • Deep sea fish adaptations
  • Discuss bioluminescence

Informative Animal Topics for an Essay

Writing an informative essay is definitely not a complicated thing to do. However, the grade you get on your paper depends on the quality of the informative animal topics for an essay:

  • Describe the rabbit
  • Discuss the red panda
  • Describe the horse
  • What is a Saola?
  • Talk about the Thylacine
  • An in-depth look at the Asian elephant
  • Talk about the Dodo bird
  • Wolfs on the edge of extinction
  • What is a Kakapo bird?
  • Are polar bears in danger?
  • The life of the green sea turtle

Complex Veterinarian Research Paper Topics

If you want to try your hand at some complicated research papers, we have some quite complex veterinarian research paper topics right here:

  • How do dog vaccines work?
  • Why are lab mice perfect for experiments?
  • Animals in extreme cold conditions
  • Animals at extreme depths: adaptations

Most Engaging Animal Topics

We know, you want to engage your audience and impress everyone in the class. Here are some of our most engaging animal topics. Pick one and start writing now:

  • Buying your child a pet
  • Animal fight games in the UK
  • Should you vaccinate your cat?
  • Zoo animals psychological issues

Topics About Your Favorite Animal

Everyone has a favorite animal, including your teacher. So, why not write something about it? Here are some topics about your favorite animal that should work great:

  • What is your favorite animal and why?
  • The funniest animals in existence
  • Why do dogs make such good pets?
  • Should you own an exotic pet?
  • What do you appreciate about your favorite animal?
  • The best animal in the world
  • The traits of your favorite animal
  • Can an animal be loyal?

Animal Topics for College

College students should not pick easy topics because professors tend to penalize them. Check out these animal topics for college students and select one of them:

  • The best pet for a college student
  • How do Tardigrades survive in space?
  • Using snake venom to make anticancer drugs

Controversial Animals Topics

Why would you be afraid to write about controversial topics? Check out our list controversial animals topics and pick the best one for your needs right now:

  • Chemical testing on animals
  • Weapon testing on animals
  • Testing cosmetic products on animals
  • Testing new drugs on animals
  • Animals used in scientific experiments
  • Saving laboratory mice from their fate
  • Poaching in Africa
  • Stopping the trade of ivory
  • Hunting animals for their fur

Topics on the Conservation of Animal Species

There are so many endangered species of animals in the world that it’s difficult to pick one to write about. Here are some of our most interesting topics on the conservation of animal species:

  • An in-depth look at the conservation of wild orangutans
  • Analyze conservation efforts of the lion population
  • Saving the blue whales from extinction
  • An in-depth look at the conservation of wild cheetahs
  • An in-depth look at the conservation of wild tigers
  • Is the California condor an endangered species?
  • Saving the snow leopards from extinction
  • Analyze conservation efforts of the giant panda population
  • An in-depth look at the conservation of wild Javan rhinoceros

Argumentative Essay Topics About Animals

Finding some exceptional argumentative essay topics about animals can be difficult, especially if you want your paper to stand out from the rest. Here are some great ideas for you:

  • Cats make the best pets
  • Animals should not be held in captivity
  • Exotic pet ownership must be banned
  • Palm oil should be banned
  • Zoos should be more tightly regulated
  • Never feed wildlife no matter what
  • We need more elephant sanctuaries
  • Stopping Maasai from hunting lions
  • Dogs make the best service animals
  • Hyenas are becoming an endangered species
  • The importance of flies

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What is Animal Science: Exploring the Field of Animal Studies

Exploring the field of animal science.

Animal science is a multifaceted field that encompasses the study of animal biology and management, aiming to improve the lives of both animals and humans. Pursuing an animal science degree provides a robust foundation in crucial areas such as animal nutrition, reproduction, genetics, and physiology. It equips students with the knowledge necessary to embark on a diverse range of animal-centered professions or to continue their education in veterinary medicine or graduate studies.

Choosing animal science as an undergraduate major at UNH COLSA involves immersive, hands-on learning experiences beyond the traditional classroom setting. You will have the opportunity to engage directly with animals, understand their behavior and care, and apply theoretical knowledge in practical settings. This dynamic approach to learning emphasizes the significance of field experience in preparing for future careers in the industry.

By obtaining a degree in animal science, you open doors to a variety of career paths. Opportunities range from animal care and production, business management within the animal sector, to roles in the pharmaceutical and animal feed industries. Additionally, graduates can contribute to advocacy, policy consulting, government agencies such as the USDA, cooperative extension services, food inspection and safety, and veterinary medicine, ensuring that you are equipped to make significant contributions to the animal science field and society's relationship with animals.

Foundations of Animal Science

In the field of animal science, understanding the biological and management aspects of animals is crucial. This knowledge spans genetics, nutrition, and the overall well-being of domestic and agricultural animals.

Biology and Genetics

Biology underpins the study of animal science, providing critical insights into the functioning and development of animals. Through courses like Introduction to Animal Science and Genetics of Animals , students acquire an in-depth understanding of molecular biology, cell biology, and genetics, which are vital in improving breeding programs and preserving genetic diversity in animal populations. Knowledge in growth biology and microbiology also allow for advancements in animal health and disease management.

Nutrition and Food Sciences

Nutrition plays a pivotal role in the science of animals, focusing on the dietary needs and the impact of various nutrients on animal health and productivity. Courses such as  Principles of Animal Nutrition explore topics like the digestion, absorption, and metabolism of nutrients. Understanding the chemistry behind animal feed helps develop food products that enhance the growth and productive capacity of livestock, which in turn supports the sustainability of food systems.

Incorporating knowledge from these vital areas equips you for diverse fields such as animal health , production , and policy consulting . The comprehensive curriculum at educational institutions such as UNH prepares you to tackle real-world challenges in animal science.

Animal Health and Welfare

In the realm of animal science, maintaining the health and welfare of animals is a multifaceted goal that involves careful management of disease, understanding animal behavior, and ensuring their well-being through various measures.

Disease Control and Prevention

Disease control is essential in safeguarding animal health. To minimize the spread of illness, health maintenance protocols and environmental regulation play critical roles. Your proactive steps in disease control might include vaccination programs, quarantine procedures for new or sick animals, and regular health screenings. It's important to establish a clean and safe environment with appropriate shelter, nutrition, and water sources, as these factors significantly impact disease prevention.

Behavior and Welfare

The welfare of animals is intricately linked to their behavior, which signals their overall health and well-being. By observing and understanding behavioral cues, you can ensure that animals are not in distress. Providing social interaction, enrichment activities, and adequate space allows animals to exhibit natural behaviors, thereby promoting better welfare. Be aware of the complexity of animals' emotional and physical needs, as animal care and welfare are critical components of ethical and scientifically sound animal science practices.

By integrating these practices, you contribute to a higher standard of animal welfare and health, reflecting a deep understanding of the critical balance between natural behaviors and managed care.

Animal Husbandry and Management

Animal Husbandry and Management are critical for optimizing the health and productivity of farm animals. This involves strategies and methods that enhance breeding and effective farm operations.

Breeding and Reproduction

In animal breeding, genetic principles are applied to select animals that will parent the next generation. Your goal for effective breeding is to improve traits in livestock such as milk production; this can be accomplished through techniques like artificial insemination and embryo transfer. Reproduction strategies must consider an animal's genetics, health, and environment to successfully increase herd or flock numbers. Understanding diseases that affect domestic animals, including modes of transmission and protection offered by vaccines, is fundamental.

Livestock and Farm Management

Livestock management requires comprehensively addressing the care of farm animals. You are responsible for the nutrition, shelter, health, and overall wellbeing of the animals on your farm. Farm management involves creating a balance between the business aspects and the biological processes of animal agriculture. Implement record-keeping practices, such as tracking animal health and imports per regulations , to ensure effective oversight. Moreover, adhering to relevant agricultural policies helps maintain standards and protect animal welfare.

Industry Applications and Research

In the diverse field of animal science, industry applications and research play a crucial role. Your understanding of these areas ensures that animal products are processed safely and effectively, and that advancements in biotechnology and animal health continue to evolve.

Animal Products Processing

In the Department of Animal Science, you'll find that processing animal products not only involves transforming raw materials into food but also encompasses stringent quality control measures. For example, meat science experts focus on issues such as shelf-life extension, taste enhancement, and nutritional value improvement. Here's a brief outline:

  • Safety Testing : Protocols to ensure products are free of contaminants.
  • Packaging Innovations : Techniques to preserve freshness and extend shelf life.
  • Efficiency Improvements : Streamlining processing methods to boost production.

Research and Development

Research and development within the field of animal science are multifaceted. Research programs at universities often collaborate with pharmaceutical companies to pioneer new drugs and vaccines.

  • Biotechnology : Utilization of genetic engineering to advance animal health and productivity.
  • Diagnostics : Development of new testing methods for early disease detection.

By engaging with these sectors, you interact with the cutting-edge of animal science, contributing to the field's growth and ensuring the wellbeing of animals and humans alike.

Animal Science in Society

Animal science plays a crucial role in modern society by advancing our understanding of animal biology and the management of livestock and pets. This knowledge supports various industries and contributes to advancements in fields like veterinary medicine and biotechnology.

Education and Careers

Pursuing a degree in animal science from UNH COLSA equips you with an extensive understanding of animal health, nutrition, genetics, and management. Programs like the Bachelor of Science in Animal Science teach you about domestic and wild animal management, preparing you for a diverse range of careers in the sector. As an animal scientist, you could find employment in numerous settings such as zoos, research facilities, agricultural companies, or in roles involving animal behavior studies. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provides details on employment and wage estimates for animal scientists.

  • Zoo and Aquarium Management : You could be involved in the care and conservation of wildlife species.
  • Biotechnology Firms : Engage in research and development related to animal health products.
  • Animal Nutrition Companies : Focus on formulating diets for various animal species.

Regulation and Ethics

Regulatory Bodies : In the realm of animal science, it’s essential to comply with guidelines and policies set by authorities such as the CDC or the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). They ensure that activities involving animals meet the required ethical and safety standards.

  • Certifications : Bodies like the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS) provide certifications that affirm your expertise and adherence to ethical practices.
  • Ethical Considerations : As an animal scientist, you're expected to prioritize animal welfare, often informed by the latest research in animal behavior and welfare science.

Legislation and Welfare : Your work must align with animal welfare legislation, which is pivotal to ensuring that animals are treated humanely, whether it’s in a laboratory setting or on a farm. Veterinary medicine professionals play a crucial role in advocating for and upholding these welfare standards.

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Computer model: a computer program designed to predict what might happen based off of collected data.

Ethical: relating to a person's moral principles.

Morals: a person's beliefs concerning what is right and wrong.

Zoologist: a person who studies animals.

Corn snake

Scientists learn a lot about snakes and other animals through basic research. Image by the Virginia State Park staff.

“Don’t worry, they aren’t dangerous” you hear the zoologist say as she leads you and a group of others toward an area with a number of different snakes. She removes a long snake from a larger glass enclosure and asks who would like to hold it. You take a step back, certain that holding a snake is the last thing you’d like to do.

"But how do you know they aren’t dangerous?” you ask. The zoologist looks up and smiles. She explains that scientists have studied this type of snake, and so we actually know quite a bit about it. This type of snake rarely bites and does not produce venom, so it isn’t dangerous to people. You nod along as she talks about the snakes, their natural habitats, and other details like what they eat.

Animals in the Research Process

How do we know so much about snakes or other animals? Animals are all unique, and scientists study them to learn more about them. For example, by studying snakes we have learned that they stick their tongues out because they are trying to pick up odors around them. This helps them sense food, predators, and other things that may be nearby. When research is performed to expand our understanding of something, like an animal, we call it basic research .

Scientists study animals for other reasons too. What we learn about animals can actually help us find solutions to other problems or to help people. For example, studying snakes helps us understand which ones are venomous so that humans know what kinds of snakes they shouldn't touch. Scientists also study animals to find new treatments to diseases and other ailments that affect both people and animals. If we learn what is in snake venom, we can create a medicine to give to people that have been bitten as a treatment to help them feel better. Using what we know about an animal or thing to help us solve problems or treat disease is called  applied research .

Brain model

Scientists use many other tools, such as computer models, in addition to animals to study different topics. Image by Andreas Horn.

No matter what type of research is being performed, scientists must consider many things when they study animals.  

Do Scientists Need to Study Animals?

Of course we can learn a lot from using animals for research, but are there alternative options? Sometimes there are. For example, scientists could use some other method, like cells or computer models, to study a particular topic instead of using animals. However, for a number of reasons , scientists have found that using animals is sometimes the best way to study certain topics.

What If Scientists Harm Animals for Research?

Some research using animals only requires scientists to watch behavior or to take a few samples (like blood or saliva) from the animal. These activities may cause the animals some stress, but they are unlikely to harm the animals in any long-term way. Studies of the behavior or physiology of an animal in its natural environment is an example of such research.

In other cases, scientists may need to harm or kill an animal in order to answer a research question. For example, a study could involve removing a brain to study it more closely or giving an animal a treatment without knowing what effects it may have. While the intention is never to purposely harm animals, harm can be necessary to answer a research question.

How Do Scientists Decide When It’s OK to Study Animals?

Rabbits in research

Many animals are used in research. But there is still debate on whether they should be used for this purpose. Image by the United States Department of Agriculture.

There are  many guidelines  for when it’s ok to use animals in research. Scientists must write a detailed plan of why and how they plan to use animals for a research project. This information is then reviewed by other scientists and members of the public to make sure that the research animals will be used for has an important purpose. Whatever the animals are used for, the scientists also make sure to take care of animal research subjects as best as they can.

Even with rules in place about using animals for research, many people (both scientists and non-scientists) continue to debate whether animals should be used in research. This is an ethical question, or one that depends on a person's morals. Because the way each person feels about both research and animals may be different, there is a range of views on this matter.

  • Some people argue that it doesn’t matter that there are rules in place to protect animals. Animals should never be used for research at all, for any reason. 
  • Others say we should be able to use animals for any kind of research because moving science forward is more important than the rights or well-being of animals. 
  • Lastly, there are people whose opinions sit somewhere in the middle. They might argue that it’s ok to use animals for research, but only in some cases. For example, if the results of the research are very likely to help treat something that affects people, then it may be okay to use animals.

Along with this debate, there are many advantages and disadvantages of doing animal research . Scientists must weigh these options when performing their research.

Additional Images via Wikimedia Commons. White rat image by Alexandroff Pogrebnoj.

Read more about: Using Animals in Research

View citation, bibliographic details:.

  • Article: Using Animals in Research
  • Author(s): Patrick McGurrin and Christian Ross
  • Publisher: Arizona State University School of Life Sciences Ask A Biologist
  • Site name: ASU - Ask A Biologist
  • Date published: December 4, 2016
  • Date accessed: February 23, 2024
  • Link: https://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/Animal-use-in-Research

Patrick McGurrin and Christian Ross. (2016, December 04). Using Animals in Research. ASU - Ask A Biologist. Retrieved February 23, 2024 from https://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/Animal-use-in-Research

Chicago Manual of Style

Patrick McGurrin and Christian Ross. "Using Animals in Research". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 04 December, 2016. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/Animal-use-in-Research

MLA 2017 Style

Patrick McGurrin and Christian Ross. "Using Animals in Research". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 04 Dec 2016. ASU - Ask A Biologist, Web. 23 Feb 2024. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/Animal-use-in-Research

White lab mouse

Animals are an important part of research. But many argue about whether it's ethical to use animals to help advance scientific progress.

Using Animals in Research

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Ethical care for research animals

WHY ANIMAL RESEARCH?

The use of animals in some forms of biomedical research remains essential to the discovery of the causes, diagnoses, and treatment of disease and suffering in humans and in animals., stanford shares the public's concern for laboratory research animals..

Many people have questions about animal testing ethics and the animal testing debate. We take our responsibility for the ethical treatment of animals in medical research very seriously. At Stanford, we emphasize that the humane care of laboratory animals is essential, both ethically and scientifically.  Poor animal care is not good science. If animals are not well-treated, the science and knowledge they produce is not trustworthy and cannot be replicated, an important hallmark of the scientific method .

There are several reasons why the use of animals is critical for biomedical research: 

••  Animals are biologically very similar to humans. In fact, mice share more than 98% DNA with us!

••  Animals are susceptible to many of the same health problems as humans – cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.

••  With a shorter life cycle than humans, animal models can be studied throughout their whole life span and across several generations, a critical element in understanding how a disease processes and how it interacts with a whole, living biological system.

The ethics of animal experimentation

Nothing so far has been discovered that can be a substitute for the complex functions of a living, breathing, whole-organ system with pulmonary and circulatory structures like those in humans. Until such a discovery, animals must continue to play a critical role in helping researchers test potential new drugs and medical treatments for effectiveness and safety, and in identifying any undesired or dangerous side effects, such as infertility, birth defects, liver damage, toxicity, or cancer-causing potential.

U.S. federal laws require that non-human animal research occur to show the safety and efficacy of new treatments before any human research will be allowed to be conducted.  Not only do we humans benefit from this research and testing, but hundreds of drugs and treatments developed for human use are now routinely used in veterinary clinics as well, helping animals live longer, healthier lives.

It is important to stress that 95% of all animals necessary for biomedical research in the United States are rodents – rats and mice especially bred for laboratory use – and that animals are only one part of the larger process of biomedical research.

Our researchers are strong supporters of animal welfare and view their work with animals in biomedical research as a privilege.

Stanford researchers are obligated to ensure the well-being of all animals in their care..

Stanford researchers are obligated to ensure the well-being of animals in their care, in strict adherence to the highest standards, and in accordance with federal and state laws, regulatory guidelines, and humane principles. They are also obligated to continuously update their animal-care practices based on the newest information and findings in the fields of laboratory animal care and husbandry.  

Researchers requesting use of animal models at Stanford must have their research proposals reviewed by a federally mandated committee that includes two independent community members.  It is only with this committee’s approval that research can begin. We at Stanford are dedicated to refining, reducing, and replacing animals in research whenever possible, and to using alternative methods (cell and tissue cultures, computer simulations, etc.) instead of or before animal studies are ever conducted.

brown mouse on blue gloved hand

Organizations and Resources

There are many outreach and advocacy organizations in the field of biomedical research.

  • Learn more about outreach and advocacy organizations

Two researchers in lab looking through microscopes

Stanford Discoveries

What are the benefits of using animals in research? Stanford researchers have made many important human and animal life-saving discoveries through their work. 

  • Learn more about research discoveries at Stanford

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Perspective article, the new era of canine science: reshaping our relationships with dogs.

research on animals topics

  • 1 School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
  • 2 College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
  • 3 Cognitive Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
  • 4 California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA, United States
  • 5 Department of Psychology, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, United States
  • 6 Center for Urban Resilience, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, United States
  • 7 Animal Welfare Science Centre, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Canine science is rapidly maturing into an interdisciplinary and highly impactful field with great potential for both basic and translational research. The articles in this Frontiers Research Topic, Our Canine Connection: The History, Benefits and Future of Human-Dog Interactions , arise from two meetings sponsored by the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace Leadership Institute, which convened experts from diverse areas of canine science to assess the state of the field and challenges and opportunities for its future. In this final Perspective paper, we identify a set of overarching themes that will be critical for a productive and sustainable future in canine science. We explore the roles of dog welfare, science communication, and research funding, with an emphasis on developing approaches that benefit people and dogs, alike.

Dogs have played important roles in the lives of humans for millennia ( 1 , 2 ). However, throughout much of scientific history they have been dismissed as an artificial species with little to contribute to our understanding of the natural world, or our place within it. During the last two decades, this sentiment has changed dramatically; canine science is rapidly maturing into an established, impactful, and highly interdisciplinary field ( Figure 1 ). Canine scientists, who previously occupied relatively marginalized roles in academic research, are increasingly being hired at major research universities, and centers devoted to the study of dogs and their interactions with humans are proliferating around the world. The factors underlying dogs' newfound popularity in science are diverse and include (1) increased interest in understanding dog origins, behavior, and cognition; (2) diversification in our approaches to research with non-human animals; (3) recognition of dogs' value as a unique biological model with relevance for humans; and (4) growth in research on the nature and consequences of dog-human interactions, in their myriad forms, from working dog performance to displaced canines living in shelters.

www.frontiersin.org

Figure 1 . Canine science is an interdisciplinary field with connections to other traditional and emerging areas of research. The specific fields shown overlap in ways not depicted here and are not an exhaustive list of disciplines contributing to canine science. Rather, they are included as examples of the diversity of scholarship in canine science.

This Perspective represents the final article in a collection of manuscripts arising from two workshops sponsored by the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace Leadership Institute. Leadership Fellows from around the world gathered in 2017 and 2020 to discuss the state of research and future directions in canine science. The individual articles in this collection provide a detailed treatment of key topics discussed at these events. In this final article, we identify a set of overarching challenges that emerge from this work and identify priorities and opportunities for the future of canine science.

The rise of canine science has benefited substantially from public interest and participation in the research process. Unlike many research studies, which unfold quietly in the ivory towers of research universities, the new era of canine science is intentionally public facing. The dogs being studied are not laboratory animals, bred and housed for research purposes, but rather are companions living in private homes, or assisting humans in capacities ranging from assistance for people with disabilities, to medical and explosives detection. Campus-based research laboratories have opened their doors to members of the public who bring their dogs to participate in problem-solving tasks, social interactions, and sometimes even non-invasive neuroimaging studies. Increasingly, dog owners themselves play a significant role in the scientific process, serving as community scientists who contribute to the systematic gathering of data from the convenience of their homes.

This new research model in conjunction with emerging technologies, makes canine science a highly visible field that engages public stakeholders in unprecedented ways. From a scientific perspective, society has become the new laboratory, and in doing so, has facilitated research with dogs of a scope and scale that was heretofore unthinkable. As tens of thousands of dogs contribute to research on topics ranging from cognition and genetics ( 3 , 4 ) to aging and human loneliness ( 5 ), canine science is entering the realm of “big data” and eclipsing many traditional research approaches. Importantly, these advances are occurring simultaneously across diverse fields of science, creating powerful new opportunities for consilience that will make canine science even more valuable in the years ahead. However, maturing this model toward a sustainable future that serves its diverse stakeholders—who include scientists, research funders, members of the public, and dogs themselves—will require careful navigation of key challenges related to dog welfare, science communication, and financial support ( Figure 2 ).

www.frontiersin.org

Figure 2 . Visual summary of the key issues identified in this Perspective . A sustainable future in canine science will require (1) research approaches that prioritize and monitor the welfare of dogs, (2) improved science communication to avoid incorrect reporting of study results, and to translate research findings to meaningful change in practices relating to dogs, and (3) availability of research funding that is not tied exclusively to studying the possible benefits of dogs for humans.

Dog Welfare

Globally, animal welfare has been linked to the public acceptability that underpins sustainable animal interactions and partnerships ( 6 ). Where human-animal interactions have failed to meet community expectations, practices and in some case entire industries, have been disrupted or ceased. Recent examples include whaling for profit and greyhound racing ( 6 , 7 ). Science is not exempt from this necessity to meet with public expectations and the new era of canine science must place canine welfare at the forefront. Considering dogs as individuals and co-workers, rather than tools for work or subjects, reflects a community moral and ethical paradigm shift that is currently underway. Reimagining our relationship with domestic dogs in research will also help inform our treatment of other animals. In this way, studies of dogs and our interactions with them can serve as a pioneering new model for many areas of science.

As scientists advocate for the revision of community and industry practices with dogs in light of new evidence, we must apply the same criteria to the conduct of our research. This includes adjusting canine research and training methods to acknowledge the sentience of dogs, and the importance of the affective experience for dogs in both research and community settings ( 8 – 11 ). The discipline of animal welfare science has progressed rapidly over the last two decades, and we have many animal-based, welfare-outcome measures available to us ( 6 , 11 ). Ensuring the well-being of the dogs we study will be as critical to ongoing social license to operate (i.e., community approval) for canine science as it is for working dog interests ( 12 ). Being transparent about the issues of animal consent and vulnerability, as well as offering animals agency with regard to their participation in science are valuable suggestions offered within this special issue. We encourage our colleagues to not just consider this paradigm shift, but to effect it through prioritizing and representing the dog's perspective and welfare in their research.

Although increasingly, researchers may include a single or limited set of canine stress measures in studies exploring dogs' potential benefits to humans, this approach alone does not fill the need for studies that prioritize an understanding of canine welfare as their central focus. Canine welfare should be considered not just as an emergent population-level measure ( 13 ) but rather with respect to the way in which it is experienced: from the perspectives of individual dogs. Commonly used statistical methods from human research, such as group-based trajectory analysis ( 14 ) may offer proven techniques that allow meaningful reporting on populations while reflecting the nuance of shared, sub-group patterns. Such approaches will better reflect individual differences, for example variations in canine personality, social support and relationship styles, as well as other significant factors. One impediment to robust measurement of animal welfare in canine science has been limited funding.

We believe that all granting bodies who fund exploration of the possible benefits to people from dogs should also fund and require the canine perspective to be robustly monitored and reported. Impediments to this work arise not from lack of researcher interest or access to dogs, but rather from challenges to securing funding that is independent from a focus on human health outcomes, or other tangible outcomes of work that dogs perform. To be able to optimize canine welfare, there is an urgent need for increased funding specifically to study the welfare of dogs, in all their diversity. The new era of canine science will identify what dogs need to thrive, propelling us toward a mutually sustainable partnership between people and dogs.

Communication

One area that has not received much attention in relation to canine science is the way in which research findings are communicated outside the empirical literature. Fueled by media reports, interest in canine science and the impact of dogs on human health and well-being has grown substantially in the last 10 years. A survey by the Human-Animal Bond Research Institute found that 71% of pet owners were aware of studies demonstrating that pets improve mental and physical health. Some of these claims are justified. For example, many studies have found that interacting with therapy dogs reduces stress and anxiety and increases positive emotional states in a variety of settings including hospitals, schools and nursing homes ( 15 , 16 ). In other cases, high public expectations about the healing power of pets are not matched by the results of empirical studies. For instance, while the Human-Animal Bond Research Institute survey found that 86% of pet owners believe pets relieve depression, the majority of studies on pet-ownership and depression do not support these conclusions ( 17 ).

Because so many people have extensive personal experiences with dogs, investigators face unique challenges in sharing research results with the public. In their hearts, dog owners believe that their canine companions make them feel less depressed, or that dogs feel guilty when they've eliminated indoors or explored the kitchen garbage—even though research might suggest otherwise. In addition, when it comes to animal companions, people much prefer to read a news article in which visits with a therapy dog improved the well-being of a child undergoing chemotherapy than an article about a randomized clinical trial which found no differences between the well-being of children in a therapy dog group and a control group ( 18 ). Nor is there likely to be much press coverage devoted to methodological issues such as small effect sizes and inappropriate attributions of causality to the results of correlational studies.

Canine scientists and scholars of human-animal interactions (anthrozoologists) are fortunate that the public is intrinsically interested in our research. We feel that it is critical for investigators to make efforts to communicate the findings of important studies to the public. We caution however, that researchers should not overstate the implications of their findings in press releases and conversations with journalists, despite frequent pressure to do so. These distortions could have a negative impact on misleading the public and misrepresenting the actual findings, a problem that is particularly acute in canine science where well-intentioned pet owners may eagerly adopt practices based on media coverage of scientific studies. The now-established discipline of science communication offers guidance for how best to engage with community and research stakeholders in meaningful ways.

Traditionally, science communication has relied on the knowledge deficit model of communication ( 19 ). Directionally one-way, the deficit model operates on the assumption that ignorance is the reason for a lack of community support and application of scientific evidence. Examples where practices have not been updated in response to research findings include dog training methodology ( 9 ) and breeding selection for extreme body types, such as brachycephaly in pugs and bulldogs, even though the health and welfare impacts are scientifically well understood ( 20 ). Scientists who share their research results thinking that knowledge disseminated—to “educate” the public—is enough to result in different dog care decisions, industry practices or legislation, will generally find this to be ineffective ( 21 ). This is because the deficit model overlooks the underlying beliefs, existing attitudes and motivations for current practices. We now recognize that the deficit model is not the most effective way to communicate, engage stakeholders and effect change ( 22 , 23 ).

Further exploration of the effect of targeted and intentional science communication, informed by human behavior change research, will improve the translation of canine science to meaningful outcomes for dogs and people alike ( 12 ). This is important, as many studies in canine science have applied aims designed to inform global policies and the creation of best practices ( 24 , 25 ). Applied research from the livestock and farming sector suggests that coordinating human behavior change strategies from social and psychological sciences can influence beliefs and attitudes to motivate changes in the ways people behave toward animals, resulting in improved animal welfare ( 26 – 28 ). In the era of attention economics, where scientists are competing for public attention alongside other diverse media, it is vital that the communication of our work is honest, relevant, and effective, to ensure that our field stays on the radar of key stakeholders, funding bodies and change agents.

A third key challenge in the future of canine science concerns research funding and a careful balancing of the priorities of scientists and funding agencies. In the last decade, canine science has received considerable support from the pet care sector, as well as human health and defense agencies [e.g., ( 29 )]. Fine and Andersen ( 30 ) stress that although funding is still a challenge in human-animal interaction research, there are now more options to be found. In 2008, the Waltham Petcare Science Institute initiated a public-private partnership with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Over the past decade, this partnership has provided funding for research aimed at measuring the impact of specific Animal-assisted interventions. Since 2014, the Human Animal Bond Research Institute has funded a total of 35 academic research grants investigating the health outcomes of pet ownership and/or human-animal interaction, both for the people and non-human animals involved. Despite clear benefits for enabling research, there remains a limited group of agencies responsible for funding this work. This has potential to constrain the range of topics being studied. In addition, scientists may feel compelled to support the agendas of industry groups, such as those in the pet sector, who often encourage research that will demonstrate the benefits of pets and human-animal interactions.

These constraints were recognized by Wallis Annenberg PetSpace in 2017 when they envisioned their Leadership Institute Program with a mission to promote interdisciplinary scholarship and convene meetings to accelerate research and policy development ( https://www.annenbergpetspace.org/about/leadership ). This model for engagement inspired the organization to offer two invited retreats (2017, 2020) for a total of 33 experts in the field that provided opportunities for open ended and frank discussion about the nature of human-animal interaction research, and the maturing field of canine science. By providing the space and financial support, plus the opportunity to work together and publish, Annenberg PetSpace provided a way to both illuminate current limitations, and to identify priorities for the future, free of constraints from outside interest groups. These intellectual salons have no specific agenda other than to consider the future of the field and what kinds of questions need to be asked based on what we already know. The results of these two retreats include 14 published refereed papers, plus a suite of collaborations that might otherwise not have happened. We hope that these fellowships and retreats continue and inspire others to support similar initiatives so that scholars across multiple disciplines have the opportunity to experience the transformational exchanges that occur during these programs. The new era of canine science will require diverse funding that is not limited to how dogs can benefit humans, from health, safety and economic perspectives. This change will enable researchers the freedom to further our understanding of dogs and their needs for optimized welfare. In turn, this will allow us to identify how dogs and people can thrive together.

Looking Ahead

We hope that the publications emerging from these retreats will reach a diverse community of stakeholders, including students, early career researchers, animal welfare and advocacy groups, legislators and policy makers, philanthropies, and traditional agency funders. The goal of these papers is to spark imagination for projects not yet engaged and to help set the agenda for future research that can enhance our understanding of human-dog interactions and identify paths to ensure a future of symbiotic relationships between these species.

The vision of this collective group of scholars includes the goal of establishing studies with dogs as a sustainable and broad-reaching research focus. Although dogs provide many advantages as a “model species” —including their phenotypic diversity, and shared environments and evolutionary history with humans—a research model centered around dogs has many additional benefits. Dogs provide a rich, interactive and sentient model with deep implications for the way scientists approach animal research, and animal welfare. Dogs also increase the accessibility of research, both literally, due to their ubiquity and opportunities for large-scale public participation in research ( 31 , 32 ), and figuratively, through a body of work with appeal to the broader public.

The field of canine science has much in common with a similar emerging science, that of urban ecology. Humans are historically at the core of the subject material, but non-human elements are often the focus of the study. As such, the work is always culturally embedded, relevant to a variety of stakeholders, and ultimately expected to improve quality of life. The urban ecologists coined a term Use-Inspired Research ( 33 ) from modifying the existing idea of Pasteur's Quadrant which organizes research questions across the axes of fundamental understanding and considerations of use ( 34 ). Both canine research and urban ecology seek fundamental understanding, but also expect to directly apply the knowledge gained to improve outcomes for their subjects and stakeholders.

By including the public in canine science we not only increase the quantity of the data that we can gather, we serve as ambassadors for a new model of responsible animal research. The result increases the value of human-animal interaction research and creates opportunities for the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists. The goal of this collection has been both to highlight specific recent advances in canine science as well as to identify emerging and overarching issues that will shape the future of this field. The multidisciplinary nature of our work with dogs allows scientists to contribute to a robust research agenda, enhancing our understanding of canines and their impact on society. Ultimately, the nexus of our discoveries should have profound effects on reshaping and enriching our relationships with dogs.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

We thank Wallis Annenberg PetSpace for supporting the open-access publishing fees associated with this manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords: canine science, dog, animal welfare, human-animal interaction, science communication, funding, sustainability

Citation: MacLean EL, Fine A, Herzog H, Strauss E and Cobb ML (2021) The New Era of Canine Science: Reshaping Our Relationships With Dogs. Front. Vet. Sci. 8:675782. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.675782

Received: 03 March 2021; Accepted: 11 June 2021; Published: 15 July 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 MacLean, Fine, Herzog, Strauss and Cobb. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Evan L. MacLean, evanmaclean@arizona.edu

This article is part of the Research Topic

Our Canine Connection: The History, Benefits and Future of Human-Dog Interactions

The Royal Society

Why is biodiversity important?

Biodiversity is essential for the processes that support all life on Earth, including humans. Without a wide range of animals, plants and microorganisms, we cannot have the healthy ecosystems that we rely on to provide us with the air we breathe and the food we eat. And people also value nature of itself.

Some aspects of biodiversity are instinctively widely valued by people but the more we study biodiversity the more we see that all of it is important – even bugs and bacteria that we can’t see or may not like the look of. There are lots of ways that humans depend upon biodiversity and it is vital for us to conserve it. Pollinators such as birds, bees and other insects are estimated to be responsible for a third of the world’s crop production. Without pollinators we would not have apples, cherries, blueberries, almonds and many other foods we eat. Agriculture is also reliant upon invertebrates – they help to maintain the health of the soil crops grow in.  Soil is teeming with microbes that are vital for liberating nutrients that plants need to grow, which are then also passed to us when we eat them. Life from the oceans provides the main source of animal protein for many people.

Trees, bushes and wetlands and wild grasslands naturally slow down water and help soil to absorb rainfall. When they are removed it can increase flooding. Trees and other plants clean the air we breathe and help us tackle the global challenge of climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide. Coral reefs and mangrove forests act as natural defences protecting coastlines from waves and storms. 

Many of our medicines, along with other complex chemicals that we use in our daily lives such as latex and rubber, also originate from plants. Spending time in nature is increasingly understood to lead to improvements in people’s physical and mental health. Simply having green spaces and trees in cities has been shown to decrease hospital admissions, reduce stress and lower blood pressure.

Further reading

Plural valuation of nature matters for environmental sustainability and justice by Berta Martin-Lopez, Social-Ecological Systems Institute, Faculty of Sustainability, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany

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Human activities are changing the climate. Science can help us understand what we are doing to habitats and the climate, but also find solutions.

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Animal Science Research Areas

research on animals topics

Writing a research paper on animals offers a wealth of options, as more than 62,000 species of vertebrate animals are known -- which includes mammals, birds, fishes, reptiles and amphibians. More than 1.3 million invertebrate animal species are known, including insects, spiders and scorpions, crustaceans, coral and mollusks. You can write an informative paper on animals, designed to persuade the reader toward one position or another, or you can discuss a personal interest related to animals.

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1 Rain Forests

The rainforest in Guatemala.

Research paper topics can provide a wide range of information about rain forests. Rain forests cover only 6 percent of the Earth's surface, yet 50 percent of the world's animals live in them, which includes some 30 million animal and plant species that live in tropical rainforests. Topics can include research into the many animals that are either threatened or endangered due to deforestation. Research paper topics can also provide information about the types of animals living in the rain forest. This includes the okapi, mandrills, the colobus monkey, gorillas, the drill and chimpanzees.

2 Ethical Treatment of Animals

Dairy cows in a green pasture.

The ethical treatment of animals in research can explore the defense or criticism of animal testing. An informative research paper topic can include a history of animal regulation for research animals, or the principles of protection of animal subjects. Research can look into the minimization of pain and suffering, species-appropriate housing and care, the need for veterinary personnel, as well as the qualifications of investigators. Further ethical research topics can include legal and regulatory framework, such as a discussion on the introduction of the Animal Welfare Act of 1985.

3 Service Animals

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The benefit of animals -- especially dogs, as service animals for people -- is a growing movement. Research topics can include animal-assisted therapy and their benefit in settings such as nursing homes, hospitals, schools and prisons. Another topic can explore the psychology and history of the human-animal bond through domestication, farming and as pets for companionship. Research topics can also include canine and feline behavior that focuses on the causes of stress and aggression, as well as on mating systems and how behavior is shaped.

4 Animal Law

Woman and her German Shepherd outside.

Topics on animal law can provide research on animals and who would be expected to represent the interests of animals. Research can include animal rescue, such as with natural disasters like a hurricane, when families must abandon their pets. Other topics can discuss what happens to pets when an owner dies, under what conditions animal-welfare organizations can rescue pets from neglectful owners and how experts define animal cruelty. Research into an evaluation of the broader public policy toward pets can discuss how to manage the relationship between people and animals within a community.

  • 1 Current Results: Number of Species Identified on Earth
  • 2 Rutgers:Animal Law in Disasters, Estates, and Litigation

About the Author

Carolyn Green has been a freelance writer since 1989. She has written for BETweekend, Good Old Days, Baby's World and more. A teacher from New York, she also taught in Seoul, where she wrote for a Korean publication. Her passions include world travel, nutritional research and alternative medicine. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from State University of New York, Old Westbury.

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How our love of pets grew from a clash of world views

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Borgianus 1 page 71 Vatican.

Indigenous peoples of the Americas saw all animals, including humans, as interconnected. Credit: Rapp Halour/Alamy

The Tame and the Wild: People and Animals after 1492 Marcy Norton Harvard Univ. Press (2024)

It’s an enduring myth that the development of livestock husbandry is an essential step on the path of human progress. Many books have emphasized its importance, including historian Alfred W. Crosby’s Columbian Exchange (1972) and geographer Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel (1997). But not all cultures have seen animals as creatures to be penned and farmed. Indigenous peoples in the Americas, for example, recognized that humans and animals have much in common. The clash between differing views of human–animal relationships still resonates today.

In The Tame and the Wild , historian Marcy Norton explores the history and lasting importance of this clash, which began in the late fifteenth century when Europeans arrived on the shores of the Americas, including in the Caribbean. Norton draws on a rich array of sources, including treatises on hunting and natural history, Indigenous books (known as amoxtli ), accounts from soldiers and missionaries, trial records from the Spanish Inquisition, dictionaries and paintings. Her fascinating and scholarly account reveals how these encounters transformed Europe and the Americas.

Relationships between humans and animals that emerged from these meetings of different peoples planted the seeds of many of today’s ethical and environmental challenges — from colonial wealth and the dispossession of Indigenous peoples to the modern meat industry. They even explain people’s bonds with their pets.

Food and fear

Norton analyses human–animal relationships in Europe, Greater Amazonia (the Caribbean and lowland South America) and Mesoamerica. Many Indigenous peoples of the Americas consider all beings to be interconnected and permeable. By attempting to think like the animals they hunted, and by wearing the creatures’ pelts and consuming the meat, Indigenous people could take on some of the “beauty and power” of these living beings. By contrast, in Judeo-Christian thought, humans are distinct from and superior to animals.

Norton identifies four ways in which people interacted with animals. In Europe, through hunting and husbandry, and in the Americas, through predation and ‘familiarization’ — a process of feeding and taming individual animals that came and went freely. Familiarized animals were never eaten in Greater Amazonia, but were sometimes consumed during Mesoamerican rituals. Each way of life shaped how people categorized animals and the extent to which animals were considered “fellow subjects with desires, emotions, and even reason”.

In Europe, hunters distinguished vassal animals, such as hunting dogs, horses and falcons, from prey animals, particularly deer and boar. Nonetheless, for a hunt to be successful, hunters had to recognize that their prey had minds with needs, feelings, experiences and motives. Killing prey animals did not require their objectification. But the Christian view of a human–animal divide did provide a basis for livestock husbandry, a practice that requires animals to be seen merely as objects.

The Last Judgment (Detail). Museum: San Marco, Florence. Author: Fra Angelico

Animal features, such as horns, were associated with the Devil in the fifteenth century. Credit: Alamy

The importance of husbandry went beyond nutrition, livelihoods and products, such as clothing. By objectifying animals, people created a “distance between those who owned and managed living animals and those who taxed and consumed their corpses”. With the rise of slaughterhouses — separate from butcher’s shops and required to be outside city limits — consumers in the fifteenth century were disconnected from animal rearing and killing.

But Europeans weren’t able to distance themselves entirely from livestock husbandry during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The suspicion that animals might have thoughts and feelings beyond those of hunger or sleep found an outlet in fears about devils and witchcraft. Theologians and inquisitors associated animal features, such as horns, hooves, claws and tails, with the Devil and his human servants, witches. Paintings of Hell depicted the carnage associated with livestock husbandry: reptilian demons led people to slaughter or cut their victims up before roasting them on a spit or boiling them in a cauldron.

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Witches were considered to have unnaturally close relationships with animals, to engage in bestiality and to have powers — such as the ability to fly — associated with animals. Well into the seventeenth century, people who had caring relationships with animals that did not have a ‘job’ raised suspicions of witchcraft. Such suspicions led to the execution of some 50,000 people in Europe between the late fifteenth and late eighteenth century.

Missionaries, some of whom had persecuted alleged witches in Spain, carried “their predisposition to see idolaters as shape-shifting sorcerers” to Mesoamerica. Faced with what they saw as an idolatrous culture that “did not uphold a species divide”, they interpreted ritual specialists or “knowledge manipulators” as witches. In so doing, they invented the colonial concept of the nahual , or animal double, out of the Indigenous concept of the nahualli , or knowledge manipulator. Colonial inquisitors tried Indigenous people suspected of having an animal form as sorcerers.

Global links

In contrast to Christians, the peoples of Greater Amazonia understood personhood as something that everything from rocks to humans possessed. Predation transformed prey and predator: people’s bodies were changed by assimilating what they ate, or by what they absorbed from the skins they prepared and wore. Even poison on arrow tips had “vegetative agency”. People had emotional bonds with animals that didn’t require those animals to perform a service. Individual animals were tamed from the wild, not produced through breeding regimes.

Norton argues that “the emergence of the modern pet was, at least in part, a result of this entanglement of European and Indigenous modes of interaction”. In the sixteenth century, most animals shipped to Europe were those that Indigenous people had familiarized. For example, the peoples of the Caribbean Islands and lowland Brazil offered parrots and monkeys to Europeans as gifts and trades — in an attempt to “familiarize” these strangers.

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Aristocrats in Europe initially acquired these animals as status symbols. These tame animals transferred the nurturing they had received to their new human companions, who were surprised to find that such relationships were meaningful and desirable.

Norton’s findings contribute to work in the history of science that reveals how modern science — popularly assumed to be Western in origin — has global roots. It was not just discussions with Indigenous peoples of the Americas that European naturalists absorbed into their zoological treatises, but also concepts and practices derived from Indigenous modes of relating to non-human animals.

Norton’s analysis also re-configures histories of conquest. Scholars of Atlantic-Ocean-facing regions of Africa, the Americas and Europe have revealed how Spanish conquistadors joined inter-ethnic conflicts rather than defeating empires such as that of the Aztecs with their bugs, bullets and bigotry alone. As Norton highlights, conquistadors’ expansive use of livestock husbandry “deprived Indigenous people of their labor, their land, and, not infrequently, their lives”. Mines required workers and livestock, and animal husbandry became an alternative industry when mines were exhausted. On the island of Hispaniola, ranchers exported livestock — raised by people held in slavery and Indigenous labourers dispossessed of their lands and coerced into the work — to other colonies in exchange for enslaved people and commodities.

The Tame and the Wild is a meticulous and profound reckoning with human–animal relationships. Illuminating for anthropologists, ecologists, biologists and historians alike, it should be read as widely as The Raw and the Cooked (1964), French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss’s classic study of the myths and world views of peoples of eastern Brazil — whose culinary habits are alluded to in the title.

Nature 626 , 945-947 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00541-7

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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  • Front Vet Sci

Critical Problems for Research in Animal Sheltering, a Conceptual Analysis

Kevin horecka.

1 Research Department, Austin Pets Alive!, Austin, TX, United States

2 Arkansas State University, Department of Political Science, Jonesboro, AR, United States

Animal shelter research has seen significant increases in participation over the past several decades from academic organizations, private organizations, public entities, and even corporations that aims to improve shelter programs, processes, operations, and outcomes for the various stakeholders/participants involved in a shelter system (animals, humans, the community, wildlife, and the environment). These efforts are scattered through a huge variety of different research areas that are challenging to define and scope for organizations seeking to start new lines of research inquiry. This work aims to enumerate some of the most critical outstanding problems for research in animal sheltering in a conceptual framework that is intended to help direct research conversations toward the research topics of highest impact (with the highest quality outcomes possible). To this end, we define seven (7) key areas for research: animal behavior, adoptions and special needs populations, medical conditions, disease transmission, community, ecology, and wellness (one health), operations, and public-private-academic-corporate collaboration. Within each of these areas, we review specific problems and highlight examples of successes in each area in the past several decades. We close with a discussion of some of the topics that were not detailed in this manuscript but, nonetheless, deserve some mention. Through this enumeration, we hope to spur conversation around innovative methodologies, technologies, and concepts in both research and practice in animal sheltering.

Introduction

Animal Sheltering in Western society, in some form, has existed since the mid-1800's (with the creation of both the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1824 and 1866, respectively) and has been a constantly evolving field to both the benefit ( 1 , 2 ) and detriment ( 3 , 4 ), of its stakeholders: animals, pet owners, communities, and the organizations that tie these groups together. In the past several decades, a cultural shift has been occurring in which animal welfare ( 5 , 6 ) has received more attention, resources, and scrutiny than in the decades before. Success in sheltering is commonly measured by the Live Release Rate (hereafter LRR) that is obtained by dividing the total number of live animal outcomes (such as adoptions and transfers) by the total number of live animal intakes ( 7 ). Many cities have been able to increase their LRR and those of surrounding counties above 90 and even 95% ( 8 ), yet shelters still struggle with having adequate resources ( 9 ) and rural shelters may be more likely to struggle ( 10 ). The number of conceptual problems in sheltering is enormous, and as awareness of the needs of shelters continues to rise, more and more groups—academic, corporate, non-profit, and private—are looking for ways to contribute to the wider movement of animal welfare using their unique skills and talents. One difficulty for these potential partners is in understanding what the needs of shelters are and what high-value unsolved problems exist in the field.

Some of these are knowledge problems, others, implementation problems, and even more, systemic, cultural, and societal problems. Almost all require some manner of research to elucidate best practices and truths and differentiate them from traditions and myths. To aid interested parties in contributing to these areas of animal sheltering, we seek to enumerate and explain many of the critical problems for research in animal sheltering so that those organizations and interested parties might find a place to contribute. The key areas for future research were developed through a combination of both empirical and a priori traditions. The empirical approach used included input from animal sheltering professionals, including the responses of over 10 working groups representing more than 300 shelter professionals associated with Human Animal Support Services project to the question of what research needs were to advance animal sheltering. A priori observation and reflection of the researchers and reviews of the existing literature also helped to inform a lengthy list of research needs. These research needs were then thematically grouped in to the 7 key areas. Each of the areas was then evaluated on two factors: the degree of potential impact to animal sheltering and the difficulty in studying the problem.

Table 1 presents the 7 key areas identified. It also presents the impact potential for research in these areas by identifying the top-level impacts that advances in each topic area could have on the field of animal sheltering. While not intended to be all encompassing, this list captures the main topics generated by the authors and the consulted professionals.

The 7 key problem areas identified in this work and their impact potential in the space of animal sheltering. While not intended to be all encompassing, this list captures the main topics generated by the authors and the consulted professionals.

Figure 1 provides an additional way of examining these topical areas. This figure provides examples of critical problems for research in animal sheltering and provides a way to compare and evaluate the areas in terms of the relative difficulty of studying the problems as well as the relative magnitude of the potential impact. In addition to evaluating these factors for the key research areas identified herein, this figures also shows a framework through which other researchers could evaluate the relative impacts and difficulty of other possible research topics.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is fvets-09-804154-g0001.jpg

A Force Directed Graph showing the various problems discussed in this article. The size of a node represents the relative impact a solution would have. The color represents the relative difficulty of studying the problem (with red being more difficult). Links relate the topics. An interactive version can be found here: https://codepen.io/kevroy314/pen/jONoXma . Click to isolate nodes and their neighbors. Drag to move around. Scroll to zoom.

Key Areas for Research

Animal behavior.

Animal behavior is one of the most challenging and complex topics in animal sheltering. Leaving aside controversies surrounding the ethics of adopting out animals with known behavior challenges or the ending of the life of an animal, whether for the protection of the public, retribution for an incident, quality of life, or any other justification related to behavioral issues, such as biting or inappropriate elimination, the practical need to better understand and modify animal behavior to improve the lives of animals and their caregivers to improve their chances of adoption and/or their probability of remaining in the home ( 11 ) is substantial. Here, we highlight 4 key areas in animal behavior that may have the biggest impact in a shelter setting and that may be underrepresented in the literature.

Efforts to form a typology of dog behaviors that may be problematic in the home, and, specifically, dog behavior that may be averse to a successful adoption and retention in a home ( 12 , 13 ) have been attempted in the past ( 14 – 16 ). Despite the interest in canine behavior in general rising sharply in the early 1990s and more recently ( 17 ), no consensus has been reached upon a singular behavioral classification and identification system that can be used to make decisions around best practices with dogs with histories of behavior problems or potential for behavior problems. Such a classification system should have the following properties [( 18 ) for a more detailed discussion of the difficulties surrounding some of these issues]:

  • Objective measurability and reproducibility.
  • Characterization of common temporal progressions.
  • Understood correlations between related behaviors.
  • Clinical relevance to predictability and intervention.

Somewhat recent attempts ( 18 , 19 ) at assessing the efficacy of behavioral evaluations have not been as promising as might be hoped given the 50+ year history of the field, and the impact of such a system, especially in establishing new interventions that can help these animals be successfully placed in homes, could be enormous given the extreme difficulty in achieving successful outcomes for dogs with behavior issues.

One key factor in negative animal behaviors, especially as pertaining to the adoptability of animals, is the stress they experience while in a shelter setting ( 20 – 22 ). Studies of animal stress date back to 1926 ( 23 ) with animals have often serving as a model for human stress ( 24 , 25 ). Practical tools are needed to assess the impact of shelter environmental improvements. Using Biomarkers to assess stress ( 26 ) across species ( 27 – 29 ) have shown significant success in recent years. Unfortunately, the practical measurement of such biomarkers in shelter settings remains unlikely due to resource and practical constraints. Non-invasive measures of stress are possible in many species [including thermographic ( 30 , 31 ), salivary ( 32 ), visual ( 33 ), and multimodal ( 34 ) systems], though their efficacy as an intervention target is unclear. A more thorough understanding of best practices around the reduction of stress for animals in shelters will allow for significant improvement in the quality of life of long-stay animals as well as the adoptability of animals that may show fewer behavioral issues once removed from a stressful environment, with some evidence showing changes in cortisol levels, a common biomarker for stress, with even a single night removed from the shelter environment in adult dogs ( 35 ).

A key element in the success of an animal with behavioral issues, post-adoption is not simply the cessation of negative behaviors, but also the match with an adopter who can maintain the environment necessary for permanent improvement in behavior as well as following up with those adopters to ensure continued success is achieved. Preparing adopters and proper matching is key given the frequency of post adoption behavioral issues among shelter animals ( 36 ). This problem comes down to two key sets of questions:

Given evidence suggesting choice of pet is often tied to factors like appearance more than behavioral considerations ( 37 ), how should shelters best match behavioral issues with potential adopters who can handle the maintenance surrounding those issues to reduce the chance of return ( 36 , 38 , 39 ) and adverse incidents such as bites or escape from a yard?

What risks (i.e., environment impact on biting) ( 40 ) exist in the home that might exacerbate issues surrounding behavior?

Finally, when it comes to animal behavior, especially canine behavior, one of the most critical incidents that can occur is a bite incident since these can result in serious injury to persons and potentially result in liability claims against the shelter ( 41 ). The previously mentioned issues all likely contribute to the probability of a bite incident occurring, but predictions of such events, even in aggregate across a city ( 42 ), are challenging at best. A successful bite prediction system would also pose ethical issues as individuals, shelters, and cities may choose to use such a system to decide which animal's lives should be preemptively ended, to avoid the potential risk and liability. It is critical, therefore, that the predictability of bite incidents increase at the same rate as our ability to reasonably intervene to prevent the incidents.

Adoptions and Special Needs Populations

The core problem with adoptions at shelters is always “how do we get as many animals out to good homes as quickly as possible?.” Of course, as with so many seemingly simple problems, the posing of the question in such a general manner means no obvious solutions present themselves. Properly reframing the question often begins to imply solutions. Preventing the surrender of animals to the shelter system is certainly a key component to assuring positive outcomes for animals and people alike. New programs, such as the Human Animal Support Services project, are focusing heavily on programs aimed at keeping animals out of the shelter altogether and in their original homes whenever possible. Further, this paradigm shift has the potential to profoundly impact positive outcomes for community cats, who may not be best served through adoption. Although adoption is not the only possible positive outcome for all animals that enter a shelter system, for many animals (and the humans who manage the systems of sheltering), it remains an important practical and ethical outcome. Here, we review 3 key areas in adoptions that remain complex and difficult despite extensive efforts in the sheltering community. For a more complete list of these challenge areas, see the American Pets Alive! Documentation on the topic (“American Pets Alive! Resources;” https://americanpetsalive.org/resources ) ( 43 ).

First and most critically, large dogs, often considered to be those weighing over approximately 35 pounds or 16 kilograms, consistently have more difficulty in being adopted ( 44 – 46 ). This can be due to factors such as the general public perception around larger breeds ( 47 , 48 ), city ordinances banning ownership of certain breeds ( 49 ), housing restrictions implemented at the facility level ( 50 ), or concerns around safety, behavior, and compatibility with other home residents ( 51 ). These issues are exacerbated by the difficulty in accurately identifying breed information in shelter animal populations ( 52 ). As a result of these complications around getting large breeds out of shelters, shelters often end up with a stagnant population of these animals that has less turnover than other, easier to adopt categories (puppies of any breed, for example). This can create a perception that the only populations present are these large breed animals. These factors result in many of these animals having long stays and, as mentioned in prior sections, increased stress and overall wellness difficulties that further worsen their adoptable potential. Moreover, animals in the shelter are less likely to behave the way they might otherwise in a home ( 53 ), further decreasing their chances for a positive outcome. A strategy around breaking this cycle and helping large dogs would alleviate significant amounts of trapped resources as site maintenance and housing can create substantial costs and reduce flexibility in serving other populations. The importance of providing an equal opportunity for these large breed dogs to stay in their home is one consideration beyond adoption in strategy design. For example, policies that disallow the use of size of a dog as criteria for access to housing (as discussed above) would help keep these animals out of the shelter system in the first place. Adequate access to resources to behavior training could be another community level intervention that could allow more of these animals to stay in their homes.

Other Special Populations

Beyond these major issues, there are numerous conditions of decreasing commonality that require increasingly complex adaptations of program and policy to accommodate. This article cannot enumerate all such conditions, but the following list, sorted roughly by difficulty, captures some of the most critical special needs populations that require specially trained homes to inhabit, making them more difficult to adopt out:

  • Geriatric Animals.
  • Animals with Chronic Allergies.
  • Hospice Animals.
  • Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) Cats.
  • Kidney Failure Animals.
  • Diabetic Animals.
  • Behavior Animals.
  • Animals with Paralysis and/or Incontinence.

Much of the care, maintenance, and treatment of these populations is well understood, but the problem of placing them in amenable homes is still a significant one. More research around interventions that can increase the likelihood of placement as well as the factors that impact the likelihood of special population placement may provide actionable insights [see ( 54 ) as an example in geriatric animals].

Finally, and significantly, a more thorough understanding of how to match adopters to animals ( 37 , 55 ), how to evaluate homes for safety and longevity of adoption outcomes ( 13 , 56 ), how to optimize placement of animals in homes ( 57 ), and what preferences exist when it comes to adoption practices around marketing, visitation, and engagement is desperately needed. This understanding will likely depend significantly on local cultural distinctions in populations ( 58 , 59 ) and is, therefore, difficult to examine systematically. More best practices around adoption matching and marketing would greatly simplify one of the most critical functions in animal shelters.

Unique Challenges of Cats

Another, potentially less obvious problem in sheltering is the difference in positive outcomes for cats vs. dogs. Best Friends, a national non-profit that provides the most comprehensive summary of annual shelter statistics reports that cats are still dying in shelters at a ratio of 2:1 when compared with dogs ( 60 ) despite approximately one-fourth of US households providing a home for cats ( 61 ). Many shelters consistently report difficulties in adopting out adult cats once they no longer have the appearance of a kitten ( 62 ). Further, shelter or municipal policies around the extermination of community cats ( 63 ) may also be a significant contributor to the numbers of cats not having successful outcomes in shelters.

Approaches to improving live outcomes for cats require shelters to explore ideas outside of the traditional intake to adoption framework. Some strategies that are specifically applicable to cats have been evaluated and shown to be effective such as trap-neuter-return and shelter-neuter-return, which could reduce the number of un-adoptable cats entering the shelter system ( 64 , 65 ), but more research into the social drivers and potential interventions for this issue are warranted. A development of the recognition of the ecology of community cats is an additional issue that is elaborated on in Section Operations.

Medical Conditions

In addition to its capacity as an adoption agency for unowned animals, animal shelters often perform a variety of medical services. These services depend on the location, resources, and risk tolerance each organization has, and it is often difficult for organizations to decide what to treat and what to not treat (whether euthanasia is then called for or not). One critical element of this that remains a challenge for all shelters is the effective, actionable diagnosis of disease [see, ( 66 )]. Many diseases have reliable tests (such as canine parvovirus) while others have a much more complicated history in the development of a reliable test [such as canine distemper, though many strongly claim RNA tests should be considered reliable; ( 67 – 69 )]. Cost is also a critical factor in shelter tests as even a relatively inexpensive (50 dollars) test in an outbreak scenario can be entirely impractical in a population of just a few dozen animals. Further research into low-cost testing is certainly needed for a wide variety of diseases.

Once the disease is identified, shelters often lack the resources for what would be considered “standard” care in a private practice. Some shelters opt to not offer reduced care and, instead, euthanize, while others choose to offer whatever care they can within their own ethical limitations of suffering and quality of life considerations. The need for significantly more research into evidence-based medical guidelines, and especially those that are specifically optimized for triage situations with limited resources and around medical conditions seen in shelters, is widely apparent. Some conditions, such as kitten diarrhea, may be somewhat understood in a general medical sense, but the treatments and time course do not scale appropriately for the model of a medium to large shelter.

Although many diseases could use additional scrutiny for the purposes outlined above, the following are of particular interest due to the costs, in either lives or resources, associated with typical treatment or management (T; indicates specific transmissible disease relevant to Section Disease Transmission):

  • (T) Canine parvovirus ( 70 , 71 ).
  • (T) Feline panleukemia ( 72 ).
  • (T) Canine distemper ( 73 ).
  • (T) Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) ( 74 ).
  • (T) Feline immunodeficiency virus ( 75 – 78 ).
  • Kitten diarrhea ( 79 ).
  • Fracture and trauma management.

Disease Transmission

More so than the treatment of disease, the prevention of disease spread in the shelter environment is one of the most challenging, concretely measurable in the form of infection rates, yet ambiguous (difficult to diagnose in source) tasks a shelter may face. Shelters are examples of anthropogenic biological instability due to the housing of transient, displaced mixed-species of animals that may not have prior veterinary care or have been scavenging during times of homelessness ( 80 ). The disease transmission in shelters is further complicated by situation of overcrowding, poor levels of hygiene, and housing of multiple species which can add significant sources of stress for the animals and create a perfect environment for pathogen emergence and transmission ( 80 ). This transmission can quickly lead to a crisis in the shelter ( 81 ). Shelters that treat infectious disease like the canine parvovirus establish isolation areas in which only that disease is treated, but little is known about the ease with which these diseases spread under different quarantine practices.

Although there are many interesting diseases that are typically seen in shelters, some (such as those listed in Section Medical Conditions) are considered more impactful/deadly than others and, therefore, would make excellent targets for more detailed studies of disease spread.

While it is not officially recommended as a best practice ( 82 ), when shelters experience disease outbreaks, some may opt to depopulate, i.e., end the lives of their entire population, ( 83 ) rather than have it persist through many generations of animals flowing through the system. Better understanding of how to stem these outbreaks rapidly, efficiently, safely, in a resource-efficient manner, and given the constraints of a shelter environment (space, staffing, facility design, and the need to maintain normal operations) will allow shelters to avoid mass culling and take an approach that increases lifesaving with more confidence.

Community, Ecology, and Wellness (One Health)

Beyond the scope of the basic operations of a shelter in managing the conditions of individual animals and placing them in appropriate homes, shelters also serve a critical role in the community as providers of services that can enhance public perception and wellbeing ( 84 ). This collaboration requires an engaged community that recognizes the importance of animal welfare in the health and wellness of the larger, shared space. Best practices around establishing this type of engagement are not well identified in the existing body of knowledge. This is further confounded by variation in the distribution of resources and community attitudes in different geographic areas.

As animal shelters continue to evolve in response to societal shifts in attitudes toward animals, the focus of operations are changing from centering on adoptions to centering on the prevention of surrender of animals to the shelter in the first place [see ( 11 ) for a review]. This has already been discussed as it relates to community cats and behavior/health but there are many other human-centered reasons that animals are surrendered to shelters such as guardian health problems, housing insecurity, domestic violence, and many others ( 85 ). Our understanding of how human welfare intersects with animal welfare has the potential to have a dramatic impact on the way shelters operate in their communities. Some communities have hotlines, spay and neuter programs, and other medical/behavioral services that can potentially contribute to this issue, but the efficacy of such systems and the gaps they leave are not well understood. More significant study of the needs of local populations as they relate to shelter success is needed.

Local populations also differ in their perception and support of shelter policies, ethics, and the local system of laws that are intertwined with these efforts. No unified system of ethics is established in animal sheltering, and communities often do not understand the nuances of practices in shelters (especially regarding resource allocations and euthanasia practices). This makes galvanizing community support difficult, even in communities that have achieved remarkably high live release rates. Public perception, messaging, and ethical alignment will undoubtedly continue to be an ever-evolving socio-cultural landscape that is sorely in need of attention.

The mental health of volunteers, staff, and veterinarians ( 86 ) in animal shelters also requires much more attention than it often receives. Individuals that participate in euthanasia are reported to have higher work stress and lower job satisfaction than their counterparts ( 87 ). Suicide rates are significantly higher in the field of animal welfare than other high-stress fields ( 88 , 89 ), and more understanding and support is needing to help those working in these areas receive the help they need to continue to serve the community in a sustainable, healthy manner.

Access to Care

Access to veterinary care is emerging as a critical issue in animal welfare. Access to care is an aspect of the One Health approach to considering animal welfare due to the zoonotic potential of various diseases that can find reservoir in companion animals ( 90 ). In addition to being a risk to public health, lack of access to veterinary care can result in surrender of animals to shelters, stress to the caregiver/family ( 91 ) as well as stress to veterinarians who must counsel caregivers who cannot afford the recommended care ( 92 ). Shelters feel the impact of this as downstream recipients of animals when owners surrender due to an inability to access needed care. This can both drive surrender to shelters and result in a greater financial burden for shelters to meet medical needs that may be complicated by a historic lack of access to preventative or early intervention care. Further, shelters themselves compete in the market to employ veterinary professionals and support staff that may be further complicated by a shortage of veterinarians ( 93 , 94 ).

Access to care can be seen as a problem with multiple causes from cost to lack of transportation to the unequal distribution of veterinary resources across the landscape. Cost was identified as the most common barrier to accessing veterinary care in the Access to Veterinary Care Coalition report on this issue ( 91 ). In the past decade, costs for veterinary care have been outpacing increases in human health care ( 95 ). The average American spends 47% more on equivalent veterinary care today than a decade ago ( 96 ). The functional impact of this increasing cost is that fewer people are seeking care for their pets ( 97 ) resulting in what is considered the greatest current threat to companion animal welfare in the US ( 91 ). More research that identifies efficient, effective, and sustainable solutions to the cost of veterinary care will be key for animal shelters.

Key research questions in access to care can come down to three key areas:

Advances in areas like incremental care or spectrum of care, which are not equivalent but present different perspectives on the issue of cost-benefit analyses in treatment protocols, could reduce costs and prevent shelter surrenders but could also help shelters mitigate the increasing expense of medical treatment for animals in their care.

A deeper understanding of the number of animals surrendered for medical reasons, the types of these conditions and potential treatment routes pre-surrender would also add valuable knowledge to the animal sheltering and animal welfare communities.

Development of community-based solutions that focus on disease prevention when the cost is likely lower than when a disease process is more advanced. This includes the prevention of infectious disease transmission in the community and the development of effective education around other preventable conditions by pet guardians.

Ecology/Environment

The study of the ecology surrounding community cats has received significant attention over the past several years ( 63 , 64 , 98 – 102 ), and debates are likely to continue in this area to determine the most effective ways to ensure the health and safety of community cats and the organisms with which they interact. Additionally, ecological perspectives on the interaction between stray and roaming animals in general and the community are also of interest, but often only actively studied due to concerns over infectious disease spread such as the Rabies virus. Finally, the interaction of wildlife systems with domesticated animals may be of some interest both due to the spread of infectious disease and the more complex interactions these two animal groups may have with one another.

As animal welfare incorporates a One-health approach, further research that identifies strategies to reduce the environmental impact of shelter operations cannot be ignored. Effective ways of cleaning outdoor kennels without contributing to contaminate run-off, ecological disposal of animal waste and the evaluation of how large-scale animal transport can contribute to environmental degradation are just a few examples of the interaction of sheltering and the environment that are open for additional exploration.

In addition to the study of animal-centric, adoption-centric, and community-centric aspects of sheltering, the study of the operations that contribute to the ability of shelters to continually adapt, and advance is of critical importance if we are to have systems robust to disaster and capable of implementing our values and ethics on a global scale. Although blueprints do exist that can guide communities in setting up new shelters and enhancing existing shelters, significant problems remain in the space beyond the distribution of known solution resources. Here, we discuss 4 key operations problem areas with varying levels of complexity.

Data Problems

Shelters need to collect data to know how they are serving their animals, adopters, volunteers, staff, and community, and how to improve operations in all areas of the shelter. While the industry recognizes the need for quality data, significant barriers have been identified such as a lack of training and resources [( 103 ), additionally, see the Associate for Veterinary Informatics (AVI) for additional information on this topic; https://avinformatics.org/ ]. Solutions such as ShelterLuv, Chameleon, and PetPoint for database management go a long way to improving situations for shelters, but the ability to flexibly collect and curate all manner of useful data (including electronic medical records, location-based event history, and other meta-data about entities that comprise shelters) remains an open problem. It is also essential that the prioritization and understanding of the critical importance of data is shared by line staff as well as senior management. When line staff fail to understand the importance of complete data collection this action can be de-prioritized in fast paced shelter environment.

Beyond this, shelters need methods of protecting themselves in the sharing of data with the public, academic institutions, and each other. The public, which support shelters through taxes or donations, show widespread support, for example, for programs that reduce levels of shelter euthanasia shelters ( 104 ). The best practices around of performing data sharing and managing data access for shelters have yet to be established (though some progress has been made in recent months at the Municipal Shelter level). Over time, there have been attempts to create a single authoritative collection of sheltering data but to date, none have achieved high success. The current initiative that has achieved the most progress is Shelters Animals Count (SAC). SAC is a national database that relies on the voluntary participation by shelters and animal rescues to upload monthly sheltering summary statistics. Unfortunately, there is still relatively poor participation. For example, in 2020 there was participation by only 422 municipal shelters, 359 private shelters and 516 rescues ( 105 ). This can be contrasted with a 2014 estimate by the Humane Society of the United States of 3,500 municipal and non-profit shelters and over 10,000 rescue organizations ( 106 ). Despite the move toward increasing transparency in government, only a small handful of states and municipalities require reporting to their state and local governments, with even fewer providing enough clarity as to what should be reported for such reporting to be of use to the wider sheltering community. The result of this paucity and irregularity of data provides a significant challenge to researchers and policymakers in understanding what is happening across the nation regarding sheltering, though the contributions of states in which reporting is mandated effectively have provided a valuable starting point for these efforts.

KPI Problems

Once data is collected, linking that data down to trackable KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that are useful to shelters in improving outcomes for animals is a challenge in and of itself. The standardization of KPIs and their strict definitions has suffered from some of the disagreement and difficulties surrounding data collection. The most marked attempt to create unified KPIs occurred in 2004 resulting in the Asilomar Accords. The Live Release Rate, and methods of fairly but consistently calculating it materialized as a critical outcome of the Accords ( 107 ). This measure has never been without controversy and is limited, in part, by the wide variance in the various ways in which animal shelters operate in their community and what their priority services are ( 108 ). As the operation of shelters have changed, with more innovative programs designed to prevent animals from ever entering the shelter system appearing, advancements in medical and behavioral interventions, and the geographically biased nature of animal population distributions ( 109 ), the use of a single KPI will likely remain a source of both conflict and difficulty for many shelters. A more diverse set of KPIs will allow for shelters to perform more nuanced comparisons of their successes and failures that will enable better sharing of solutions and resources. What this list of KPIs should entail remains an open problem [see ( 110 )].

Growth Problems

Finally, as some shelters begin to stabilize the animal welfare situation in their cities, adapting to the varying degrees and paces of growth in various organizations to ensure resources are being properly utilized to the benefit of animals and the community is a challenge, to say the least. The field of Health Economics in humans has a rich history ( 111 ), and a similar field in Animal Health Economics ( 112 , 113 ) will likely need to be expanded beyond its traditional focus on production animals so that organizations are not put in a position to blindly guess at the proper allocations or resources toward different intervention programs (such as a canine parvovirus treatment program, FeLV treatment program, behavior program, or kitten foster program).

One particularly challenging program area for shelters to understand in the context of growth, integration, and resource allocation is the management of foster programs. Foster programs have been fantastically successful as a method of expanding the effective capacity of shelters, increasing live outcomes ( 114 ), enhancing community engagement, increasing quality of life of animals in care ( 35 ), and providing special assistance for more difficult to adopt populations. However, a thorough understanding of how to best engage, utilize, and grow foster programs is lacking.

Diversity Equity and Inclusion

Researchers have evidenced that the oppression of non-human animals, disabled humans, and people of color are deeply interconnected ( 115 ). If animal shelters are to continue to function as key members of diverse communities it is essential that they pay increasing attention to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in their operations both internal and external. While the community of research in this space has assembled a basic understanding of some inequities that currently exist, many others have yet to be explored in a thorough way. For example, we know that African Americans are underrepresented in leadership positions ( 116 ). The homogeneity of animal shelters is not confined to the workforce alone. Two large survey-based studies found similar results in evaluating the demographics of animal welfare volunteers concluding that most volunteers were White females in the middle to upper middle class ( 117 , 118 ). Questions of why this lack of diversity persists and what successful strategies could be used to improve conditions would be of benefit as representation of communities within organizations that serve them allow those organizations to supply the appropriate services to maximize the community benefit and foster a highly participatory, engaged, fair, enthusiastic, and ethical social system.

Beyond direct engagement with shelters as volunteers or employees, there are fecund areas for research in the provisioning of shelter operations. As increases in public-private partnerships place more animal shelters in the business of providing animal control operations, the enforcement of ordinances becomes a key issue in balancing public demand for action and the ethics and priorities of animal welfare. A recently published commentary on the subject argues that there is inherent bias in the design and enforcement of public policy around animal welfare and urges a shift from enforcement to resource provision ( 119 ). Evaluating policies and enforcement and implementation of these policies and whether biases are leading to unequal burden are not well understood though it is difficult to not draw comparisons to the arena of policing and the long, complicated relationship between marginalized communities and law enforcement personnel. Additional challenges persist in understanding potential inequities between the surrender of animals and the adoption of animals and whether these differences enforce equity imbalances or are based on existing biases and structural inequities ( 120 ).

Public-Private-Academic-Corporate Collaborations

A less visible and virtually unstudied problem in animal sheltering is the ability for organizational entities of different types and with different incentives to collaborate to the benefit of animals, their owners, the community, and each other. The social network analysis of Reese and Ye ( 121 ) is a prime example of the complex collaborative relationships that can emerge between organizations to advance lifesaving in a community. Many questions in this space exist around the best ways for these organizations to interact (i.e., what roles are best served by what organizations, what incentives are best to ensure ethical treatment of all parties, and what restrictions should be put on various types of interactions). Legal restrictions around the use of shelter animals in research may be a barrier that exists to research collaborations between shelters and academic institutions. Dialogue, consensus, and potential legislative change may be needed between animal shelters, the veterinary community, and academia to address the negative consequences of legislation originally intended to protect animals from harm.

Public-private partnerships in other areas of medicine have become increasingly common and valuable ( 122 ), and corporate sponsorship of shelters has become increasingly common. Public-private shelter partnerships are also on the rise with some proposing this structure as the new standard in the field ( 123 ). Academic collaboration with animal shelters, where academic institutions take advantage of the wealth of available subjects and data in shelters, is still a relatively new concept. Though many potential pitfalls exist in these collaborations (including issues with credit attribution, resource allocation, and ethical alignment), the potential to accelerate the state of the art in animal sheltering via these collaborations is huge thanks to the varied strengths of each organizational type.

The seven key areas for research in animal sheltering outlined above are not the only areas that might be of interest to shelter practitioners and their partners. Some additional areas of interest were not mentioned specifically in this manuscript due to the well-researched nature of the topics, the lack of clear definition in the space, and/or their relative distance from the typical practices of an animal shelter. These areas, nonetheless, merit some mention due to their importance to the area of animal welfare research at large and potential intersection with some shelter practices (depending on specific shelter policy, philosophy, and operations).

A variety of interventions have been proposed that might address some of the problems mentioned in this manuscript. On the behavior side, playgroup services have been proposed that may aid in social development and lead to more positive behavioral outcomes for dogs ( 124 ). Moreover, foster programs that take advantage of these and other medical or behavioral services to accelerate positive outcomes for animals deserve significant attention ( 35 , 125 ). Foster programs can serve as an additional reservoir for animal populations, increase community engagement in the shelter system, and encourage positive outcomes for animals in the foster system through positive environmental enrichment in homes. In situations where foster homes are not available, additional environmental enrichment to achieve similar aims may be found through clever building and facility design at the shelter site ( 126 , 127 ). Finally, a variety of programmatic and procedural interventions around lost and found animals, self-service rehoming, and intake-to-placement optimization, and field services optimization that aim to prevent animals from entering the physical shelter facility can serve as systems optimizations that improve outcomes for all parties; though, more research is needed in these areas to examine their efficacy. Each of these intervention areas, and other innovations in sheltering, deserve significantly more attention than can be afforded in this outline, and future work should attempt to address them more directly.

In addition to a variety of community and ecology problems and interventions, ethical problems in the industry of animal sheltering are not specifically addressed in this work as these are not research topics per se , but more in the realm of philosophy. Future work should examine ethical questions surrounding the topics outlined in this manuscript and other sociological research questions related to the ethics of animal shelter practices.

In this work, we present a conceptual organization of topics for research in Animal Sheltering. These topics vary significantly in difficulty and impact but represent a large swath of needed scientific contributions in the literature. Many of these areas are being actively worked upon by various research institutions (i.e., significant work in animal diseases has occurred), but some have received little attention yet (i.e., operations research). Moreover, some of these areas are being examined, but due to resource and/or methodological constraints, progress is slow. By enumerating these problems, the community of researchers attempting to improve the function of shelters for animals, staff, volunteers, and the community can more carefully and wholistically consider the breadth of applicability of their ideas and investigations and hopefully, more productively contribute to the literature.

Author Contributions

The above document was drafted and originated by KH with review, added sections on community cats, DEI, and Access to Care and most edits provided by SN. Figures were generated by KH. Both authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Funding for publication was provided by the American Pets Alive! Organization, while funding for individual authors and the creation of the work herein was provided by their respective institutions or the authors themselves.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Human Animal Support Services organization for their support and encouragement. Additionally, we would like to especially thank Dr. Nipuni Ratnayaka for her contributions to and review of some of the ideas in this document, Dr. Elizabeth Davis for her support in the development of these ideas, Rory Adams for his thoughtful comments around the topics in this document, Steve Porter for his commentary around shelter operations, Dr. Ellen Jefferson for her leadership and support of this work, and all of the staff, volunteers, and communities that continue to advance the state of the art in animal sheltering around the world. This work originally appeared in large part in a blog post from November of 2019. The original blog post can be found at: https://medium.com/@amparesearch/critical-problems-for-research-in-animal-sheltering-404395127b35 .

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