Freedom to express normal behaviours - one of the five freedoms of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 UK

Freedom to express normal behaviours - one of the five freedoms of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 UK

Under the Animal Welfare Act all Animals have the rights to:
Freedom from hunger, thirst or malnutrition
Freedom from discomfort
To be able to exhibit normal behaviours
Freedom from fear and distress
To be protected from pain, suffering, disease and illnesses.

As it is such a big topic I'll explore each freedom within each blog.

Freedom to express normal behaviours. This one is a powerful one for me. This is one that I fight for vehemently. Because people may well provide their dog with food, water, a bed, some toys and provide walks. But many dogs, many dogs are not free to exhibit normal behaviours. This is one of the things that upsets me the most working with dogs and learning how others treat them.

Being completely transparent I think a lot of my compassion fatigue and moral injury stems from. I could talk about this subject every day. But I won't. I'll keep it as brief as possible.

One favourite quote of mine is: "There is a difference between surviving and thriving." this has been adopted and titled their own words by many psychologists so it is difficult to find the original author of this expression.

But there is nothing more true when considering dogs, animals and even humans. But as this is about dogs, let's look at this deeper for dogs.

One question: "Is your dog surviving or thriving?" it's a big question to think about and to answer. This is a dangerous balancing act that we have with the understanding and interpretation of the five freedoms.

The Five freedoms were set as so, to be timeless so basically each generation would adapt it accordingly. But stripped to it's bare bones as presented under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 for the UK. The absolute bare minimum could be done for a dogs welfare and this would be lawful. (1)

Universally it is agreed that the bare minimum just is not good enough and today more than ever we have so many people speaking for animals, not just dogs, but all animals.

It is up to us humans to provide animals with the opportunity to have greater positive affects of their environment, so that they are able to thrive and not just survive because they are genetically programmed to endure negative affective experiences. (2)

It can be argued we as humans have to endure negative situations as that is our genetic programming. We have identified this as eustress - good stress and distress - bad stress. But just because we endure or power through a negative situation or experience does not mean that our peers do not express sympathy or empathy for that person and their experience. So just as we show compassion to others and express words such as "you should never have experienced that." We do need to also apply this level of compassion to our dogs in preventing them from enduring negative experiences.

Freedom 5 - to be able to exhibit normal behaviours.

Provision 5 - providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animals own kind.

So although the provisions update the five freedoms definitions and focus on the positive affects and not just the negative affects, the provisions are still problematic.
What do we deem as sufficient space? Many guardians and colleagues have been upset and frustrated due to living in a flat and refused an application to rescue a dog because of living in a flat.

I argue that although the guardian lives in a flat this doesn't mean the dog will not have their needs met, just because of living in a flat.

I lived in a flat and took my dogs out to toilet, I had plenty of room to train them and I also had plenty of room to offer lots of safe and secure sleeping areas.

The flat also did not prohibit them from expression of normal behaviours, such as barking, howling, zoomies, chewing, digging, sleeping and seeking out scent enrichment.

Many dogs live in houses and do not have the life that they are legally entitled to have. They are not walked, trained, enriched or allowed to exhibit normal behaviours such as barking, chewing, digging etc.

I also know of dogs on farms and small holdings, chained. Never going into the house, shelter is met by a plastic kennel and a barn for winter, food and water is provided and the dogs go to the vets. This is totally legal in the UK. Does this mean the dog has a good life? No, not at all.

Company of animals of their own kind: many dogs do not wish to live with another dog, it could be dangerous for that individual dog and the cohabitating dog, some dogs are not social and do not wish to mix with other dogs.

We have to be mindful of the law and how poorly written the law is. There is room to say that both freedom and provision have been met. But does it mean the dog is enjoying healthy and good welfare?

Many dogs are still punished for toileting in the home, barking, chewing, digging, mouthing, expressing that they do not want to be near another dog, chasing cats or wildlife or being punished because the dog did not understand the behaviour being asked of them. Punished for getting excited about going for a walk, punishment for being excited? In today's age and not Victorian times I would hope children are not punished for being excited. It is the same principle.

Instead because the provision is problematic, Mellor 2015; identified the mixing with their own species as the importance of that first critical period and bond to a mother and their siblings, we know how important it is for a puppy's development and socialisation pre and postnatally for that bond and secure attachment and of course playful behaviour. (3)

Humans control animals and especially dogs in Domestic settings. This is why many of us argue that "dominance" is outdated. Because this term has been applied to harm a dog in favour of aversive practices.

Instead it is an understanding that a dog is completely dependent upon a human, for food, when they will be fed, when and where they have access to water, access to walks, play, shelter etc. A human controls every aspect of a dogs life. We as humans have the ability to compromise or enhance animal welfare and those of us who work with animals have the most influence.

This is why many of us dedicate our time to writing blogs, researching and keeping our learning up to date to pass knowledge onto colleagues, guardians and those up and coming in the industry for all around better welfare standards.
This ideology expands on the original question of the five domains of "Is the animal's life worth living?" This is a big and a strong question.

For example we as trainers, behaviourists and Behaviour consults have the ability to anticipate problems and remedy them, we are able to provide training and give knowledge, we can also improve cognitive behavioural learning. This is a big duty of care for those of us who work with animals professionally. We are responsible for a close animal - human bond. (4)

I'll expand on the provisions, their history and the three orientations in another blog after exploring all of the freedoms as this again is just too big for one blog.

So hopefully as we have explored this freedom and the meaning of this provision we understand that we help the individual dog based on their preferences to have an enjoyable life, where they can bark, chew, dig, howl, play, socialise or not socialise, enjoy their human family, sleep safely and comfortably and enjoy proper exercise and enrichment.

Where they are not punished for expression of normal behaviours for a dog as a species, they are not punished for toileting indoors, barking or chewing for example. We would not punish a cow for mooing, nor for toileting so we absolutely need to think of our dogs in that context.

The dog decides what is and what is not fun for them, they decide whether or not they enjoy the food offered to them and they decide where is comfortable and safe to sleep and they also decide whether they want to socialise with other dogs or not. We have to be mindful as we progress with our learning that dogs have choices and preferences just like us.
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If you would like to learn more about the five freedoms and helping a dog to thrive and not just survive The Do No Harm Dog Training and Behaviour Handbook by Linda Michaels MA will be a great source of knowledge, information and guidance for you and is available in paperback or ebook form from Amazon https://amzn.to/3PhC74z
In the next blog we will be exploring: the freedom from fear and distress.

References

Webster J., editor. Management and Welfare of Farm Animals. UFAW Farm Handbook. Wiley-Blackwell; Chichester, UK: 201
Mellor D.J. Enhancing animal welfare by creating opportunities for ‘positive affective engagement’ N. Z. Vet. J. 2015;63:3–8. doi: 10.1080/00480169.2014.926799
Mellor D.J. Enhancing animal welfare by creating opportunities for ‘positive affective engagement’ N. Z. Vet. J. 2015;63:3–8. doi: 10.1080/00480169.2014.926799
Coleman G.J., Hemsworth P.H. Training to improve stockperson beliefs and behaviour towards livestock enhances welfare and productivity. Rev. Sci. Tech. (Off. Int. Epiz.) 2014;33:131–137. doi: 10.20506/rst.33.1.2257