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Commercial broiler chickens are exposed to a number of potential stressors prior to slaughter, including catching, crating, and transportation. To ameliorate animal welfare and prevent product quality loss during these processes, numerous scientific studies have been performed. As a result, different technical innovations have been presented such as mechanical catching instead of manual catching. The success of a catching machine as an alternative for manual catching of broilers will not only depend on its economic, animal, and human welfare benefits but also on its acceptance by society and consumers. The aim of this research was to assess if individuals' subjective perceptions of catching methods align with objective scientific facts. This research was focused on questions and issues related to the consumers' expected bottlenecks and motives for accepting these technologies after being exposed to video segments of each catching method. In general, the gap between consumer perception and scientific evidence related to manual and mechanical catching is limited. For those bottlenecks where science is inconclusive, respondents also have no explicit preference. Despite absence of major gaps between consumer perception and expert knowledge, preferences of particular consumer segments do not align well with scientific evidence. This holds in particular for female, younger, urban individuals who attach high importance to animal welfare issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing interest in ameliorating animal welfare has prompted numerous studies that compare various aspects of manual and mechanical catching. In general, mechanical catching has been adopted as a realistic alternative for manual catching. The success of a catching machine as an alternative for manual catching does not only depend on its practical applicability, but also on its acceptance by "the general public." In the history of technological change, public perception of new technologies has often been ambivalent. Against this background, it is important to know how consumers perceive the production methods. This paper provides an evaluation of the preferences for catching methods by "society" to investigate whether there is a shift in preference due to the confrontation with video segments and the potential effect of awareness and importance attached to animal welfare on preference. Data were gathered through a questionnaire-based survey, including 450 respondents, performed in Belgium. For this study, the data indicated that when subjects were provided information concerning catching methods of broilers, they liked the technology much more. However, for those respondents without prior awareness of both catching methods or with high importance attached to animal welfare, giving information could not convince them of the advantage of using a mechanical catching machine. It is obvious that preference varies with the awareness and experience of the respondents. Future research should move forward from simple assessments of consumer concerns about the technologies and focus more directly on questions and issues related to the consumer's expected bottlenecks of these technologies. In this way, working at a better understanding can directly influence the acceptance of these technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sixteen common seals (Phoca vitulina) were stranded on the Belgian and northern French coasts during the summer of 1998. Eleven (10 pups and one adult) were sampled for histopathological, immunohistochemical, serological, bacteriological, parasitological and virological investigations. The main gross findings were severe emaciation, acute haemorrhagic enteritis, acute pneumonia, interstitial pulmonary emphysema and oedema, and chronic ulcerative stomatitis. Microscopical lung findings were acute to subacute pneumonia with interstitial oedema and emphysema. Severe lymphocytic depletion was observed in lymph nodes. Severe acute to subacute meningoencephalitis was observed in one animal. Specific staining with two monoclonal antibodies directed against canine distemper virus (CDV) and phocine distemper virus was observed in a few lymphocytes in the spleen and lymph nodes of three seals. Anti-CDV neutralising antibodies were detected in sera from six animals. Seven of the seals were positive by reverse transcriptase-PCR for the morbillivirus phosphoprotein gene. The lesions observed were consistent with those in animals infected by a morbillivirus, and demonstrated that distemper has recently recurred in North Sea seals.