Caide Angeles 10/06/2023

This week’s module discussed the different ways and signs to check up on how good an

animal’s welfare is, including the physiological and behavioral measures of assessing it.

Personally, I believe that the physiological measures of examining one’s animal welfare

are the most important and effective - although we could sense more of the behavioral attitudes

of our animals, it all roots out from their physiological being. For example, a decline in an

animal’s physical health could lead to a stress response that might affect how they act and

behave including behaving aggressively out of nowhere. Veterinarians or professionals are also

the ones assessing the physiological aspects of an animal's health, they could do tests and

backed-up exams that could help us understand why the animal acted in a certain way or why

the animal is in pain in the first place. It could also help us prevent diseases from thriving in an

animal’s body and eventually spreading to other animals if contagious. However, there are also

different aspects that we should look into and take into consideration in checking animal welfare.

This includes the behavioral measures of animal welfare. Aside from checking the physiological

being of an animal, we also need to observe the behaviors of animals along with it. An animal

can be aggressive due to how it feels in its environment not just on how it feels physically. One

animal can be physically healthy but still act badly due to its needs not being met. One example

is that animals can behave badly if not socialize well or if they are not happy with how he’s being

treated or such. A healthy animal should be able to feel healthy too. Naturally, they are curious,

playful, and excited creatures - even those with age if treated with care and love.

These concepts can help veterinarians and future veterinarians to not just assess the

physical health of animals through tests and science but also to help their owners observe how

the animals act and use their body language.

VMED 101 - T