Research Agenda
This page contains my annotated bibliographies from my various projects in writing 60. The first category is for my Scicomm article, this is where I found research articles that were able to describe dogs cognition and specifically looked at their ability to problem solve. Next is the first section for my advocacy project, for this problem section I wasn’t sure what I wanted to focus on so I researched multiple articles about different problems that dogs are currently facing. Doing so helped me pick my advocacy topic of choice which is puppy mills. That led me to my next section of the advocacy project which is solutions! After going through the rough part of having to learn horrific details about the problem I got to start researching solutions that are local and global!
I hope you enjoy reading my progress throughout this course with an inside view into how i stayed organized with my articles.
SciComm Article
Annotated Bibliography 1
In the article, “A General Intelligence Factor in Dogs” research was conducted by Rosalind Arden who is a research fellow at the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science and then published in the journal, “Intelligence”. The research was based on 68 border collies that all were farm raised with similar upbringings and conducted 3 problem solving tests. With these tests, may of the dogs were timed on how fast it took them to complete the problem solving tests, with these results, they revealed that if a dog was faster or better at completing one of the tests, this was indicative that the dogs would be faster and better at another one of the tasks. This revealed that the g-factor or intelligence patterns found in humans abilities are similar to the ones that the dogs presented in this study, this can help us connect intelligence factors to health all around. This article conducts similar testing to these next two articles, the same pointing test to see whether dogs are able to pick up on the social ques of humans. This article is able to incorporate this test and opinions into its overall study regarding dogs intelligence.
Annotated Bibliography 2
In the article, “Pointing following in dogs: are simple or complex cognitive mechanisms involved” research conducted by Angel Elgier who’s a Psychology professor at University of Buenos Aires and published in the journal “Animal Cognition”. The research was based on a final sample of 20 dogs , all of different age groups and breeds who were raised living with humans. The test conducted of the researcher posting across their body to the bowl with the food and seeing if the dog would follow the correct response. The results showed that with proper training, visual commands such as pointing can be predictors of resources that perform as well as the human social ones. This revealed that the dogs choice on which bowl to pick in the study was more of a response to a reward related cue rather than a human social cue and how dogs previous experience with social cues can effect their responses to new signals as well. This article provides the opinions that the foundation article is trying to analyze further, that dogs responses to this may be indicative of a general intelligence factor. This study also provides the same research as the next article but approaches it in a different dynamic.
Annotated Bibliography 3
In the article, “Comprehension and Utilisation of Pointing Gestures and Gazing in Dog–Human Communication in Relatively Complex Situations” researcher Gabriella Lakatos who is apart of the Robotics Research Group at the University of Hertfordshire published this article in the journal “Animal Cognition”. The research was based on 16 dogs that participated in 3 kinds of tests or studies that examined dogs responses to direct pointing to a hidden treat, are able to pick up on indirect signals and if they can correct the pointer and lead them to the correct hiding spot. These tests revealed that the communication between dogs and humans is complex and dogs take the generality of the humans cues since some require more complexity than others. In correlation to the foundation article and other article is that this provides the needed information in order to perform the pointing test in the foundation article. This article also build off of the previous article but with a difference in their testing, however, both came to similar results involving the dogs abilities.
Advocacy Project: Defining the problem
Annotated Bibliography 1
In the research article, On the origin of puppies: breeding and selling procedures relevant for canine behavioral development, Pierre-Alexandre Dendoncker who is a doctor in Veterinary Medicine with experience in Scientific Research, Veterinary Practice and Educational programs published this article in the “Vet Record” Journal. This article explores how breeding practices such as small scale breeding vs big scale breeding can effect a dogs behavior along with the environment of the breeding practice can effect them. The target population to track was all persons breeding or selling dogs in Belgium, data was collected by Pierre during an onsite interview to track puppy behavior and observe the environment of the breeding facility. The results shows that compared to large-scale breeders or puppy mills, small scale breeders provided a more enriched environment during the socialization period of puppies than large scale breeders and increased bonding with the mother as well as increased health security and interviewing potential owners. These are important factors to take into account when looking at the ethics of dog breeding and for owners when they look to adopt a puppy, how it is so important the environment that their raised in and how that can effect their behavior later on in life.
Annotated Bibliography 2
In the research article, “Population Dynamics and the Risk of Euthanisia for Dogs in an Animal Shelter”, researcher Gary J. Patonek who specializes in shelter medicine published this article in the Anthroöz journal which is a multidisciplinary journal of the interactions of people and animals. The records of dogs in an animal cheater were analyzed during a three and a half year period to describe the canine population dynamic and the risk factors for dogs failure to be reclaimed and to be euthanized. They looked at the incoming dogs, age, sex, breed, seasonal trends, status when coming into the shelter, and the length of stay in the shelter and how these attributed to a dogs chance at being euthanized. These data and demographic tracking can be developed to try and lower the risk of euthanization for dogs in these shelters.
Annotated Bibliography 3
In the article, “Why Breed-Specific Legislation is Not The Answer” written by the American Veterinary Medical Association who is the nations leading advocate in the veterinary profession and published on the AVMA website describe breed specific legislation (BSL) is becoming more widespread and is not the solution to dog bite prevention. They describe the issues that arise with BSL such as the difficulty of it to be enforced and how one’s specific breed cannot be determined and has become discriminatory against responsible owners. This aims to educate people about this legislation. This can assist me on looking on how this legislation will continue to effect dogs and provides a great baseline for more research.
Advocacy Project: Solutions
Annotated Bibliography 1
In the article, “The NEW Puppy Lemon Law: A Universal Solution to Puppy Mill Discrepancies” authors and researchers Brittany Redelico, Alyson O’Connor and Julie M. Flanagan published from Rutgers University describe their new lemon law that could be adapted by all states in order to curb puppy mills. They describe that with the current puppy lemon laws, there is too much room for “loopholes and manipulations of the regulations.” That there is too much variation of the laws amongst states which is why it is hard to have comprehensive puppy lemon laws to protect animal welfare. The solution they proposed is to create one universal puppy lemon law that all states can adapt to and are mandated to follow. They states that this new law will serve the primary focus of “protecting the rights and safety of the puppies and their owners” which is something that is not covered by the current laws that are in place. This solution will allow for stronger laws and consequences for states that do not follow them correctly, this will curb the inhumane environment of puppy mills. I will use this in my article to describe how this puppy lemon law, does not only have to apply to the United States but how other countries are also able to adapt to this law to ensure animal welfare amongst animal trade.
Annotated Bibliography 2
In the article Published by the Humane Society of The United States, “Puppy Mills and the Animal Welfare Act” describes what puppy mills are, the dangers of them, how there are laws put in place to stop them but they are ineffective, and proposes solutions to amend these laws and what we can do to support them. Focusing primarily on the section titled, “A Pressing Need for High Standards”, they describe how even if the US department of Agriculture (USDA) enforces the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) properly there will still be a big problem that remains which is that the Animal Welfare Act’s terms and buildings are outdated and vague which still allow for manipulation. They propose amending the AWA regulations to ensure the “humane standards of care and safeguard the health of regulated animals” and how the majority of people surveyed supported improved standards to be enforced on breeders in the US. They move on to describe their rulemaking petition to improve the USDA and their standards enforced through the AWA and they have improved 6/10 of the standards proposed in this petition. I will use this in my solutions section to show how the improvement of these laws and regulations can really be made and the impact of petitions on changing these laws with the support of others.
Annotated Bibliography 3
In the article, “Seven Ways You Can Stop Puppy Mills”, the Humane Society of The United States describe 7 ways that everyday people can support the elimination of puppy mills. They describe methods such as asking their local pet stores to foster initiative to assist getting homeless dogs adopted rather than receiving them from puppy mills. Another option they recommend is to be their voice, to be an advocate for the dogs and provides breeders wit an advocacy guide as one of the most accessible ways to improve their own community. They also introduce the topic of contacting legislators and writing letters to local news organizations in order to spread the word. Among these reasons, the article provides multiple examples of ways everyday people can get involved in the effort and can impact real change within their communities. I will use this in my article to display how we can assist in the erasure of puppy mills or inhumane treatment of dogs that are bred.