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Ruth Newberry Associate Professor, Center for the Study of Animal Well-being Ph.D., University of Edinburgh Phone: (509) 335-5059 E-mail: rnewberry@wsu.edu

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR AND WELL-BEING. There is strong public interest in issues surrounding animal welfare. Research in our group is aimed at understanding effects of different environmental conditions, and experience when young, on animal behavior and well-being. We pay particular attention to the social environment of animals and the management of group-housed animals. This information is used to develop housing and management systems that optimize animal well-being.

Specific Research Areas:

• Environmental enrichment.
• Play behavior as an indicator of animal well-being.
• Factors affecting the expression of cannibalistic behavior.
• Influence of group size and social experience on behavior and well-being.
  

Selected Publications:

1. Newberry, R.C. and J.C. Swanson. 2008.  Implications of breaking mother-young social bonds. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 110:3-23.
2. Cloutier, S. and R.C. Newberry. 2008.  The use of a conditioning technique to reduce the physiological and behavioural stress associated with repeated intra-peritoneal injections in rats. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 112:158-173.
3. Croney, C.C. and R.C. Newberry. 2007. Group size and cognitive processes. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 103:215-228.
4. Gifford, A.K., S. Cloutier and R.C. Newberry. 2007.  Objects as enrichment: effects of object exposure time and delay interval on object recognition memory of the domestic pig. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 107:206-217.
5. Newberry, R.C., L.J. Keeling, I. Estevez & Bilčík, B. 2007.  Behaviour when young as a predictor of severe feather pecking in adult laying hens: the redirected foraging hypothesis revisited. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 107:262-274.
6. Donaldson, T.M., R.C. Newberry, M. Špinka & S. Cloutier. 2002. Effects of early play experience on play behaviour of piglets after weaning. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 79:221-231.
7. Cloutier S., R.C. Newberry, K. Honda & J.R. Alldredge. 2002. Cannibalistic behaviour spread by social learning. Animal Behaviour 63:1153-1162.
8. Špinka, M., R.C. Newberry & M. Bekoff. 2001.  Mammalian play: training for the unexpected.  The Quarterly Review of Biology 76:141-168.
9. Cambridge, A.J., K.M. Tobias, R.C. Newberry & D.K. Sarkar. 2000.  Evaluation of subjective and objective measurements of postoperative pain in cats.  Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 217:685-690.
10. Newberry, R.C. 1999.  Exploratory behaviour of young domestic fowl.  Applied Animal Behaviour Science 63:311-321.
11. Newberry, R.C. & D.M. Shackleton. 1997.  Use of cover by domestic fowl: a Venetian blind effect?  Animal Behaviour 54:387-395.
12. Newberry, R.C. 1995.  Environmental enrichment: increasing the biological relevance of captive environments.  Applied Animal Behaviour Science 44:229-244.
13. Newberry, R.C. & D.G.M. Wood-Gush. 1986.  Social relationships of piglets in a semi-natural environment.  Animal Behaviour 34:1311-1318.