#futurehorse project. Is there a role for anthropomorphism in veterinary practice and animal welfare science?

Julie Fiedler - Professor Josh Slater- Dr Sarah Rosanowski- Dr Margaret Ayre
Universities Federation for Animal Welfare
Indo-Pacific Online Workshop Dec 2022
Controversies and Collaborations:
Moving Toward Consensus in Animal Welfare
#futurehorse project:
Is there a role for anthropomorphism
in veterinary practice and animal welfare science?
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UFAW Indo‐Pacific Online Workshop 2022 – Julie Fiedler

I acknowledge and pay respect to First Nations peoples of
many countries and cultures, whose spiritual connection
with animals and country is of more‐than‐human
meaningfulness, which may hold different values to
western cultures, and westernised knowledge of
sentience, agency, anthropomorphism and the human and
animal connection to each other and to country.
Acknowledgement
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This presentation is prepared on the traditional lands of the Bunurong and Boon
Wurrung people, Werribee, Victoria. Australia.

Julie Fiedler
PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne
Research project titled ‘Forecasting Horse Welfare
Expectations: Insights from within’
20 yrs. as Executive Officer for Horse SA (non‐profit Horse
Council in South Australia)
Secretary, Animal Emergency Incident Management Network
Australia New Zealand
Introduction
www.linkedin.com/in/julie‐fiedler‐07126918

 Horse welfare is a wicked situation
 An overview of anthropomorphism
 #futurehorse project survey results: anthropomorphism
and horse welfare
 Workshop question: Is there a role for anthropomorphism
Contents
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 Many viewpoints about ‘what is’ welfare, what it should be and the
doing of practices
 It is a wicked situation because of intergenerational
and interdisciplinary efforts to find solutions, yet problems persist
 Potential solutions require the join‐up of knowledge from diverse
sections of science and society
(Fernandes et al., 2019, Lawrence et al., 2022).
Horse welfare is a wicked situation
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An overview of Anthropomorphism
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Anthropomorphism:
 is when people attribute human behaviours
and characteristics to animals, nature and
objects
 it is a lifelong attitude
 linked to interactions
(Airenti 2018)
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 a sense of personal identity
 a sense of control and predictability
 a sense of social connection
 a sense of relatedness or relationship
 links to empathy
An overview of anthropomorphism
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Each person experiences anthropomorphism differently, perhaps
one or more of …
(Airenti 2015, 2018)

An overview of anthropomorphism
 believe that horses communicate the intent of their actions
 award their horse higher‐order reasoning and morality
 have a sense that the horse is watching and holding people accountable
 justify how they care for their horse (good or bad)
I think my owner’s desire for
a long life was mixed up my
Quality of Life
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Hogg 2022, Waytz et al 2010
Some people, when anthropomorphising, may also...

Allegorical: attributing human characteristics to a fictional
character e.g., Author Anna Sewell’s ‘Black Beauty’
Superficial: attributing behaviours to a horse based on surface
appearances e.g., a horse looking ‘drunk’
Not all anthropomorphism is the same
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Forms of anthropomorphism
Lockwood (1986).

Explanatory: attributing human behaviours or
characteristics to explain horse behaviours
e.g., naughty, lazy
Personification: ‘where people treat or think of animals
in the same way as themselves’Lockwood (1986).
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Naughty horse!
You know better!
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Forms of anthropomorphism

Critical forms of anthropomorphism
“The concept of ‘critical
anthropomorphism’ helps to establish
ground rules for dealing with the
inevitable anthropomorphic tendencies
that we, as sentient human beings,
confront in trying to understand the
behaviour of other species.”
(Burghardt 2004)

Critical forms of anthropomorphism
As an aid to formulating a cautious (predictive) hypothesis/inference about
animal emotions/feelings that can be tested/evaluated against current science.
The critical anthropomorphism ‘boundaries’ or ‘structures’ include:
 Evidence‐based science incl., including animal behaviour and natural history.
 Observations and knowledge of an individual horse’s behaviours in specific
situations.
 Requires consideration of personal worldviews (life experiences, education).
 Requires experience in reflective/reflexive practices to consciously ‘step in’‐
formulate the (predictive) hypothesis/ infer the animal’s mental
state/feelings‐ consciously ‘step out’ and evaluate.
These factors may
converge in
situations such as
Quality of Life
(QoL) assessments
.
(Burghardt 2013, Green et al. 2011, Lockwood 1985, Mellor 2019)

Is there a role for anthropomorphism in
veterinary practice and animal welfare (AW) science?
Animal welfare assessment
‘Point in time’
Refer to evidence‐based AW
knowledge.
Describe what you see and
measure then evaluate
Incorporate into a welfare
assessment
Animal welfare assessment
‘Forecasting’
Refer to evidence‐based AW knowledge
Use as ‘boundaries’ (Refer prev. slide)
Cautiously hypothesise/infer animal emotion
Reflect‐ test/evaluate
Incorporate into welfare assessment
Attitudes about animal care
A sense of relatedness,
predictability etc.
Unclear use of evidence‐based AW
knowledge & boundaries
Empathy/ care/ cruelty variables
#futurehorse project
Maybe useful for animal welfare Maybe less useful for animal welfare
Critical forms of anthropomorphism Uncritical forms of anthropomorphism
(Burghardt 2013, Green et al. 2011, Lockwood 1985, Mellor 2019)

To investigate horse industry participants
expectations about horse welfare practices in
racing, riding, sports and tourism.
Contribution to science and community: Welfare
statements to inform policy, practice and social
licence to operate.
#futurehorse Project: Aims
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#futurehorse project: anthropomorphism

681 respondents
• 99% were from Australia
• 85% of respondents are female
• 57% are over 50 yrs. of age
• Most respondents were involved in equestrian sports,
followed by horse racing (48%/13%)
• 46.1% gained some income from horses (professionals)
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Responses: 520/76.3% (n=681)

Result of thematic analysis: Anthro is‐
good, bad, or good and bad for horse welfare
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‘This [anthropomorphism] is the greatest disservice we can do for the
horse or any animal, to label horses as naughty or dominant etc. [It] then
creates a behaviour in humans that can and is usually detrimental to the
horse. […] (Case 166: Stock Horse, Amateur).
Anthropomorphism can be bad for horse welfare
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Labelling behaviours ‐‘explanatory’ forms of anthropomorphism

‘By assuming that horses value the same things as us,
we are at risk of limiting their agency […]’
(Case 555: Horse Racing, Professional)
#futurehorse survey: anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism can be bad for horse welfare
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The conditions for enabling or constraining animal
agency are considered in the Five Domains Model
(Mellor et al 2020).
Forms of anthropomorphism/personification

‘We need to take into account how people
perceive or view horses and other companion
animals to alter or influence the human’s
behaviour in correct welfare decisions. [Which]
can be made through the lens of
anthropomorphism’
(Case 165: Equestrian Sports, Amateur)
Anthropomorphism could be good for horse welfare
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Potential to utilise critical forms of anthropomorphism

‘Anthropomorphism can be a double‐edged sword, people may be more
aware of horses with emotions and being sentient, but the same attributes
may also be misinterpreted, causing welfare harm’
(Case 836: Veterinary Services, Professional).
[…} anthropomorphism is often used as a tool of persuasion when animal
welfare is discussed at a community level here too, the outcome for the
animal is not always better or worse’ (Case 108: n.a, Amateur).
#futurehorse survey: anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism can be good and bad for horse welfare
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Controversies and
collaborations
Reflecting on these insights and the
information shared earlier in the
talk, let’s now move to two scenarios
that may trigger further discussion
for this workshop.
J Fiedler

1. Suppose a veterinarian is holding an objective, fact‐based
conversation with an anthropomorphising horse owner about QoL,
but the owner rejects the advice because they think the vet ‘doesn’t
relate’ to their feelings about their horse. Is there a role for critical
forms of anthropomorphism in this situation?
2. Suppose an animal welfare researcher is undertaking a QoL
assessment. They are familiar with the horse’s behaviours and
trained in reflexive practice. When, if at all, would there be times
that elements of critical anthro are utilized?
Is there a role for critical forms of anthropomorphism
Quality of Life (QoL)
Welfare Assessment
• Evaluative:
biological, subjective
experiences, ethics.
• Holistic: Recognises
the animals’
perceptions /mental
experiences,
motivations
• Point in time/ occurs
over time/
predictive.
(McMillan, 2007, Yeates,
2019)
Controversies and Collaborations:
Moving Toward Consensus in Animal Welfare.

 features of anthropomorphism, and that not all
anthropomorphism is the same.
 insights into the different ways that respondents from the horse
sector think about anthropomorphism and welfare
 anthropomorphism and the UFAW theme of controversies and
collaborations.
Future research: As society and science shift to a greater acceptance
of, and knowledge about, the subjective experiences of animals, is it
time to revisit anthropomorphism and ‘wicked situation’ of horse
welfare?
Closing
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References
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Airenti, G. (2015). The cognitive bases of anthropomorphism: from relatedness to empathy. International Journal of Social
Robotics, 7(1), 117‐127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369‐014‐0263‐x
Airenti, G. (2018). The development of anthropomorphism in interaction: Intersubjectivity, imagination, and theory of mind.
Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2136. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02136
Bruni, D., Perconti, P., & Plebe, A. (2018). Anti‐anthropomorphism and its limits. Frontiers in Psychology, 2205.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02205
Burghardt, G. (2004). Ground rules for dealing with anthropomorphism. Nature, 430(6995), 15‐15.
https://doi.org/10.1038/430015b
Burghardt, G. (2013). Cognitive ethology and critical anthropomorphism: A snake with two heads and hog‐nose snakes that
play dead. In Cognitive Ethology (pp. 73‐110). Psychology Press.
Fernandes, J., Blache, D., Maloney, S., Martin, G., Venus, B., Walker, F., Head, B., & Tilbrook, A. (2019). Addressing Animal
Welfare through Collaborative Stakeholder Networks. Agriculture, 9(6), Article 132.
https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture9060132
Lawrence, M., Williams, S., Nanz, P., & Renn, O. (2022). Characteristics, potentials, and challenges of transdisciplinary research.
One Earth, 5(1), 44‐61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.12.010
Lockwood, R. (1986). Anthropomorphism is not a four‐letter word. In Fox M.W. & M. L.D. (Eds.), Advances in Animal Welfare
Science 1985 (Vol. 2, pp. 185‐199). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978‐94‐009‐4247‐9_10
McMillan, F. (2007). Predicting quality of life outcomes as a guide for decision‐making: the challenge of hitting a moving target.
Animal Welfare, 16(2), 135‐142.
Mellor, D. (2019). Welfare‐aligned Sentience: Enhanced Capacities to Experience, Interact, Anticipate, Choose and Survive.
Animals, 9(7), 440, Article 440. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9070440
Mellor, D., Beausoleil, N., Littlewood, K., McLean, A., McGreevy, P., Jones, B., & Wilkins, C. (2020). The 2020 Five Domains
Model: Including Human–Animal Interactions in Assessments of Animal Welfare. Animals, 10(10), 1‐24, Article 1870.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101870
Waytz, A., Cacioppo, J., & Epley, N. (2010). Who Sees Human?:The Stability and Importance of Individual Differences in
Anthropomorphism. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(3), 219‐232. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691610369336
Yeates, J. (2019). Quality of Life of Animals in Veterinary Medical Practice. Mental Health and Well‐being in Animals, 82.
https://doi.org/10.1079/9781786393401.0082

Julie Fiedler
jmfiedler@student.unimelb.edu.au
Professor Josh Slater
jdslater@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Sarah Rosanowski
sarah.rosanowski@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Margaret Ayre
mayre@unimelb.edu.au
University of Melbourne
Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science
250 Princes Rd, Werribee, Victoria Australia
https://fvas.unimelb.edu.au/research/groups/people,-
animals-and-the-environment/projects/current-
projects/forecasting-horse-welfare-expectations-
insights-from-within
Thank you

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