Endocrine and ultrasonographic characterization of a successful pregnancy in a Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) supplemented with a synthetic progestin
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.10131.abs A Sumatran rhinoceros with a history of early pregnancy loss was supplemented with a synthetic progestin, altrenogest (Regu-Mate®), and delivered a healthy, full-term calf 475 days after mating. Serum hormone concentrations were measured throughout gestation, and ultrasonography was used to monitor embryo/fetal growth and viability. The embryonic vesicle growth curve was characterized by […]
Onset of sentience: The potential for suffering in fetal and newborn farm animals
Sentience and consciousness are prerequisites of suffering. Thus, animals must have sufficiently sophisticated neural mechanisms to receive sensory information and to transduce this information into sensations, and they must also be conscious to be able to perceive those sensations. Moreover, those sensations must be sufficiently noxious or aversive to cause suffering. The neural apparatus of […]