The Swedish beef cattle population is growing when the dairy cattle become fewer. The fertility of the beef cows is important for the profitability in beef cattle production. Today there is no genetic evaluation for female fertility in Swedish beef cows. The purpose of this study was to see if calving interval can be used in the genetic evaluation as a measure of female fertility in beef cows. For this purpose the variation in calving interval for beef cows of different breeds and ages registred in KAP was studied.

The horse is an animal that often becomes humanized. Despite domestication, the horse still has a need to interact with other horses, be able to move for the most of the day, and being able to graze. If these needs cannot be fulfilled, the horse can be negatively affected and develop abnormal behaviours. An example of abnormal behaviours is weaving; the horse performs a swinging motion in the front area of the body during a long time. This literature review aims to investigate how different stabling forms (box/stall) affect the incidence of weaving, and also how this behaviour can be prevented or limited.

Ethical evaluation of scientific studies carried out using animals is legally mandated in many countries and has been so in Sweden for over three decades. The animal ethics committees (AECs) responsible for the task have however been subjected to criticism; common critique being that the wrong issues are discussed and that the ethical evaluation is thus incomplete, that there is a lack of coherence across committees and that the committees are not as democratic as they might appear. This study investigates the view of Swedish AEC members on a number of issues in order to shed some light on the mandate and functioning of the committees, and on the grounds for ongoing criticism. In a survey and interviews AEC members and other persons connected to the committees gave their views on the AEC task in relation to their roles, the ethical evaluation per se and whether or not emotions such as empathy play any part in it. There were significant differences found between AEC member categories and several issues were encountered, many of which have been stressed in previous studies.

India is the country with the highest prevalence of rabies in the world, with about 20?000 human deaths occurring every year. The country also has a heavy burden of free roaming dogs, mainly because of the high amount of edible waste in the streets, which are the main hosts for the disease. Therefore to truly extinguish rabies, the main focus should be on the dogs, both stray dogs and owned. One method is to vaccinate all dogs against rabies.

Castration of dogs holds many reasons and opinions, therefore methods, traditions and rea-sons vary. The approaches have during time changed from mostly surgical castrations to also including hormonal treatments. Castration is used to control the dog's reproductive abilities, for medical reasons and to possibly rectify problems of behavioral nature. How common a particular method of castration is in a country is highly dependent on the country's traditions. In Sweden it is most common with castration for medical reasons, such as possible elimina-tion of diseases, for example, benign colorectal tumors.

This study concerns a selection of prehistoric metal objects of animalistic design, published at the internet site of the Swedish Statens Historiska Museum. It seeks to give an impression of the design elements used, and to find likely models for the motifs among live animals. The method used is a qualitative hermenuetic comparative study of objects, where the distinct significant design elements are being identified and interpretated. Several significant design elements are identified, and some are interpretated as representing certain animals. The amalgamation of differentiating design elements in some objects however, leads to interpretations of compound animal motifs, where some motifs are considered ambiguous and some are rendered uninterpretated.

Emerging infectious diseases are a recurring threat to both human and animal health. Understanding the multiple causes behind the emergence of new diseases is key to the prevention of new and potentially devastating outbreaks. The list of underlying causes is long, including a variety of anthropogenic, environmental, molecular and climatic changes that promote the emergence and spread of disease. Two of these factors are central to the emergence of new diseases and receive special attention in this study. The spread of disease from wildlife to livestock and diseases that spread from animals to humans (zoonoses) are of importance as they implicated in the majority of EID events.

This study was conducted at VikingGenetics' bull breeding station in Falkenberg, Sweden. The bulls waiting for the results of their progeny testing at this station are either kept in group housing or individual housing. Since both of these housing systems have advantages and disadvantages, it was in the interest of VikingGenetics to know which of these housing systems is the best. The aim of this study was to investigate the welfare of the bulls in these two housing systems through behavioural observations and the use of activity monitors. In the preparations for the study 16 bulls, 8 in each housing system, were chosen.

Back problems are well noticed in horses, especially in horses used for riding. Kissing spines (impingement of the dorsal spinous processes) are often found at radiographic examinations of the thoracic spine. Kissing spines is a radiological diagnosis, indicating that parts of at least two adjacent dorsal spinous processes are in contact with each other. It is not uncommon that horses without clinical signs of back problems have some degree of kissing spines. It is therefore not sufficient with a radiographic examination to say that the cause of pain is kissing spines.

The Baltic Sea, due to its special conditions, is a unique and vulnerable marine environment. There are many pressures that have an impact on the sea and one of the major problems is the extensive flow of nutrients from land. The most visible effect of the supply of nutrients is the annual algal blooms. One of the main sources of nitrogen and phosphorus supply is agriculture. Nutrient losses from arable land have been increasing as agricultural production has intensified. At the end of the twentieth century an increased awareness of these problems led to the formation of organizations such as HELCOM and Baltic 21.

The red-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius) is a small, alert and active animal inhabiting forests with dense vegetation and as such hard to observe in its natural habitat. The principal aim of this study was to scrutinize whether the methods, previously used in a behavioural study of the blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) can be applied in studies of the red-tailed monkey?s behaviour as well. Additionally, habitat preference and foraging behaviour of the red-tailed monkey were examined. The study was carried out between the 16th and the 22nd of March 2009 in the Sabaringo forest, located on the western border of the Masai Mara National Reserve.

At two nursing homes for people with dementia a qualitative study was performed. The purpose was to investigate the therapy dog?s meaning to people with dementia from their perspective. Two women and five men with dementia were interviewed, everyone being somewhere between 60 and 87 years of age. All but one had previously owned a dog at some point in their lives.

This thesis revolves around my work Desirable Objects, an installation in glass and other materials, which deals with objectification based on female and animal trophies. The topics included are those that have been crucial to my working process; craft, post-colonial studies and European hierarchical dualism, where woman and nature are seen as connected, but inferior. My motivation has been to get a better understanding of underlying power structures, and put this knowledge in relation to my own work. This process has led me to make a full body casting of my own body as a method of self-exploitation, in an attempt to expose myself to a similar power perspective. By making the dualistic connection between woman and nature, I am commenting a phenomenon that in my view has resulted in a similar exploitation of both..

Lactobacillus reuteri has been used as probiotics in piglet and chicken feedings as well as in different diary products for humans. In this EEF-work I have shown that L. reuteri can be an alternative for treatment of vaginitis in laboratory rats used for breeding. In a breeding stock with 3000 animals some animals had a vaginal infection with ??haemolytic streptococci group G.

This essay examines the relationships between the different elements in Lisa Jonasson?s collage Existentiell Progg #6 and her very detailed technique. The essay has as its aims to understand and analyze both the details and the wholeness of the artwork and to try to put the collage in an art historical context. The thesis finds that Existentiell Progg #6 has a connection to the imagery of Africa and other collage artist such as Hannah Höch and Nancy Spero, which also gives the paper a perspective of feminism in the arts. The paper continues to create an understanding for the collage work by putting it in to Theodor Adorno?s theories about nature, the human being and the animal kingdom.