Specializes general obligatory, 2 credits, 90 minutes/weekly
Semester: autumn
Requirement: exam (5) (oral exam)
Responsible person: Péter Pongrácz, PhD
Lecturer: Péter Pongrácz, PhD
Books: S. J. Armstrong and R. G. Botzler: Animal Ethics Reader (London, 2003)
DETAILED TOPICS OF THE COURSE:
- Ethology as applied science – Main research directions: animal welfare, animal husbandry, pets and companion animals, conservation biology
- Animal welfare from aspects of biology and morality – Why do we need animal welfare research? Animal protection movements. Legal regulations
- Suffering as a biological phenomenon – Stress; sentience and negative sensations; analogy/homology with humans
- Ethical permission in animal experimentation – Which procedures require a permission? International regulations. How to apply for permission in Hungary?
- Animal welfare of livestock #1 – Welfare aspects of animal husbandry
- Animal welfare of livestock #2 – Abnormal behaviors – diagnosis, prevention, treatment
- The behavior of companion animals #1 – Applied research of dogs – shelters, working dogs, free ranging dogs
- The behavior of companion animals #2 – The ethology of cats – companion animal or ecological diseaster
- Animal assisted therapy – Theory of biophilia; positive effects of having a pet/ interacting with animals; therepautic applications
- Behavior of exotic pets – Special needs of accomodation and breeding. Tame or domesticated? New mutations, hybrids
- Domesticated species in the ecosystem – Feralization and abandonment; hybridization with wild relatives; tolerate or exterminate?
- Ethology of the invasive species – What makes a successful invader? Ecological effects. When is intervention necessary/ possible?
- Competition between humans and wild animals – Ethology of ‘pests’; applied ethology as means of pest control
- Predation against humans – Man-eater behavior