New insights on welfare impact of invisible fences
"...this new study suggests that with invisible electronic fences, at least, cats can be effectively contained without compromising their quality of life."
A new study by animal welfare researchers at the University of Lincoln has found no evidence that electronic containment systems cause long-term welfare problems in cats.
Such systems, also known as invisible or virtual fences, deliver a static electric pulse to deter cats from crossing a certain boundary.
While these fences are a welfare concern for many, others argue that they help to protect cats from being killed or injured on the roads.
A team of animal welfare scientists from Lincoln, some of whom carried out previous research highlighting the welfare concerns associated with hand-held electronic training devices for dogs, say little work has been on other types of training device.
In the first study of its kind, researchers carried out a range of behaviour tests to assess the cats' moods and anxiety levels. Their findings have been published in the journal PLOS ONE.
No evidence of long-term welfare problems was found in cats living with these fences, compared to a control group of cats that were able to roam in and out of their owners' gardens.
Researchers say that, unlike hand-held electronic training devices, invisible fences rely on the cat's behaviour for correction, rather than human judgement.
Modern containment systems train cats to associate a warning beep with the location of the invisible fence - therefore, cats can learn avoidance behaviours without persistent anxiety and fear of a shock.
Commenting on the findings, professor of veterinary behavioural medicine Daniel Mills, said: "While some will argue that electronic containment systems can never be justified for pets, others highlight that, in the UK alone, hundreds of thousands of cats are killed and injured on roads each year and these devices can prevent these often fatal injuries and the emotional cost to the cats and their owners.
"In contrast, housing cats solely indoors to remove such risks is associated with increased prevalence of a range of health problems including obesity, feline urologic syndrome and dental disease. Long-term exposure to common flame retardants widely used in homes may also have toxic side effects for cats."
Dr Jonathan Cooper, principal lecturer at Lincoln's School of Life Sciences, added: "Electronic training of animals can be controversial and we know that it can lead to poor welfare when used without a good understanding of pet wellbeing and training. However this new study suggests that with invisible electronic fences, at least, cats can be effectively contained without compromising their quality of life."
The team say that while these findings are an important first step, the research focused on cats contained within a space of at least 100 square metres. Further work is now needed to explore the effects of containment in smaller areas.
RCVS' Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has launched round two of its veterinary mental health research grants.
