The Five Freedoms

All animals should live in an appropriate environment. The conditions and surroundings given to an animal contribute to their overall well-being. By providing an animal with shelter and a comfortable resting area, you are ensuring that the animal remains healthy and happy.

Shelter

Just like people, animals need places where they are sheltered from wind, rain and hot sun. Some animals, such as guinea pigs and rabbits, also need shelter to protect them from predators like cats and dogs. Enclosures, kennels, hutches, houses and aviaries provide shelter for our pets while barns, stables and sheds protect farm animals.

If an animal’s shelter is also their home, it must be as comfortable as possible. It must also be as large as possible, with attached areas for exercise and opportunities to express natural behaviours. Bedding within the shelter should always be soft, warm, dry and cleaned regularly.

All animals should be entitled to immediate veterinary attention when they are sick or injured. To avoid unnecessary suffering, animals should be taken to a veterinary clinic when sick or injured and treated accordingly. In most cases, unnecessary pain and injury can be prevented through regular visits to a veterinarian.

Medical (Veterinary) Care

Just like when we visit the hospital or dentist, for many animals, a visit to a veterinary clinic can sometimes be a little bit scary. Regardless of how enjoyable or not the experience is, animals should visit a veterinarian at least once a year for a health check-up and vaccinations against a range of infectious diseases. Ensuring your pet receives preventative medical care is part of being a responsible animal guardian.

If animals show any signs of pain, injury or ill health, it is important they receive veterinary care immediately. An indication that an animal may be ill could include:

• loss of appetite
• sluggish behaviour/difficulty moving around   
• rapid weight loss
• vomiting
• diarrhoea
• discharge from ears, eyes or nose
• lumps or bumps

Vets can also advise on how to rid animals of fleas and worms. Fleas are small, biting, blood sucking insects that cause animals to scratch. If they are not removed, the animals may suffer an irritating skin condition. Very young animals such as puppies and kittens, and elderly pets can become anemic and even die from flea infestations that are left untreated.

Roundworms, tapeworms and hookworms are parasites that live in the digestive system, arteries and heart of an animal. Infestations of worms can be fatal. A number of treatments are available; a veterinarian will recommend the most suitable treatment for your companion animal and give you advice on scheduling these treatments regularly.

All animals should be able to express their normal behaviours. A normal behaviour is the way an animal acts in their natural environment. Enough space, proper shelter and housing, as well as company of the animals own kind encourages the expression of normal behaviours.

Exercise

Exercise keeps animals healthy and alert, just like it does for you. Blood flow is increased during exercise, clearing arteries and veins and transporting oxygen and nutrients around the body.

Exercise keeps muscles strong, allows better digestion of food and heightens an animal’s senses. Energy that has been stored as fat can also be used up during exercise - this helps to prevent animals from becoming overweight.

Freedom to express normal behaviour is not only about an animal exercising their body, it also includes an animal’s freedom to exercise their mind. During exercise, new sights, sounds, smells and tastes can be discovered; unknown paths, trees and tunnels can be explored and new animals may be encountered - these experiences are very important for an animal’s physical and mental well-being.

Enrichment

Imagine if you spent your entire life alone, locked in a big room. You had food, water, a warm cosy bed and once a day you were let out for 30 minutes to run around, but that was all. You had no friends, no toys, no TV, no books, no phone, no internet. What would or could you do for the rest of the day? How do you think you would feel?

Most people would experience loneliness, boredom, frustration, sadness, anger and depression. Animals are likely to feel the same way too. Animal guardians must meet their companion animal’s environmental and behavioural needs – this includes providing mental and physical enrichment.

Animal enrichment is about designing and creating interesting enclosures, and providing activities that create a more stimulating environment for an animal. Enrichment should enable them to express as many of their natural behaviours, such as exploration, foraging, locomotion, social interaction, manipulating objects or simply playing, as often as they choose.

Good enrichment is safe, fun, challenging and time consuming.

All animals deserve to be happy. Ensuring conditions that avoid unnecessary anxiety and stress will help to provide freedom from mental suffering. While favourable physical conditions are essential, appropriate mental conditions are also important to good animal welfare.

Love and Understanding

Most animals need the company of others to feel safe and secure. Most birds, cattle, dogs, guinea pigs, horses, rabbits and sheep prefer to live in groups.

For millions of years, animals herded or flocked together to protect themselves from predators. Dogs form social groups, even with their human families. Cats, which are often regarded as solitary creatures, enjoy occasional cuddles and smooches and are seldom far away from the people who care for them.

However, it is not always practical to have groups of animals living in our homes. The good news is that many animals substitute people or other animals for creatures of their own species and develop special bonds with them. This is one of the reasons why humans have been successful in training dogs and horses to perform so many extraordinary tasks.

It must be remembered that if we leave our animals alone for long periods of time, they may become anxious and afraid. While anxious or afraid, they may become destructive or boisterous, damaging property, disturbing neighbours and occasionally harming themselves. Remember that your animals also need mental stimulation, like toys and things to do/play with when you are not around. This is just as important as the physical needs of our animals – it improves their lives and means you will have a happier and more social companion animal.

Taking the time to research, observe and get to know your pet, will help you to understand their needs and feelings. When animal guardians understand their companion animal, they are much better at providing what their companion animal needs to be happy and healthy.