Most of us animal owners gain a lot of enjoyment from having a pet and would tend to immediately answer ‘yes’ but how can you be sure that your pet is happy? What are the signs that tell you that he or she is happy – how can they tell us how they feel?

Well, we can be fairly certain an animal is content when it has everything it needs and a useful framework for assessing this is ‘the five freedoms’. These guidelines are used by animal welfare organisations when looking at the welfare of animals and as a result of new legislation (The Animal Welfare Act) as pet owners we have a duty to ensure our pets are happy and content.

‘The Five Freedoms’

• Freedom from hunger and thirst

• Freedom from pain, injury and disease

• Freedom from discomfort (for example, temperature, floor surfaces)

• Freedom to express normal behaviour

• Freedom from fear and distress (for example, being left alone for long periods)

The good news is that if the answer to all these questions is ‘yes’ you can be fairly satisfied that your pet has everything it needs and its physical and mental well-being is good. Most of these ‘freedoms’ are fairly self-explanatory (but nevertheless important to think about!).

But how about ‘freedom to express normal behaviour’? Well, even though most of our pets are domesticated and born into captivity, they still need to perform some of the behaviour that they would have done if they were born in the wild.

These behaviours will obviously vary between species, for example:

• A pet rabbit needs to be housed in a hutch big enough to hop around in and will benefit from spending time outside grazing

• Most dogs enjoy a walk, how far they go and for how long depends on the breed/size of dog and also age/health

• Cats mostly enjoy the company of people and other cats but they will also choose to spend time alone, so will need hiding places where they can take themselves off to

If you are not sure about the answers to these questions do ask your vet for advice. For further information go to: www.bva-awf.org.uk