The objective of this study was to determine the difference between summer and winter in blood composition at the time of slaughter and meat quality of beef steers. Fifteen steers in summer (18.9-28.4℃) and 20 steers in winter (4.9-7.0℃) were transported to the nearest commercial slaughterhouse by truck. After an overnight lairage in the holding pen in the slaughterhouse, the steers were slaughtered individually. Plasma cortisol and blood glucose concentrations were significantly higher in summer than in winter (both P<0.01). Serum pH and serum total protein concentration were significantly lower in summer than in winter (both P<0.01). These results suggest a severer condition for steers in summer, which should be mainly caused by water deprivation the night before slaughter. Serum NEFA concentration (P<0.01), and AST and ALT activity (both P<0.05) were significantly higher in winter than in summer. The main cause of these physiological responses should be food deprivation the night before slaughter. However, these physiological responses of steers did not have much effect on meat quality. In addition the frequency of human handling during loading and unloading was not significantly different by season. As implementation, the results in this study recommend that completely removing water the night before slaughter should be avoided.

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The use of abandoned cultivated fields for grazing is promoted in recent Japan. However, the small areas and small group-size of cattle for grazing might raise urinary cortisol levels of cattle and engender unusual social behavior. This study is intended to identify the influences on social behavior and urinary cortisol levels of cows grazing in small areas with small group-size herd of cattle grazing. Two formerly cultivated abandoned paddy fields (paddy field group: 3, 673 m^2 and 4, 067m^2) and the Omyojin University Research Farm (large area group: 22, 678m^2) were used as fields for investigation. In the paddy field group, two cow subjects (Japanese black cow or Japanese Shorthorn cow) were pastured (paddy field group A: May 21, 2004-June 22 and July 28-September 6; group B: June 24-July 23and August 27-Octorber 8). In the large area group, 16-29 cows, including Japanese black cows, were pastured (May 31-June 15 and August 5-20); three of them were observed as subjects. Investigation of their behavior was conducted during 4:00-18:00 in the early stage and the latter stage of grazing. Their social behavior was recorded through continual observations. Other behavior was recorded every minute using time sampling. Once before and a few days after each investigation of behavior, and after the end of grazing, the cows' urine was collected and the urinary cortisol concentration were analyzed. Regarding the social behavior of the paddy field group cows, the affiliative behavior of each was significantly more frequent than that in the large area group (P<0.05). The other behaviors showed no difference in either group. The urinary cortisol level after grazing showed no difference in either group, while in early stages of grazing, the urinary cortisol level in the paddy field group was higher than in the large area group (P<0.05). No difference was found in the latter stage of grazing. In the formerly cultivated abandoned paddy fields, vehicles came and went frequently. In addition to having been pastured with few other cows, it is considered that the outside environment of the paddy field was one cause of increased urinary cortisol levels in early stages of grazing. However, it is considered that the cows adapted themselves to the environment in the latter stage of grazing. The results described above suggest that, for cows of the same farmhouse, no behavioral or physiological problem arises from grazing in an abandoned paddy field.

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Stress response of dogs (Canis familiaris) working with their owners in animal-assisted activities (AAA) were investigated by measuring urinary catecholamine concentrations. Two factors that possibly affect arousal for dogs were considered in this study: repeated days of participation in AAA at a special nursing home for elderly people (field investigation 1), and seat arrangements of elderly people (sitting in a circle or in parallel) for face-to-face activity (field investigation 2). In the field investigation 1, mean elevation of noradrenaline concentration (MENAC) of eight initially inexperienced dogs from pre-AAA to post-AAA linearly decreased as days passed (the slope of the regression line for MENAC plotted against nine days of repeated participation was -1.213, R^2=0.50, P<0.05). Higher elevation of adrenaline (long 15.03±9.72ng/mL vs. short 4.53±2.94ng/mL) and noradrenaline (long 12.26±8.80ng/mL vs. short 3.62±3.62ng/mL) concentrations were found when dogs were restricted their movement for a relatively long time during AAA (both P<0.05). In the field investigation 2, mean elevation of catecholamine concentrations was not significantly different between circle (12 dogs, adrenaline 10.73±9.77ng/mL; noradrenaline 7.13±8.01ng/mL) and parallel (11 dogs, adrenaline 13.37±10.63ng/mL; noradrenaline 5.70±5.19ng/mL) sitting. These results suggest that dogs can easily, even monthly participation, acclimate to an atmosphere of AAA and/or novel surroundings of a special nursing home unless they are restricted for many minutes, and that pet dogs are unlikely to suffer discomfort even if they are enclosed by unfamiliar elderly people as and when they work with their owners.

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