This page provides a glossary of terms for articles on the Fauanalytics website, including the different kinds of summaries we provide and definitions of our tags.
ARTICLE TYPE DEFINITIONS
The Faunalytics Library includes three main types of articles:
Feature Articles (“Features”): In-depth summaries of research studies and related articles. These are written by the Faunalytics staff, typically 4-5 paragraphs long with a link to the source, the full text for which may or may not be available for free.
Reference Items (“References”): Short summaries of research studies and related articles. Written by the Faunalytics staff, typically 1-2 short paragraphs with a link to the source.
Blogs: In-depth analysis of animal issues, including opinion pieces and occasional announcements. These are written by the Faunalytics staff and a select group of guest bloggers.
CATEGORY AND TAG DEFINITIONS
The tags used to categorize articles on faunalytics.org are considered “non-hierarchical” — they can apply to any of our main categories and any type of animals. However, because most of the tags are generally associated with a certain type of animal or human-animal relationship, we break them out by category below for ease of use.
Effective Advocacy – Topics relating to animal advocacy strategies & tactics, social movement progress, program evaluation, and related subjects.
- Evaluation: Measuring the impact of an intervention, program, campaign, or movement, including methods used for evaluation.
- Fundraising: Financial contributions to animal-related causes including research on effective fundraising strategies.
- Materials: Animal advocacy materials (print, video, online, audio, etc.) including message testing, readability, and related issues.
- Social Movements: Cause-related research with focus on animal protection but also including other social issues and movements.
- Strategies: General animal advocacy approaches, theories, and goals including planning, communications, and recommendations.
- Tactics: Specific animal advocacy approaches in support of larger goals or strategies, including comparison of different interventions.
- Volunteering: Non-financial contributions to animal-related causes including donations of time and in-kind support for animals.
Companion Animals – Research relating to cats, dogs, birds, and other companion animals including sheltering, adoptions, rescue, and population.
- Adoption: Acquiring animals (primarily companions) through a non-commercial process, including adoption strategies.
- Breeding: Intentionally reproducing animals, typically for commercial gain, including companions, farmed animals, research animals, etc.
- Feral Cats: Free-roaming and other cats who are not “owned” by a human, including those living alone in the wild and/or in feral cat colonies.
- Pet Population: Estimates of the number of companion animals in homes, shelters, and the wild, and theories relating to the population control.
- Rescue: Saving animals from likely death or suffering, including rescue organizations, transport programs, and related topics.
- Sheltering: Providing physical shelter or sanctuary for animals, primarily relating to companion animal shelters and including foster programs.
- Sterilization: Population control issues, primarily for companion animals, including spaying and neutering and non-surgical alternatives.
Animals Used in Science – Research about animals used for “scientific” purposes including medical and cosmetic testing, dissection, and alternatives.
- Anti-Vivisection: Efforts to reduce or eliminate testing on animals including the “three Rs” – reduction, refinement, and replacement of animals in science.
- Biomedical Research: Animal experimentation for general scientific, biological, medical, or pharmaceutical purposes.
- Dissection: Use of animals and animal parts for anatomical study, typically by students who cut apart animal bodies for education.
- Product Testing: The use of animals for testing purposes, specifically in the development of personal care and household products.
- Research Alternatives: Non-animal products, tools, and methods that reduce or eliminate the use of animals in scientific research.
Animals Used for Food – Research about farmed animals including factory farming, veganism &vegetarianism, commercial fishing, and related topics.
- “Humane” Farming: Attempts (or claims) to reduce the amount of suffering involved in raising and slaughtering animals for food.
- Animal Slaughter: The number of animals slaughtered (primarily for food) and research on different methods of slaughter.
- Commercial Fishing: The number of fish and other aquatic animals fished commercially or in aquaculture and related topics.
- Factory Farming: The large-scale raising, housing, transport, and slaughtering of animals for food, including concentrated animal feeding operations.
- Food Alternatives: Food substitutes or alternative products that seek to replace or emulate meat, dairy, and egg/or products.
- Human Health: The impact of food choices on individual health, specifically relating to animal product consumption and vegetarianism/veganism.
- Meat Consumption: Habits and trends relating to meat (including fish), dairy, and/or egg consumption by humans, and related topics.
- Meat Reduction: Decreasing consumption of meat (including fish), dairy, and/or eggs by humans including semi-vegetarianism and related topics.
- Veg*n Diets: Population estimates for vegetarians, vegans, and other dietary groups of interest, including motivations and barriers to becoming veg*n.
Wildlife – Research relating to hunting, trapping, endangered species, “exotic” pets, conservation, wildlife trade, and related subjects.
- Aquatic Wildlife: Animals living in the wild in oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands. Includes hunting and trapping of aquatic animals.
- Conservation: Preservation of habitat and resource access for wildlife, including restoring wild animal populations and endangered/threatened species.
- Endangered Species: Animal species that are specifically endangered or threatened due to human activity and/or natural decline.
- “Exotic” Pets: Animals collected from the wild and raised or bred in captivity to serve as inappropriate and atypical companion animals.
- Hunting: The hunting and killing of wild or captive animals for sport or sustenance, including hunts of land-based and aquatic animals.
- Trapping: The trapping and usually killing of wild animals for fur, sport, or sustenance, including trapping land-based and aquatic animals
- Wildlife Trade: The often illegal domestic and/or international trade of animals and animal parts, including related transport issues.
Other Topics – Subjects not covered elsewhere including animal fighting, legislation, circuses, animal racing, fur, the environment, humane education, and zoos.
- Animal Behavior: How animals behave in both natural and unnatural (e.g., captive) environments, including animal sentience and cognition.
- Animal Cruelty: Acts that cause pain or suffering in animals, typically intentional acts by animal “owners,” farm workers, lab researchers, etc.
- Animal Fighting: Animals forced to fight each other for human amusement and profit, including dogfighting and cockfighting.
- Animal Law: Current and proposed legislation, statutes, and ordinances, including topics such as voter preferences and political candidates.
- Animal Racing: Animals forced to race other animals for human amusement and profit, including horses but also dogs and other animals.
- Assistance Animals: The use of animals for human purposes including guide dogs, Animal Assisted Therapy, prisoner rehabilitation, and related topics.
- Attitudes: Opinions, attitudes, and beliefs about animals, typically based on surveys of the general public or a target audience.
- Behavior Change: Trends relating to behavior that impacts animals, including both generally and among specific populations.
- Circuses: Animals used in the circus industry, with emphasis on captive wild animals including elephants, tigers, lions, bears, and similar animals.
- Education: Teaching and other forms of study relating to animal wellbeing and/or animal advocacy issues, including humane education.
- Environment: Attitudes and behavior relating to the environment, including related threats to animals and habitat preservation.
- Fur: The use of animals for fur or fur trim, including attitudes and behavior pertaining to fur clothing and related products.
- Leather: The use of animals for their skins, including attitudes and behavior pertaining to leather (and related) products.
- Living Conditions: Environmental and other conditions affecting animals, typically in institutional or confined settings such as farms or laboratories.
- Marine Mammals: Topics relating to marine mammals including whales, dolphins, porpoises, manatees, otters, walruses, polar bears, and others.
- Personhood: Trends, attitudes, and beliefs relating to both the denial and the pursuit of legal personhood for nonhuman animals.
- Philosophy: Reviews and opinions about the status of animals and different advocacy approaches from a philosophical perspective.
- Population Control: Efforts to control animal populations, with emphasis on “management” of wild animal populations, wildlife culls, etc.
- Psychology: Topics relating to the psychology of animal abuse and consumption and to psychology-based approaches to animal advocacy.
- Recreational Fishing: The catching of fish and other aquatic animals for recreational purposes, including both fish consumed and released.
- Voting: Animal-related voting behavior including results of related polls and actual votes and the perceived importance of animals when voting.
- Youths: Research relating specifically to younger audiences, typically focused on youths under age 18 and young adults ages 18-25.
- Zoos: The practice of confining animals in a non-natural setting and putting them on public display, and related conservation efforts.
