Glossary of Terms

Animal Disaster Relief
The process of protecting/rehabilitating animals in a community after a man-made or natural disaster. Read more about WSPA’s Animal Disaster Relief program here.


Companion Animal
A domestic animal with whom humans most commonly share their lives and homes. Cats and dogs are common examples. Different than a working animal.

Conservation
Conservation focuses on wild animals, works at the population, species or genetic level and deals with threats to ecological systems and biodiversity. Differs from animal welfare.

Cruelty
Relating to animals, this refers to acts of violence or neglect toward animals.

Culling
The process of killing animals based on specific criteria, or the practice of artificially limiting the size of an animal population so that it remains manageable. It is often used as a method of animal population control for feral or stray animals. WSPA opposes inhumane culling (poisoning, shooting or electrocution) and supports sustainable population management strategies that include public education about pet care, legislation, identification and registration of pets, spaying/neutering of stray, feral, roaming and companion animals, and vaccination.

Developing Nation/Region
A country or region whose economic and political structures are less developed, as compared to wealthier, industrialized countries. A country’s/region’s development is measured with statistical indexes such as income per capita (per person), life expectancy, the rate of literacy, etc. Developing nations/regions often have a strong correlation between low income/industrialization and high population growth, which can lead to various environmental and animal welfare problems. The majority of WSPA’s work focuses on animal welfare issues in developing nations/regions where the need is the greatest for the animals and the people.


Responsible Tourism
An industry based on responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.

Feral
Refers to an animal, typically a cat or dog, who has little to no human contact and is therefore too poorly socialized to be handled by people or to become a companion animal. See also stray and roaming animals.

Five Freedoms
The framework that can be used to measure and assess animals’ welfare conditions. The Five Freedoms are: 1. Freedom from hunger and thirst; 2. Freedom from discomfort; 3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease; 4. Freedom to express normal behavior; and 5. Freedom from fear and distress.

Humane
Describes an act of compassion, sympathy or consideration for the welfare of humans or animals.

Husbandry
Relating to animals, it is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock, typically to produce human commodities such as food, materials and labor.

Intrinsic Value
When referring to animals, it is the value they possess in their own right. It is WSPA’s belief that each individual animal has intrinsic value and should be respected and protected.

Livestock
Refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce human commodities such as food, fiber and labor.

Neglect
When an animal is under the care of humans, it refers to the failure to provide an animal with basic requirements, such as food, water, shelter and veterinary care.

Rabies
A potentially fatal viral infection that attacks the central nervous system. The disease infects domestic and wild animals and is spread to humans through close contact with infected saliva contained in bites or scratches. It is a preventable disease for which a proven vaccine exists.

Rights
When relating to animals, it is the idea that non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as humans. Animal rights advocates reject all animal use, no matter how humane. Differs from welfare.

Roaming
Refers to animals, typically dogs, who are found on public property and not under direct control of a particular human. This term can refer to both owned and stray animals. In many countries, dogs are allowed to roam on public property for all or part of the day. See also feral and stray animals.

Sentience
Describes the ability of animals to feel or perceive pleasure and pain, experience emotions and experience a level of conscious awareness.

Spay/Neuter
Removal of all or part of an animal's reproductive organs, typically by surgical methods. It’s the most common method of sterilization in animals. Males are neutered and females are spayed.

Sterilization
When referring to animals, it is the most common method of checking population growth. Also called spay/neuter.

Stray
Refers to animals, typically cats and dogs, who lived with people at some point in their lives and may now be lost, abandoned or displaced. Stray animals are usually well socialized but may become wary of humans over time. See also feral and roaming animals.

Sustainable Agriculture
Farming operations that efficiently use resources and integrate natural biological cycles/controls in order to sustain human needs and economic viability over the long term.

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)
A method used to humanely manage stray and feral animal populations. The process involves trapping (catching), spaying/neutering, vaccinating (see vaccination), and then returning the animals to where they were originally found.

Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW)
An agreement among people and nations to recognize that: 1) animals are sentient and can suffer; 2) we need to respect their welfare needs (Five Freedoms); and 3) we must work to end unnecessary animal cruelty. The philosophy behind a UDAW is that animal welfare is important to animals and the people who rely on them, as well as to the environment. WSPA has been promoting a UDAW to governments, individuals and organizations around the world, and hopes the UN will endorse a UDAW in the near future.

United Nations (UN)
An international organization founded in 1945 that is committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. WSPA hopes the UN will recognize the importance of animal welfare given its close ties to the welfare of humans.

Vaccination
The administration of a vaccine to stimulate immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or improve the effects of infection by many diseases. One of the most common vaccines provided to dogs and cats is against rabies.

Welfare
Relating to animals, it refers to the physical and psychological state and well-being of animals, especially those under human care. An animal can be in a state of good welfare if he/she is healthy, comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express normal behavior, and not in pain, fear or distress. Animals’ welfare conditions can be assessed using the Five Freedoms. Differs from animal rights.

Working Animal
An animal, typically domesticated, kept under human care and trained to perform tasks. Examples include those used for transport, search dogs, herding animals, human-assistance animals, etc. Species commonly classified as working animals include equines like horses, donkeys and mules. Opposite of a companion animal.