International Veterinary Education meeting held in Thailand

Staff at the JMICAWE have just returned from a successful visit to the Kasetsart University in Thailand, where they delivered a workshop on integrating animal welfare and problem-based learning into the veterinary curriculum. Delegates from the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia as well as from Veterinary schools across Thailand, and also the WSPA, attended the workshop.

 

The workshop covered essential aspects of international veterinary training including critical thinking skills, problems-solving approaches and providing education for different leaning styles utilising the theme of animal welfare to demonstrate how best to introduce new subjects into exiting teaching.

 

The workshop also challenged existing paradigms in veterinary education and discussed the importance of animal welfare in practice, exemplified by the use of non-animal models and manikins into the curriculum, something which has been championed by Professor Apinam, the Dean of Kasetsart Veterinary School, and developer of rubber latex alternatives to animals.

 

Heather Bacon of the JMICAWE said ” We are delighted with the success of the workshop and with the strong focus on utilising alternatives to animals in veterinary teaching that we found at Kasetsart. Through our collaborative activities, Professor Apinam in Thailand has already sent some of his models to our colleagues in veterinary schools in China, and we at the JMICAWE hope to continue to support these collaborations across Asia”.

 

 

 

Congratulations to our MSc Animal Behaviour & Welfare graduates

Congratulations to our MSc Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare students of 2012-13 who graduated recently. 

 

It was a fantastic ceremony in the amazing McEwan Hall, with everyone enjoying wearing their gowns, being presented with their certificates and even singing along with the Graduation Choir! 

 

Following post ceremony celebrations with numerous photos being taken and many hugs being given from proud families and friends (and equally proud staff members) - we all headed off to the beautiful Playfair Library for a Graduation Lunch. 

 

Well done to everyone.

 

Dr Susan Jarvis

Programme Director

 

MSc AABAW

 

'Farmed Salmon – Scotland’s largest agricultural export. But what about their welfare?'

Prof Jimmy Turnbull gave an excellent seminar here at the Vet School recently.   His talk was entitled 'Farmed Salmon – Scotland’s largest agricultural export.  But what about their welfare?'.   Jimmy gave us an overview of the Salmon Industry within Scotland including the production and management systems used, the training of staff in animal welfare, environmental and predation issues and welfare accreditation schemes within the industry. 

He then moved on to discuss many of the welfare issues that are of concern within the industry such as the effects of repeated handling, conspecific aggression, crowding, feeding methods and feed restriction, as well as issues related to disease and at the time of slaughter.  He presented scientific findings in relation to these welfare issues such as whether salmon show preference for shade, and the finding that crowding and feed restriction can lead to increased conspecific aggression.  We also talked about the importance of temperature gradients within the environment in enabling fish to cope better with disease challenges.

Although in animal welfare research, animal based measures are normally recorded at the individual level, we spent quite a bit of time discussing the difficulties of this approach in fish, and that in fish it is more practical to record welfare outcomes at the population level. 

Overall there are lots of challenges facing us in terms of fish welfare – how do we assess preference in fish?, can we measure fish welfare at the individual level?, can we develop robust fish welfare assessment tools?  Lots of food for thought.

The seminar attracted many undergraduate vet students, our MSc students, staff and even those from the Scottish Government.

Many thanks to Jimmy for a stimulating presentation

 

 

 

 

18th CVA Asian Regional Meeting and UoE Conference - Feb.2014

18th CVA Asian Regional Meeting and Conference ,Bangalore India.

The Commonwealth Veterinary Association (CVA) in association with The University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, will be hosting the 18th CVA Asian Regional Meeting and Conference on 20 – 24 February 2014, in the NIANP Auditorium, Adugodi, Bangalore, India.

Both Professor Nat Waran and Heather Bacon from the JMICAWE will be presenting at the conference, where a variety of speakers will be covering topics on “Advances in Veterinary Research: Impact and Opportunities”.

 

Click here for draft programme - http://commonwealthvetassoc.org/

4th China Veterinary Conference Champions Animal Welfare

4^th China Veterinary Conference Champions Animal Welfare

 Last week the JMICAWE team headed for China once more to support the Animal Welfare session a t the 4th China Veterinary Conference. Accompanied by international colleagues, we shared a range of practical and research experiences relating to both the development of animal welfare in veterinary education and practice and, the influence of evidence-based research on livestock husbandry, transport and food safety, an issue that is currently of enormous importance in China. The conference was supported by the Animals Asia Foundation and WSPA, and attended by colleagues from the SRUC, the World Veterinary Association, the Federation of Vets of Europe, and the OIE.

 By linking Animal Welfare to its practical benefits, such as improved health, improved productivity,  improved food safety and improved research and education outcomes, even those with little interest in the subject may be inspired to develop better practices that benefit animals around China. But that is not to say that there is no interest in developing better practises simply for the sake of the animals – the Chinese Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) has recently been working with the Ministry of Education to integrate Animal Welfare into the National Veterinary Exam – making it a core subject for all veterinarians in China.

 Over the next year the JMICAWE will be working with the CVMA to develop successful teaching practises and integrate animal welfare throughout the Chinese Veterinary curriculum.

 

 

 

Animal Welfare reaches wider audience at Edinburgh University

Edinburgh University Student Zoological Society (EUSZS) monthly presentations

Heather Bacon and Hayley Walters from the JMICAWE have been working with the Edinburgh University Student Zoological Society to spread the word of the JMICAWE and its partners in improving animal welfare around the world.

Last month Hayley presented on Animal Welfare issues in China, highlighting the trade and farming of endangered wildlife, particularly Asiatic black or ‘moon’ bears, caged for years to provide bile for use in Traditional Medicine.

This week (6/11/2013) Heather will present on the range of welfare issues faced by zoos around the world, highlighting the limitations that zoo animals may face in terms of their welfare but also discussing practical solutions that may be implemented to improve zoo animal welfare.

Presentations take place as part of the programme organised by the Edinburgh Zoological Society on Wednesday Evenings at 7pm at lecture theatre 270, Old College, University of Edinburgh.

More information on the EUSZS, which is a  brand new society for all those students and non-students of Edinburgh with a passion for animals, can be found at http://www.zoosoc.com or email at edzoosoc@gmail.com.

 

 

Veterinary Technician training in Bosnia

Our welfare veterinary nurse, Hayley Walters, has just returned from a veterinary technician training neutering workshop in Sarajevo Veterinary Faculty in Bosnia. This is the third time Dogs Trust UK have ‘borrowed’ Hayley to assist in their Dogs Trust BH neutering training workshops but it is the first one she has been involved in that was specifically aimed at vet techs.

Dogs Trust have now completed their sixth week long neutering workshops aimed at up-skilling local Bosnian vets in anaesthesia, analgesia and surgical sterilisation  and they are now well underway to neutering and rabies vaccinating some of the 13,000 dogs living on the streets of Sarajevo.

The aim was to up-skill local vet techs to assist those vets who have already completed the Dogs Trust neutering workshop and are now taking part in the mass sterilisation programme. To date over 3,000 dogs have been neutered and returned to the streets but the need for well-trained vet techs became obvious early into the vet training programmes.

Hayley’s role was to teach the delegates the principles of anaesthesia, analgesia, preparation and care of the surgical patient, welfare, care of the hospitalised patient, and care of surgical equipment. It was a very busy week and Hayley was the only international member on the team.

Videos of how to intubate a dog and how to place an intravenous catheter and lectures in all of the most important aspects of surgery were given prior to any practical work taking place. The vet techs then practised intravenous catheter placement skills on a mock vein board which meant that they had their skills perfected before it came to actually doing it on the street dogs that needed to be neutered, and therefore no dogs suffered in the name of training.

“The vet tech delegates were fabulous and very keen to learn and improve their skills in the placing IV catheters, intubation, giving intra-muscular injections, surgical preparation and monitoring anaesthesia,” said Hayley.

She also added, “At JMICAWE we believe that neutering projects must never be viewed as a numbers game. Each of these dogs is a sentient being, with the ability to suffer if anaesthesia is inadequately practiced and welfare is negatively affected by poor management and a lack of knowledge or experience. Whilst population management is hugely important, it is vital that neutering projects focus on the individual’s welfare, and not just the removal of its reproductive organs”.

 

Dr Fritha Langford - part of the Ig Nobel Prize Winning team

Congratulations go to JMICAWE’s Dr Fritha Langford, for being a member of the winning SRUC team that won the 2013 Ig Nobel prize for Probability.

The Ig Nobel awards are for ‘Science that makes you laugh, then makes you think’. The study in question carried out at Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) farms analysed whether the length of time a cow stands up affects the likelihood of it lying down.

Fritha said: “We used pedometer-like sensors attached to the legs of dairy and beef cattle and used the recordings from these to analyse the patterns of cow behaviour. As we shed light on cow behaviour patterns we can then apply this to help pick up potential problems and improve cattle health and welfare”

The team expected to find that, as the cows became increasingly tired due to standing, they would become more likely to lie down. In fact, they found cows that had been standing for six hours were as likely to lie down within the following 15 minutes as cows that had been standing for one hour. In addition, some cows spent much more time standing than others. While the reasons for these variations were not clear, the project identified a scientific methodology for understanding patterns of activity and validated the use of the sensors as a good way to remotely collect behaviour patterns in large numbers of cattle at the same time.

Dr Tolkamp travelled to America to receive the award on Thursday while Dr Roberts will attend the European Ig Nobel Night on Saturday in the Netherlands.

The team celebrated their win when everyone was back together this week.  

 

 The winning paper can be seen here: Tolkamp, B. J.; Haskell, M. J.; Langford, F. M.; Roberts, D. J.; Morgan, C. A. (2010). "Are cows more likely to lie down the longer they stand?". http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159110000547

 

 

 

 

 

Animal Welfare Education Stand proves a great hit with students!

The JMICAWE team ran the Animal Welfare Education interactive stand at the Animal Welfare Showcase event held by SRUC on October the 4^th.

Here, the team were able to demonstrate the range of tools that we use for increasing knowledge and understanding of animal welfare worldwide.

The demonstrations included the life-size Dystocia cow and calf, designed to help teach veterinary and animal science students how best to help in difficult cattle births prior to meeting the real thing in the field.

We also were able to show our range of manikins and models to aide teaching of clinical skills and animal handling in the veterinary surgery.

Alongside these physical models, we demonstrated computer based learning materials developed by the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) project that have been built to disseminate animal welfare science to many different audiences, from veterinary students to farmers and other stakeholders.  

Throughout the day the stand was busy with visitors including students from all SRUC campuses, farmers, scientists and industry bodies.

 

 

Professor Hartung visits Easter Bush Campus - 28 October

We are delighted to announce that Prof Thomas Hartung will be visiting Easter Bush Campus at the end of October.

As part of his visit he will be delivering a presentation on 28 October at 13.30hrs in the Roslin Institute Building. This talk will also be recorded for our online students to access at a later time.

Thomas Hartung, MD, PhD

Thomas Hartung , MD, PhD, is Professor of Toxicology (Chair for Evidence-based Toxicology), Pharmacology, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, and University of Konstanz, Germany; he also is Director of their Centers for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT, http://caat.jhsph.edu) with the portal AltWeb (http://altweb.jhsph.edu). CAAT hosts the secretariat of the

Evidence-based Toxicology Collaboration (http://www.ebtox.com) and the industry refinement working group. As PI, he heads the Human Toxome project funded as an NIH Transformative Research Grant. He is the former Head of the European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM), Ispra, Italy. He has authored more than 370 scientific publications.

Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT)

 

Animal alternatives used in teaching attract interest from Scottish horse owners

After the popular open evening held in the Spring, the British Horse Society Scotland requested another opportunity for their members to have the opportunity to understand more about the Dick Vet’s approach to teaching the new generation of veterinarians, using innovative teaching models alongside state of the art practical facilities.

 

Fifty members of the Scottish horse owning public attended an evening of talks and a guided tour of the equine hospital and facilities and had the opportunity to consider the range of services available to them if their horses ever need them. Professor Nat Waran introduced the event and spoke of the commitment to high standards of animal health and welfare which the RDSVS is so proud of, and the establishment of the Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education as an integrated part of the Vet school’s work.

 

Gemma Pearson demonstrated the advanced teaching that could be achieved through the vet school’s investment in animal models and manikins that allow students to learn and practice clinical skills before they experience the ‘real thing’. The new full size horse model has been made so that staff can show students the anatomy of the horse and how different types of abdominal pain can be investigated, as well as allowing them to develop their sense of feel.

 

Dr John Keen, Head of the Equine Hospital gave an informative overview of the specialist equipment and services available through the RDSVS and through the guided tour, enabled horse owners to see how their horse would be managed if they needed expert care.

 

Finally the audience were given an interesting talk by Gemma on the use of humane and evidence based approaches for dealing with common problems with equine behaviour.

 

BHS members were extremely positive about the evening, with one saying, ‘ its really good to be able to see how Edinburgh’s Dick vet school trains their vet students using the latest technology as well as providing them with a positive learning environment so that they really do develop an awareness for their role in protecting the health and the welfare of our horses’.

 

 

Rehoming a rescue dog – the highs and lows

As many of you will remember veterinary surgeon Heather Bacon and veterinary nurse Hayley Walters spent their annual leave in a dog rescue shelter in Nakom Phanom in Thailand earlier this year. They were helping to treat over 2,000 dogs that had been rescued from the meat trade industry and were being illegally transported to Vietnam.

The conditions in the shelter were harrowing with many dogs dying of distemper, parvo virus and, more sadly, starvation as competition for food was fierce.

Many dogs that had collapsed from starvation were hospitalised and it was whilst treating the sick dogs in the hospital that Heather and Hayley met two little dogs, which they would eventually bring back to Scotland, they named Mothi and Stewart.

Rescue dogs need us. There are more dogs in shelters than there are people who want dogs. And dogs are sent to shelters for a whole variety of reasons; unwanted puppies, strays roaming the streets, relationship break ups, new baby arrivals, behavioural problems, financial reasons…there are countless explanations of why a dog might end up sitting in a concrete kennel waiting to be part of a family again. It is naïve to think that when you rehome a rescue dog it will slip seamlessly into your life and require very little effort from you to make it feel loved and secure. These dogs can come with a whole host of behavioural problems that may have been previously unnoticed by the kennel staff and Stewart was no different!

With a happy disposition and an incredible ability to get every dog and human he meets to like him, Stewart is a joy to own and walk. He is bomb proof. Having grown up on the streets of Thailand, but I suspect semi owned as he loves people, Stewart was exposed to an enormous array of situations and at a very young age. He shows no fear of loud noises, rumbling lorries, motorbikes, big dogs bounding towards him, children, gangs of people, cats etc (although he is a bit wary of donkeys!) so in one respect he is a dream dog. He is also very clever and quick to learn in training sessions, probably as a result of coming from a long line of quick and clever dogs that survived on the streets for long enough to reproduce. ‘Be fast or you won’t last!’ However what he isn’t…. is confident that he won’t be abandoned again and Stewart suffers from separation anxiety. This manifests itself mainly as crying and howling and, more expensively, chewing. Mostly my flat door but he’s had other things as well. This is of course a massive inconvenience to me as it means I will have to eventually pay for the door to be repaired and I am barely able to go out without him but that is not the point. The point is this little dog suffers terribly every time I leave him alone, even if it is just for 5 minutes.

When we take on a rescue dog we must appreciate that they had a whole life before us and we must take the time to understand WHY they do what they do that we find so undesirable. Whether it be aggression toward other dogs, food guarding, howling, door chewing, house soiling, growling at children, carpet digging or constant barking there WILL be a reason for it. As the new owner it is up to us to seek professional help from a veterinary surgeon and/or a canine behaviourist and get these problems treated. It takes time, consistency and hard work and it is often frustrating but it WILL get better if you persevere.

Getting a puppy from a good breeder is always a safer option. You know the dog’s history, the parent’s history, you know how big it will get, what characteristics to expect and you can mould it to exactly how you want it to be. If you get a rescue dog from a shelter then you potentially open yourself up to a lot of extra work. But if you go into rescuing a dog with your eyes wide open, a lot of patience, love and an understanding that many of these dogs are damaged, then you will be more prepared and you will have done a wonderful thing. Rescue dogs make the best pets because they, as anthropomorphic as I’m going to sound, are always that little bit more grateful to be part of a family again.

A great start for our MSc AABAW students

Our 30 new MSc Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare students are here and have started the Programme.  They have had lots of interesting sessions already and have started their group projects at Edinburgh Zoo.  They are studying Sun Bears, Red River Hogs, Lesser Kudu and more.

We've also had a one night residential where we all got to know each a bit better, did lovely walks, cooked together and even sang songs round a campfire with one of our students playing the ukulele.  A great start!

 

 

 

Zoos - Arks for the future?

Staff at the JMICAWE believe firmly in engaging with all types of industry to promote animal welfare  through education, and influencing policy and practise. This applies even to industries that are sometimes controversial, such as zoos.

Its important to remember that many zoo staff are dedicated to the care of their animals, and this September the carnivore keeping team at the Copenhagen zoo hosted a Carnivore Welfare Seminar. Speaking on topics including veterinary care, enrichment planning, and nutrition, JMICAWE veterinary surgeon Heather Bacon was delighted to see some of the progress made in the Copenhagen zoo in terms of animal enrichment, operant conditioning and the openness of zoo staff to discuss problems and deliver to their animals the best care that they could.

Heather also attended last week’s meeting of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, where she presented on her current research into a needs analysis, and development of animal welfare education for zoo keepers.

The meeting highlighted a number of conservation and welfare issues facing the zoo industry including reproductive problems and low breeding rates, and the negative impact of the zoo industry on conservation through illegal wildlife trade. Chris Shepherd of the Wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic, delivered a number of presentations highlighting conservation issues relating to trade across a range of species. This includes the purchase of wild-caught animals from fake ‘captive-breeding’ farms in South East Asia, by EU zoos.

Dr Barbara Mabel of the University of Glasgow presented on a similar theme, highlighting how molecular genetics had indicated the wild-caught origins of many African wild dogs in captivity in the EU, and  recommended against further importation of African Wild dogs from South Africa to boost European stocks, due to the lack of transparency on the dogs’ heritage, and the potential impact on wild populations.

Whilst it is very positive to see the steps being taken by zoos across Europe to invest in greater animal welfare training for their staff, and to implement positive practises to improve the quality of life of captive wild animals, it is important that the keeping of wild animals in captivity is justified and meets minimum conservation and husbandry requirements. Zoos may try to provide the best welfare possible for the animals they house, but if their presence supports animals being traded from the wild, even if through covert, illegal channels, then the welfare of the individuals going through that process will always be severely compromised. It is imperative that transparent and traceable systems are employed by zoos to minimise their impact on free-ranging wildlife populations, and to ensure the welfare of animals within the zoo industry.

 

http://www.traffic.org/home/2013/9/30/traffic-highlights-opportunities-for-conservation-collaborat.html

 

Copenhagen zoo animal welfare discussion forum