Can we more effectively assess pain in the animals we care for?

On Friday, May 8th 2015, Dr Matt Leach will be coming to R(D)SVS from Newcastle University to give a talk on assessing pain in animals, entitled 'Can we more effectively assess pain in the animals we care for?'

Matt completed our MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour & Welfare and a PhD in Laboratory Animal Welfare at the University of Birmingham. For the last 10 years, his research has focused on developing effective means of assessing pain in a range of animals, including laboratory, companion and farm species. Currently, he is a full-time lecturer and researcher in animal welfare at Newcastle University and a part-time animal welfare lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. 

Pain in animals is of considerable public concern. Pain compromises not only animal welfare, but also raises considerable ethical concern. In order to successfully alleviate pain, we need to be able to assess its severity and duration effectively. In this talk, we will discuss the effectiveness of both the routinely used (i.e. clinical signs) and new (i.e. behaviour and facial expressions) methods for assessing pain in animals.  

 

We are really looking forward to hearing about Matt’s research and his work on animal welfare.

 

Don’t forget that our Spring Newsletter 2015 is now available and can be viewed by clicking on this link - http://goo.gl/2zGW7a