Setting standards for farm animal welfare

Setting standards for farm animal welfare

JMICAWE Director, Cathy Dwyer, has just returned from the annual meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Global Animal Partnership in Austin, Texas. Global Animal Partnership (GAP) is a non-profit organisation that provides an animal welfare certification programme for producers by setting stepped standards for improving animal welfare. At the lowest levels producers must commit to cage and crate free living, with no crowding for their farm animals, rising to animal-centred management at the highest levels. The Scientific Advisory Committee ensures that the standards are based on the best available science of animal welfare.

During the meeting the Committee discussed where there were options to improve animal welfare by reviewing and amending the current standards. In addition, how the system could be extended to new species, such as fish, was also addressed. GAP are currently certifying the welfare of over 400 million animals, in 7 countries around the world, so this has the potential to make a real difference to the lives of many animals.

‘This has been a fascinating insight into how animal welfare can be marketed to consumers, and what aspects of welfare most resonate with buyers of animal products’ Cathy said afterwards.

For more information on GAP see here:  https://globalanimalpartnership.org/

JMICAWE Director Cathy Dwyer - invited speaker at British Society of Animal Science 2019 Annual Conference

Cathy Dwyer invited speaker at BSAS 2019 Annual Conference

On Wednesday 10th April, Professor Cathy Dwyer, JMICAWE Director, will be delivering her presentation on "Managing Young Animals for Health & Welfare" in Edinburgh.  This year, scientists will gather from across the world to celebrate 75 years of the Society and to acknowledge the progress made in animal science over that period of time.  Cathy also features in the programme on Thursday 11th, speaking on the "Prioritisation of Farm Animal Issues in the UK using the Delphi Method" reporting on the AWF-funded project co-authored by Dr Fiona Lang. 

https://bsas.org.uk/BSAS2019/bsas-2019-invited-speakers

First ever Animal Behaviour, Welfare & Ethics session at BSAVA Congress

The first ever Animal Behaviour, Welfare & Ethics session at BSAVA Congress

Heather Bacon & Hayley Walters have been working hard over the past year to organise the first ever BSAVA session on behaviour welfare and ethics at Congress.  Both were speaking last Friday with three presentations each, focused at Vet nurses, but Vets could also attend, and did - every presentation was a sell-out!

The whole week of BSAVA Congress was a resounding success, and particular mention should be made of Heather being awarded The J.A. Wight Memorial Award, sponsored by Blue Cross.  This award is presented annually to a veterinary surgeon who has made an outstanding contribution to the welfare of companion animals.  Our sincere congratulations go to Heather, so wonderful that she has been recognised in this way.

In addition, we are proud to report that MSc Clinical Animal Behaviour student Catriona Gillen was the recipient of the BVBA Veterinary Studies Award (the third consecutive year that a R(D)SVS undergraduate student has either won or been runner-up of this Award).

Heather's presentations to Congress included:-

Street dog health and behaviour:

International adoptions of dogs are increasingly popular – learn all that you need to know about how to manage the behaviour and health of imported street dogs, both in the clinic and at home

Geriatric welfare

Is old age a disease? Is slowing down inevitable? Is confusion normal? Find out what you can do to safeguard the health and welfare of older cats and dogs in your practice

Welfare conundrums

Veterinary ethical dilemmas are common in practice but it’s not just the complex referral surgeries that have welfare impacts! Find out how your routine practices may impact on dog and cat behaviour and welfare.

And Hayley's three presentations were:-

Acute pain and its welfare implications:

Most of us want our patients to be pain free when they are in the clinic with us because we care very much about how our patients feel. But are there even more pressing reasons for making sure our analgesia is adequate?

Good intentions and good welfare outcomes:

We all practice preventative medicine. But do we practice preventing behavioural problems? Can the vet nurse do more to stop the most common behaviour problems from ever occurring? Behaviour problems that result in dogs being euthanised or rehomed. Find out how we might just be able to change the course of a puppy's life.

Improving patient welfare - what the vet nurse can do:

Are your cats stress-free when they are in the waiting room? Does the consult room door cause dogs to put on the brakes? Are your inpatients calm or cowering? Find out what simple, cheap and easy techniques can be applied to help improve patient welfare.

Well done, Team JMICAWE!

Funding secured for further training in farm animal welfare in China

Funding secured for further training in farm animal welfare in China

We are delighted to announce that we have secured renewal funding from The Open Philanthropy Project to continue our training programmes in farm animal welfare in China. We have been working with partners in China, including the International Cooperation Committee of Animal Welfare (ICCAW), Chinese Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) and Animals Asia, for the past 2 years to develop a series of training workshops in animal welfare for pig producers as part of a previously funded project. So far, we have been working on improving piglet survival and housing for farrowing sows, the impact of heat stress on pig welfare and opportunities to reduce the incidence of tail biting and tail docking on Chinese farms. These issues are also of concern to farmers in Europe, and it has been very useful to share experiences and insights across different countries. The first grant has also allows us to recruit a PhD student, Steph Easton, who has been evaluating the effectiveness of different delivery methods to improve animal welfare education in China.

The new award will allow us to continue this programme of work for a further two years, and we are particularly pleased that the Open Philanthropy project will fund another PhD student with us to promote farm animal welfare in China and to build capacity and skills in this area in China. We are looking forward to building on our current work to improve the lives of pigs in China.    

Mothers are important for good animal welfare

Mothers are important for good animal welfare

It is Mother’s Day this year on 31^st March so we will take this opportunity to consider how mothers play a key role in animal welfare. Only 3% of mammalian species involve fathers in rearing offspring, so for mammals mothers are really important for offspring development and welfare. Maternal care is also shown in birds, and some species of fish, reptiles, amphibians and even insects. Mothers play a vital role in the survival of their offspring through determining where the offspring will be born or the environment in which they will spend their early life. They also provide food, warmth, comfort and opportunities for learning to their offspring. However, mammalian and avian mothers (and maybe other species as well) do even more – through subtle changes in the uterine environment for mammals, or the composition of the egg in birds, mothers are able to ‘signal’ to their offspring before birth to prepare them for the sort of environment they will be living in. This can change how stress reactive an animal will be after birth. If the environment is very risky then this can improve the survival of young animals in the wild. However, for domesticated animals a stressed mother can lead to offspring that are more stress reactive and this may be bad for their welfare, leading to excessive fearfulness or anxiety after birth. Looking after pregnant and lactating mothers carefully does not only help to improve the welfare of the mother, but also that of their unborn offspring throughout their lives.

JMICAWE Director, Prof Cathy Dwyer, will be discussing these aspects of animal husbandry as an invited speaker at the British Society for Animal Science meeting in Edinburgh on 10^th April (https://bsas2019.expom.io/).