Winter newsletter

Download our winter newsletter!

It includes:

• Celebrating that the Centre is 10 years old (2011-2021)
• MSc Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare celebrated their 30 year anniversary
• Wild Welfare launches in Japanese
• COP26: considering animal welfare should be essential in climate change plans
• An extensive list of recent publications from the Team
• Conferences and achievements
• Welcome: Dr Rebecca Doyle and Dr Yuki Otani
  

Update: animal welfare projects

Dr Rebecca Doyle, JMICAWE Deputy Director highlights the following projects.

MEASURING PIG WELFARE IN UGANDA

The pig sector in Uganda is among the fastest growing livestock sectors and it is characterized by low productivity due to limited resources and veterinary support. As the welfare status of pigs in the system is unknown, a cross-sectional welfare assessment was carried out in four districts in central Uganda (Masaka, Mukono, Mpigi and Wakiso) to identify issues requiring action. These results will form the basis of future intervention programs and act as a benchmark to improve pig welfare and farmer livelihoods.

• https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/114180
• https://www.ilri.org/publications/understanding-mortality-and-morbidity-pigs-ugandan-smallholder-production-systems

 

SILVOPASTORALISM AND ANIMAL WELFARE IN ETHIOPIA

Image credit: Tsega Berhe

This project demonstrates the benefits of agroforestry–livestock systems in Ethiopia for animal welfare, livelihoods and the environment. We have project sites in both the highlands and pastroral production systems of Ethiopia, and are collaborating with World Agroforestry, Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse and regional partners. The evidence gathered from the project will be used to scale out these results through a future research project starting in 2022.

• https://www.ilri.org/research/projects/synergies-animal-welfare-and-agroforestry-benefit-farming-systems-ethiopia
• https://www.biovision.ch/en/projects/ethiopia/trees-for-animal-welfare/

New research survey has been launched exploring attitudes towards animal welfare in the UK and Japan

JMICAWE has launched an international survey to explore attitudes towards animal welfare of veterinarians and researchers in the UK and Japan. The work is led by a visiting Post Doctoral researcher, Dr Yuki Otani, supported by our Director, Cathy Dwyer, as a collaborative study between the University of Edinburgh and Hokkaido University in Japan.

The UK and Japan are both island, industrial and developed nations, where people live with animals for various purposes – in particular, pet ownership is an important part of both cultures. In the UK, the principles of animal welfare and animal welfare needs are included in legislation (The Animal Welfare Act, 2006). In Japan, on the other hand, people are likely to interact with animals based on a different Japanese concept rather than animal welfare. Instead of welfare, a word ‘Aigo’, which is composed of 2 characters (愛 and 護) meaning "love" and "protection”, has been widely and historically spread in Japanese society. This word is used in the relevant and the most responsible law for animal management. In this law ‘living being’ is used to represent all animals, whereas animal welfare is relevant to ‘sentient beings’ in the UK.

‘Aigo culture is very beautiful – people love and express empathy with animals. I think, however, this concept is human-based so it could cause conflicts about what is most important to animals among people depending on their own subjectivity. To solve the issue as a society, permeating the animal welfare concept is necessary’ says Yuki, from Hokkaido University.

We are now exploring the fundamental attitude of veterinarians, veterinary researchers, and behaviour/welfare researchers in the UK or Japan via an online survey. We would like to understand the strengths of welfare and Aigo concepts by this survey and develop effective strategies for improving animal welfare in both countries. More information about the survey can be found here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/vet/jeanne-marchig-centre/activities/attitudes

Take Part

If you are a veterinarian, veterinary researcher, and behaviour/welfare researcher in the UK or Japan and wish to take part you can do so by following this link:

(English) https://forms.gle/9BrdKZovHMbt2WtKA

(Japanese) https://forms.gle/RaamqBZqkV5TE8hv9