Cathy Dwyer's role as independent expert on EU Animal Welfare Platform

JMICAWE Director completes her 3 years’ service on the EU Animal Welfare Platform

JMICAWE Director, Cathy Dwyer, has just completed her 3-year appointment to the EU Animal Welfare Platform as an independent expert on the platform. She now steps down from the platform as the UK’s departure from the EU means she is no longer eligible to apply for another term of membership.

During the last 3 years, Cathy has attended the 6-monthly meetings of the platform which provides updates on the most recent activities of the EU with respect to animal welfare, as well as reports on a number of sub-groups considering a range of issues from welfare guides for horses and donkeys, the welfare issues of a range of farmed species, and the usefulness of a welfare labelling scheme to ensure that products meet particular standards of welfare. In the last year, the publication of the Farm to Fork strategy has set ambitious goals for improving welfare within a sustainability framework, and kicked off a period of re-evaluation of the welfare legislation and compliance within the EU. It is hard to believe that some of the legislation is now more than 20 years old, and needs to be revised and reconsidered in the light of the last two decades of research and evidence gathering.

Of particular interest at the most recent meeting in June, was the impact of the End the Cage Age petition, which gained sufficient support from EU citizens to require a debate in the EU parliament. On 10th June the EU parliament overwhelmingly voted to end the keeping of farmed animals in cages by 2027. This should mean that millions of laying hens, farrowing sows and farmed rabbits, amongst other species, will no longer be kept in restrictive environments that do not allow them to stretch, move about and turn around. This is potentially a big step forward to achieve more ethical farming practices, and to improve the lives of animals kept in Europe. 

Cathy said - 

‘It has been really interesting to hear the latest animal welfare developments in the EU, and it feels now that there are a lot of actions starting to happen to improve animal lives, especially for farmed animals.’

Photo credit: Marianne Farish, SRUC

Hayley Walters delivers webinar for MSAVA

JMICAWE’s veterinary nurse, Hayley Walters, was invited by the Malaysian Small Animal Veterinary Association (MSAVA) to deliver a webinar to its members and non members last week. The topic was ‘Maintaining welfare standards during hospitalisation’ and was attended by over 170 delegates. 

Hayley talked about how to handle, examine, and house cats and dogs in the most positive ways possible in the clinic, thereby reducing stress for the patient, and considering their veterinary experience from the animal’s perspective. 

Hayley also covered how welfare can be improved in each section of the clinic the animal moves through, understanding dog body language and what you might see before a dog has to bite, and how to recognise and score pain in cats and dogs. 

Hayley said, 

“So much emphasis is placed on the physical health of an animal when being treated in the clinic and whilst that IS important, it shouldn’t be our only focus. We cannot break animals down to their biological values and thought needs to be given to their emotional state. Fear and stress are detrimental to an animal’s health and there are many simple, practical steps we can put in place to mitigate this and ensure their time in the clinic is as positive as possible.”

Hayley received many questions after her webinar and looks forward to working with MSAVA again in the future. 

AWES holds their 4th Annual Veterinary Welfare and Ethics Conference

The Animal Welfare and Ethics Society (AWES), a student-led society part of the R(D)SVS, have just held their 4th annual conference virtually this year. The topics spanned from ethical dilemmas of treating British Wildlife, pain management in small animal practice, to the role of vets in forensics. 

Below is a reflection by the conference organiser Yuko Okumura: 

The conference started in 2017 with Morgan Brown, a fourth year student, who wanted to provide a platform for active discussion and dialogue around veterinary ethical dilemmas. Her main goal was to better equip students once they were practicing vets and prepare them for the potential challenging welfare issues they would face.  Morgan wanted the conference to be accessible, and from the start, had aimed to keep the conference affordable.  

Whilst the virtual world certainly has its challenges, it also offered AWES an opportunity this year to welcome international speakers for the first time. We were able to reach delegates like never before - from both UK and international vet students, staff, and animal care professionals. Some such speakers were an animal welfare lecturer from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, a dog groomer, and a vet from Australia, to name a few. 

As with our previous conferences, we aimed to cover various species groups (farm, equine, small animals, exotics) and were able to welcome experts of each field. These experts ranged from but were not limited to: the technical director of the Humane Slaughter Association, a board member of the Michigan Horse Welfare Coalition, and the co-director of Human Behaviour Change for Animals. The conference also tried to take on a holistic approach to discuss how society and human attitudes continually shape animal welfare, the importance of the welfare of the vet, and an evaluation on the Scientific Procedures Act from a legislative perspective.  

One of the talks that resonated with me personally was the discussion on farm animal welfare by Dr. Matt Dobbs from the Animal Welfare Foundation. Matt spoke with passion about how as young vets, awareness alone was not enough; that we would have to feel empowered enough to be active drivers of change.

He emphasised our duty to call out and question long-held beliefs within this industry, to constantly challenge our own understanding and knowledge about animal welfare and ethics and doing so through evidence-based research. These sentiments most certainly resonate with the aims and objectives JMICAWE strives to do on a daily basis.

If you would like to watch the recordings from the conference- register here: 

https://forms.gle/NP6r5Eb9cSesnim98

More information about the conference and the AWES society can be found on our website: 

https://www.animalwelfareandethicssociety.com/2021-virtual-conference

JMICAWE spends a year Working From Home!

Bluebell (Director Cathy Dwyer's dog)
playing in the snow. 

We have just reached a milestone that no one expected or wanted – it is now a whole year since the JMICAWE team packed up our bags, plants and coffee mugs, said goodbye and headed off to work from home in the light of the pandemic, never expecting that we would still not be back in the office a year later! 

Whilst we all remain healthy, thankfully, and are blessed that we are able to carry on working from our homes via Teams, Zoom and every other means of communicating, it has been a difficult time for many. Most of the JMICAWE team have been relying on our pets for comfort – whether that is dog walking, riding horses or enjoying a cuddle with the cats that occasionally make an intervention into the Team meetings. So we are all appreciative of the benefits to our mental health and well-being that our pets bring. 

However, it is also important that we remember to take care of our pet’s welfare too, so it is a mutually beneficial relationship. Of increasing concern is that the high demand for puppies during the pandemic has created the perfect opportunity for unscrupulous breeders to offer puppies, often at very high prices, that have come from puppy farming backgrounds. 

As it is currently not possible to visit the puppy at home with its mother, it is harder than ever for buyers to be able to check that their prospective new puppies have had a proper start in life, and the mother has been properly taken care of. A number of charities in the UK have put together a resource that is designed to help UK buyers be assured that their puppies and parents have been kept under good conditions: https://puppycontract.org.uk/. You can also find more resources about Covid and pet welfare on the JMICAWE website here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/vet/jeanne-marchig-centre/covid-animals

Perhaps you have not been able to work from home and have time on your hands, or are considering a change in career? Whilst we have not been able to do our usual travelling and visits to run workshops etc, the JMICAWE team has been hard at work creating online resources to support animal welfare education, often in collaboration with others. We have worked with Wild Welfare to create an educational resource looking at welfare of c
aptive wildlife, and have developed our own resources to support veterinary nursing students. 

We have worked with the Indira Gandhi National Open University in India to develop a postgraduate distance learning course on animal welfare which launched last year, and has an amazing 850 students on the course. We are also working with University of Queensland and collaborators in China to develop a course on animal welfare for students in China. And our Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are still freely available and continue to be very popular. You can find out more about all our activities by signing up for our newsletter, following us on social media, and checking out our courses and resources on our webpage: https://www.ed.ac.uk/vet/jeanne-marchig-centre. Lastly, we hope to be able to meet up again in person very soon, but until then we hope to be able to keep you entertained and educated in animal welfare via other means.

Free digital education programme launched

The Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education, in collaboration with Wild Welfare have launched a free digital education programme aimed at anyone working with captive wildlife.

The interactive resource addresses knowledge gaps that may result in captive animal suffering and gives animal care staff the tools they need to provide optimal welfare for animals living in captive facilities such as zoos, aquariums and wildlife centres.

 

Each module has a learning document and an interactive quiz, with questions and activities to encourage knowledge retention and inspire learning. The programme is fully accessible from a computer or mobile device.

 

To access the Wild Welfare free digital education resource: https://wildwelfare.org/resources-elearn-programme/

For further information about continuing professional development resources offered by JMICAWE: https://www.ed.ac.uk/vet/jeanne-marchig-centre/cpd

https://www.scotsman.com/education/edinburgh-university-and-uk-animal-welfare-charity-collaborate-education-programme-captive-wildlife-keepers-3110093

 

Welcome to Dr Kevin McPeake!

Kevin McPeake has recently joined the University of Edinburgh Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies as a Lecturer in Clinical Animal Behaviour. Kevin graduated from the University of Glasgow as a veterinary surgeon in 2005, and has worked in a range of first opinion small animal practices across the UK. 

In 2011, Kevin completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling before setting up a behaviour referral clinic in the North East of Scotland until 2014. He then moved to the University of Lincoln to undertake a project researching a novel anti-anxiety medication for dogs and remained there to complete a 5-year post combining a residency in veterinary behavioural medicine and has recently submitted his PhD research on frustration in dogs. 

Five days into his new role with the University of Edinburgh Kevin received the welcome news that he has passed his behavioural medicine board exams and is thus now a Diplomate of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine. Kevin will be setting up an animal behaviour clinic within the Hospital for Small Animals allowing veterinarians to refer canine and feline behaviour cases for assessment and treatment.

"I am delighted to be starting my new role at the University of Edinburgh. Joining a team of leading experts in animal behaviour and welfare as well as the multi-disciplinary specialists within the Hospital for Small Animals is an exciting prospect and I look forward to working together with colleagues to advance the field of veterinary behavioural medicine. I am keen to share my knowledge through teaching on the MSc in Clinical Animal Behaviour as well as integrate behavioural medicine as a core subject in the undergraduate curriculum.”

Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies wins global animal welfare award!

The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and JMICAWE are delighted to announce that we are the very first recipients of the World Veterinary Association and CEVA veterinary school of the year in the global animal welfare awards for 2020. The WVA and CEVA give annual awards for those in the veterinary profession who have gone above and beyond in animal welfare, and JMICAWE’s very own Heather Bacon and Hayley Walters have been former winners of individual awards. For the first time in 2019 WVA and CEVA also decided to give an award to the veterinary school or college that was working to promote animal welfare, and we won! 

The award is wonderful recognition of the hard work, dedication and commitment of all those in JMICAWE, the wider JMICAWE ‘family’, including our colleagues at SRUC who conduct research in animal welfare, and many, many people in the R(D)SVS who contribute to embedding animal welfare into the veterinary curriculum to give our students the best possible grounding in animal welfare science, ethics and practice. In addition, the award recognises the significant outreach work that JMICAWE and others do to reach out to other veterinary schools globally, and help to promote animal welfare education for all veterinary students.

Edinburgh has a long history of involvement in animal welfare research and teaching. The R(D)SVS was instrumental in setting up the Society for Veterinary Ethology in 1966, which has grown and expanded over the last 50+ years to become the International Society for Applied Ethology, the pre-eminent scientific society for the study of animal welfare science. Edinburgh was also home to the first MSc programme in the world to offer postgraduate education in applied animal behaviour and animal welfare in 1990. The MSc is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, and now has a network of alumni working to improve animal welfare all over the world.

With the current pandemic we were unable to collect our award in person at the 36th WVA Conference in Auckland, New Zealand in April as planned. However, a virtual awards ceremony was held last week and can be seen by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OhtWyYvGkw 

This also meant that we did not get the opportunity to meet and congratulate the other award winners in person but we are honoured to share the awards ceremony with Prof Paul McGreevy, Paul Oluwadare, Prof Gareth Bath, Maya Cygariska and Dr Tharanga Thoradeniya – many congratulations to you all for your work in improving the lives of animals.

BVNA Guest Lecture - Hayley Walters

Last week, veterinary nurse Hayley Walters delivered a virtual, special guest speaker presentation for British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA) from the comfort of her spare bedroom! Originally intended to be a live event in Telford, the three days of lectures changed to online due to COVID-19.

Hayley was invited to give an inspirational talk about her career and highlight just how many opportunities are available now to registered veterinary nurses (RVNs). Hayley’s vocation has taken her from cows and sheep in the Peak District in England to moon bears and meat dogs in China, to teaching in vet schools in developing countries to receiving an MBE at Buckingham palace.

 

Hayley said, 

“The veterinary nursing profession still has a long way to go to receive the same recognition as human nursing but our profession has not been around for nearly as long. Even after 21 years as a RVN, I am still very proud to be one. It was an honour to be asked to speak at BVNA about the prospects that we have and the difference a well trained RVN can make to an animal’s experience and welfare when in the clinic.”

 

Hayley also revealed the advice she would give her younger self starting out as a young RVN which included being better informed in dog and cat behaviour and recognising pain in patients post-surgery. 

Hayley encouraged all student and registered veterinary nurses to enrol on The University of Edinburgh’s free online MOOC in dog and cat behaviour if they wanted to improve their knowledge in this area.  https://www.coursera.org/learn/cats-and-dogs

 

BVNA Scientific Poster Competition Winner!

Congratulations to Emma Hogarth (née Campbell) who was the winner of the BVNA Research Bites Award 2020 for the Best Scientific Poster at the recent virtual BVNA Congress!!

Emma Campbell BSc(Hons)RVN MScCAB graduated from the online MSc Clinical Animal Behaviour in 2019 and since then has gone onto publish her work in The Veterinary Nurse Journal (Campbell et al 2020). Most recently Emma presented a poster titled, "From handling fails to waggy tails! Communication between canine owners and veterinary staff on canine handling intolerances in practice", at the virtual British Veterinary Nursing Association Congress which took place from 9-11th October. 

Following the disappointment of being unable to present her poster in person, Emma was delighted to be awarded the BVNA Research Bites Award 2020 for the Best Scientific Poster: 

"I was extremely grateful to get the opportunity to present at the BVNA Congress and it was such a surprise to win the Best Poster Award. I'm so pleased my research has been presented to the veterinary community and hope my results will help practices think about the way they approach patients with handling intolerances."

We are very proud of what Emma has achieved within the field of veterinary behaviour and wish her all the best for the future.

Campbell, E., Connor, M. and Buckley, L.A., 2020. A prospective cross-sectional survey of UK-based dog owners to explore canine handling intolerances and owner willingness to disclose these to veterinary professionals. The Veterinary Nurse, 11(2), pp.96-102.

JMICAWE presents at the European college of Animal welfare symposium

 

The JMICAWE team were delighted to contribute to the recent European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine (ECAWBM) symposium on animal welfare. Previous JMICAWE director, Professor Natalie Waran, opened the symposium with a presentation on One welfare and the importance of human-horse interaction to both human and equine welfare.

This was followed by presentations on a range of topics from various European college residents including JMICAWE’s Heather Bacon, who presented her work on canine pain assessment. 

The European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine (ECAWBM) strives to provide animal owners and their veterinarians with European Veterinary Specialists; veterinarians specialised in animal welfare and/or behavioural medicine. 

Diplomats are qualified veterinarians who have undergone
an extensive, well-defined training programme over many years within the fields of animal welfare and behavioural medicine before passing a demanding board examination. This assures high quality service to the general animal owning public and to referring veterinarians.

http://www.ecawbm.com/

 

New member of staff joins the JMICAWE family

JMICAWE is delighted to welcome Miguel Somarriba Soley to the team! Miguel will be joining the MSc International Animal Welfare Ethics and Law programme team to help with programme co-ordination, and will also work with JMICAWE in its animal welfare training project in China. Miguel brings a wealth of varied expertise to the team. He is a veterinarian who qualified in his native Costa Rica, and has worked for the WSPA (now World Animal Protection) in their Animals in Disasters Programme, taking part in disaster management and recovery projects in Latin-American and the Caribbean following natural disasters. He has also worked with organizations providing free veterinary care in rural and indigenous communities in Central America.
 
Miguel moved to Edinburgh to take the MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare, and then joined the SRUC Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research team, firstly as a research assistant and then to conduct his PhD research. Miguel has many and varied interests: his PhD focused on stress in beef cattle and its effects on the microbiome, feed efficiency and methane emissions. In the past he has worked on animal welfare research in domestic species, and has been involved in service dog training, captive animal enrichment and training, animal management during natural disaster situations, behavioural medicine and veterinary private practice. Miguel is also a provisional member of the APBC, working towards full certification in clinical animal behaviour.

Miguel says: ‘I am very excited about joining JMICAWE. I feel genuinely proud to take part in the great work done by JMICAWE to improve animal welfare around the world through education, training and influencing legislation. I appreciate the opportunity, and I will strive to have a positive effect on animals’ lives through my work in JMICAWE and IAWEL.’

We are excited to have Miguel on board, and look forward to his impact on the team’s activities.

JMICAWE Publication on Improving Animal Welfare

Latest research from JMICAWE published, highlighting how knowledge is vital to improve animal welfare 

Dr Rioja-Lang preparing for the workshop 

that finalised the main issues for the study.

JMICAWE researchers have published their final paper in a series looking at prioritising animal welfare issues for different groups of animals, in work funded by the British Veterinary Association’s Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF). For this work, the JMICAWE team (led by the late Dr Fiona Rioja-Lang) established contact with 144 animal welfare experts and worked on all the main managed animal groups in the UK (farmed, companion and horses). Overall more than 600 welfare issues were identified by the work, and this indicates just how many areas we need to be concerned about when thinking about improving animal lives.

The aim of this final paper was to determine the most important welfare issues for each species, to think about methods for tackling them and to look for key recurring themes between species. Working with the experts the team identified that lack of knowledge, usually by owners, about the best way to care for the species was a key problem, alongside issues with managing the social and other behaviours of the species, owners not seeking appropriate health care and managing animals in inappropriate environments.

Other important issues involved decisions about breeding animals, particularly selecting specific characteristics in animals that might be associated with reduced health and fitness, feeding animals incorrectly, a poor ability to recognise when an animal is in pain, and not seeking euthanasia before significant animal suffering had occurred. Chronic or endemic health issues were also likely to be having a significant impact on animal lives, which may not be recognised by their owners.

Overall, the study suggests that further research is required in some areas, but better education for owners, especially before making a decision on acquiring an animal, is fundamental to improving animal welfare. Veterinarians are an important source of information for current and future animal owners and thus JMICAWE’s key mission, to improve veterinary education in animal welfare, will help to play a role in addressing the findings of this study.    

More information about the study can be found here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/vet/jeanne-marchig-centre/activities/delphi which includes links to the published papers from the study.

More information about the Animal Welfare Foundation is available here: https://www.animalwelfarefoundation.org.uk/