What's The Impact of a MOOC?

Our Animal Behaviour and Welfare MOOC has been running in it's new 'on-demand' format for a little under a week now and a whole new set of students are getting a chance to learn about animal behaviour and welfare, but does that learning actually make a difference?

We were lucky enough today to be visited by one of our MOOC students, Hilda Hermann. Hilda is the Project Coordinator for Outreach KZN, an animal sterilisation and vaccination project in South Africa. In the three and a half years that Hilda has been working with the project, they've sterilised over 27 000 animals.

Many of the staff at Outreach KZN took part in the MOOC and Hilda gave us lots of valuable feedback about what worked in the course, what was difficult, and what people would like to see more of.

But our favourite part was hearing how useful the staff found the MOOC. Working in rural parts of South Africa it can be difficult finding educational resources that fit into busy working lives and schedules, and we think the new on-demand MOOC will be an even greater help in getting the animal welfare message out there at a time and in a format that suits learners.

We also loved this picture of the animal care staff at Outreach KZN with their certificates - it certainly made our week hearing about the impact the course has had!

If you'd like to take the course you can sign up via Coursera by clicking here. You can share your stories about the MOOC in the comments, or on Twitter by tweeting us @JMICAWE or using the #EdAniWelf hashtag. 

A Dog's Perspective

We’re really excited to bring you a new short film, A Dog’s Perspective, on YouTube.

The idea behind this video comes from our undergrad veterinary students at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary School and they shot and directed the video themselves after completing their final year animal welfare elective module.

Our students recognised that the veterinary clinic can sometimes be a frightening and alarming place for our companion animals and wanted to make a video that could highlight some simple and effective changes to the clinic that can improve the experience for our companion animals.

Carrie Aitken, the video’s director, had this to say:

Veterinarians are sworn to protect and uphold the welfare of animals under their care. It is easy to allow the importance of a patient’s physical health overshadow that of their mental and emotional wellbeing. I wanted to make this video to help us see the world through a dogs’ point-of-view so that we may improve the welfare of our pets in veterinary practice.

To do this I have highlighted the key areas of a veterinary practice from the point-of-view of a dog and provided some suggestions as to how to improve the patient experience.

I hope you enjoy the video and take a moment to consider how the world is experienced through the eyes of our canine companions. 

It’s great to see the next generation of veterinarians thinking about the animal’s experience in the clinic and putting animal welfare front and centre. A big thank you to Carrie and her colleagues for sharing this video with us, and congratulations on your graduation! We know you’ll go on to do great things.

 

Animal Welfare and Free Dog Training - Useful Links

We are always looking for interesting discussions and news articles online - which you might have seen if you have 'Liked' us on Facebook!

 

www.facebook.com/jmicawe

 

We recently came across these two - firstly, a series of videos from The Animal Welfare Foundation's 2015 Discussion Forum, easy to access and covering topics such as 'The Science of Slaughter' and 'Companion Animal Population Management'- find out more here:

 

http://www.bva-awf.org.uk/2015-discussion-forum

 

And speaking of Companion Animals, we also found this great and FREE online resource to do with dog training... it's definitely worth a look! We hope you find these interesting and useful :)

 

http://www.moderndoggroup.com/free-dog-training-videos/

Dogs and Society Workshop in Santiago, Chile - May 2015

Last week saw the JMICAWE’s Director Prof Nat Waran and Veterinary Outreach Manager Heather Bacon in Chile, for the start of a joint initiative between Edinburgh University's Jeanne Marchig International Animal Welfare Centre and the Sustainability Research Centre at Universidad Andres Bello.

 

 

 

The purpose of the one day workshop was to bring together key Researchers, Academics, Policy Makers and NGOs to discuss the issues relating to interactions between people and dogs in Chile. The objective was to develop a joint understanding of the human- dog relationship and to explore how, through research and policy, it may be possible to use evidence-based humane approaches to managing health and welfare concerns relating to increasing dog ownership. These concerns can include pet behaviour problems, pet neglect and abandonment and associated high numbers of dogs in shelters, as well as public health and animal welfare issues associated with increasing number of stray and street dogs within Chile.

Dogs present an international dilemma. In most countries they are considered to be ‘man’s best friend’, and pet numbers are increasing along with veterinary treatment possibilities and a strong pet food and product industry. Yet they are also considered as pests, being seen in some parts of the world as a public health problem due to dog bites and associated injuries, as well as the risk of disease or parasite transmission, such as rabies.

The number of dogs in Chile is estimated to be over 3 million, with a median human per dog ratio of 4.8. As with other parts of the world, the presence of an uncontrolled canine population poses risks not just to the health and welfare of the public, but also environmental health risks and concerns for the welfare of the dogs themselves.

Dogs are attracted to places where humans live and often this will bring them into conflict resulting in damage to property and injury to humans and dogs. Because stray dogs are so clearly visible in the streets, they attract the attention of the public and tourists, with rising numbers of dog bites sometimes leading to life-threatening consequences. In various parts of the world, management of the expanding dog population has involved the implementation of animal breeding control programmes along with vaccinations campaigns to tackle zoonotic disease risks, alongside education programmes for children to help with safety awareness.

We will keep you up-to-date with our work in Chile, but in the mean time if you are interested in learning more about Street dogs, why not watch our short film dedicated to them on YouTube?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-UEb9KOgpE