Heather to speak at DEFRA Dog Population Management Conference

We are delighted to announce that Heather Bacon, the Outreach Veterinary Manager for the JMICAWE will be speaking at the 1st International Conference on Dog Population Management 2012, September 4-8, 2012.

Heather will be presenting a case study in Session 15 on ‘Dog Management issues and the meat industry’.

The main objective of the conference is to bring the public sector together with ecologists, economists and specialists in animal welfare, animal health and education.

Specific aims are:

• To facilitate discussions and sharing of information on DPM among stakeholders;
• To promote awareness of novel technologies, such as immune-contraception, vaccine delivery systems and software for DPM;
• To encourage inter-sectoral collaboration, innovation and policy development, particularly in the context of rabies control
• To provide evidence-based information for effective, humane DPM;
• To promote animal and human health and wellbeing by reducing the incidence of zoonoses and the environmental impacts associated with dog population control.

https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/dogs2012/index.cfm

Using a negative reinforcement technique to change Equine Behaviour

Gemma Pearson, one of our vets within the Equine Clinic at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and a member of the ISES-UK 2012 Committee, which organised the ISES conference sponsored by the Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education (JMICAWE), explains that by applying simple, scientifically validated training techniques, she is able to work with ‘difficult’ horses to successfully get them to change their behaviour, from being fearful and thus at times dangerous to becoming less stressed and calm.

Read her article in Sept’s H O R S E & R I D E R magazine .... it shouldn’t happen to a vet.

Horse vets are highly trained

to diagnose and treat

injuries and disease.

However, their work with

sick horses places them at a high

risk of personal injury.

UK vet Gemma Pearson

surveyed vets and support staff at

the Equine Clinic at the Royal (Dick)

College of Veterinary Science in

Edinburgh, and found that in a year,

eight staff experienced an injury

serious enough to need treatment,

with five requiring hospitalisation.

Staff reported that they

encountered difficult-to-manage

horses that put their personal

safety at risk on a daily basis.

 “Within the constraints of a busy

clinic responsible for specialist

referrals for Scotland and much of

northern England, developing

strategies to reduce injuries by

improving horse handling was a

priority,” Gemma says. “By applying

simple, scientifically validated

training techniques, we were able

to handle a number of horses who

had previously injured the handlers

and vets treating them.”

Gemma’s work focused on two

of the most common sources of

difficult behaviour; refusing to enter

the examination stocks and being

needle-shy, which staff reported

encountering on a daily basis.

“To manage horses which were

reluctant to enter the examination

stocks, we applied a negative

reinforcement technique, which

involved applying a mildly aversive

cue to the horse and then

rewarding him for approaching the

stocks by taking the cue away.

“In this way, the horses learn

that approaching and then entering

the stocks will result in the cue

disappearing,” she explains. “Within a

very short period our ‘difficult’ horses

were calmly entering and remaining in

the stocks.”

Gemma continues: “Our needle-shy

horses had previously reared up and

injured vets, however, by applying a

technique known as overshadowing,

we were able to give these horses

injections without danger to ourselves

or the horse.” Overshadowing involves

applying a neutral cue – to step back

or come forwards from pressure on

the halter – while also exposing the

horse to the object it fears, in this

case, the needle.

“We started very gradually and

broke the injection process down into

small steps,” she explains. “By

ensuring that the horse responded to

our neutral cues immediately and

calmly, we could overshadow his fear

of the needle. Within a single session,

we could administer an injection.”

Key to both methods is making

sure that the horse stays as calm and

relaxed as possible, reducing the

likelihood it will react fear fully or

uncontrollably, so the treatment can

be completed efficiently and with a

minimum of stress to horse or vet.

While traditional restraint

techniques such as sedation and

nose twitching will always have a

place, vets incorporating these simple

scientific techniques reduce their risk

of injury and boost client confidence.

“We believe that horses and their

owners will benefit enormously from a

reduction in the stress and anxiety,”

Gemma Pearson concludes.

Gemma presented these findings at

the 2012 International Society for

Equitation Science (ISES) conference

– ISES is a not-for-profit organisation

that aims to facilitate research into

the training of horses to enhance

horse welfare and improve the horserider

relationship.

www.equitationscience.com

Gemma can be contacted through the R(D)SVS first referral equine clinic or the equine hospital at the Dick Vet on 0131 650 6253.

CPD event - How to provide an expert statement in an animal welfare case.

  

JOINT CPD VENTURE

CPD EVENT:

R(D)SVS and the Scottish SPCA are holding a Veterinary CPD event: Veterinary surgeons and the Scottish court system

VENUE:

East Bush Campus, Midlothian, 14^th November 2012, 12 to 5pm (including lunch)

TOPIC SUMMARY

Practitioners have raised concerns with the Scottish SPCA about providing expert witness statements and evidence for animal welfare court proceedings. This one-day conference will give an insight into the Scottish court system and how to provide an expert statement in an animal welfare case.

KEY TOPICS

·         The role of the Scottish SPCA and other enforcement bodies.

·         The Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (Scottish Government and Animal Health)

·         The value of veterinary pathology in welfare cases

·         The experience of a veterinary surgeon providing an expert statement

·         The requirements of the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal service, including court procedure

·         A sheriff’s perspective on animal welfare cases

 SPEAKERS

·         A practising sheriff

·         A Crown Office procurator fiscal

·         A veterinary pathologist

·         Government officials from the Animal Health and Welfare Division.

COST: £40 including lunch.

Places are limited so please book early.

This course counts towards 4 hours CPD (confirmed by RCVS).

For further details and booking, contact anne.mcgill@scottishspca.org

This course is sponsored by Scottish SPCA and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies

Joint Animal Welfare Meeting at the 3rd China Veterinary Conference

The Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education is proud to partner with the Chinese Veterinary Medical Association to deliver a world-class programme on Animal Welfare at the 3^rd China Veterinary Conference in Suzhou in October. 

With generous funding from the Animals Asia Foundation and WSPA, the conference will bring together Chinese and Western veterinarians and welfare scientists in a 3 day programme covering a range of topics from humane slaughter to responsible dog breeding and the role of the veterinary nurse in promoting animal welfare. The diversity of the material covered will inform and empower veterinarians working in all fields including laboratory animal science, livestock and companion animals, and will promote the role of the veterinarian as a champion of animal welfare in a country where animal protection legislation does not yet exist.

The conference is an excellent example of the desire for international collaboration, training and development of the veterinary profession in China, and an opportunity to engage both practising veterinarians and veterinary students in relevant animal welfare issues

Equitation Science a success in Edinburgh

250 delegates from over 15 countries ranging from the west coast of the US, across Europe and all the way to Australia and New Zealand, attended the recent ISES UK 2012 international conference sponsored by Redwings Horse Sanctuary and the World Dressage Masters foundation and held at Edinburgh University¹s Royal (Dick) Vet School last week.

Fittingly held just prior to the Olympic games in London, the annual equine performance and welfare conference attracted international scientists and experts speaking on themes covering the sustainable equine athlete from both physical and psychological aspects to the science and measurement of rider inputs and horse welfare. The three day conference with more than 35 spoken presentations and 140 poster presentations discussed current and future use of technological advances for enabling better measurement of the ways in which both horse and rider interact during ridden performance and so improve methods used for coaching riders and training horses.

Highlights included the final practical day where scientific work was put into practice, and the audience were given demonstrations of the use of rein tension meters, saddle pressure mats, bio measures of horse and rider and even eye tracking equipment for carriage horse drivers. Three times Olympian, and Dressage Team GB member for the London Olympics, Richard Davison was on hand as the chairperson for what was an excellent opportunity for equine scientists and practitioners for discuss the road ahead for the use of the horse for pleasure and performance.

Animal welfare resources at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies

When working in the field of animal welfare overseas and in the UK, it can be easy to become disheartened by the constant challenges faced by animals used in agriculture, research, as pets and companions or for entertainment.

However it’s important that we recognise the enormous achievements that have been made and are still being made in these areas. To showcase some of the work done by education, campaign and academic groups around the world, the Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education will be showcasing items donated by various groups including Compassion in World Farming, IFAW, WSPA, OneKind and Animals Asia to highlight the importance of continuous education and lobbying on welfare issues and to connect veterinary students and staff here at the  R(D)SVS with welfare issues around the world.

The items will be held in our Study Landscape, and will provide a focus on current and historical animal welfare issues, and the progress that has been made on improving animal welfare around the globe.

Animal welfare and ethics teaching an essential part of the veterinary curriculum

On 12th and 13th July, Edinburgh's R(D)SVS hosted the VetEd conference, which brought together veterinary educationalists, practitioners, researchers and students and to share innovation, ideas and best practice in veterinary education.

As part of the conference, the JMICAWE in collaboration with colleagues from Glasgow and Bristol vet schools and the SAC delivered an animal welfare and ethics teaching workshop. The workshop was attended by a good number of delegates who discussed the importance of educating veterinarians so that they appreciated their important role in the area of applied animal welfare. Workshop delegates felt that animal welfare, in its entirety, should become a major subject in the curriculum of every veterinary school (Fraser 2008), with most feeling that embedding animal welfare within courses is the best way for engaging students with the science as well as developing greater awareness of the ethical and practical issues. The workshop considered the topic of animal welfare education within the veterinary curriculum, using a 3Es approach and we were shown how new delivery modes could help to Engage with international and national students to deliver animal welfare knowledge that reflects the diverse and changing world, whilst Empowering learning through providing students with the ability to become active participants in relation to the context in which they are studying and Encouraging ownership of the learning experience by helping students to integrate and apply theoretical knowledge in the real world.

Finally we reflected upon some of the barriers to delivering animal welfare teaching which included lack of awareness amongst colleagues teaching in other courses, lack of context or relevance impeding learning, lack of engagement by students who see it as nice but not necessary, and lack of a consistent approach across vet schools. We ended by agreeing that through sharing materials and best practise, animal welfare lecturers would better equip themselves to ensure the engagement of colleagues and students, and that knowledge was transferred in the most effective way.

Population management in dogs and cats

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates the global stray dog population at over 200 million, a number which is difficult to conceive. In reality what we in the western world consider as stray dogs, are often actually ‘owned’ in the sense that they may be community or village dogs living in cultures where dogs roam freely, often running in groups. In terms of animal welfare there are numerous issues associated with the management of free-roaming dogs, and often we in the west assume that street dogs such as these will have a poor quality of life. Sadly, this is often the case. However when we look at the conclusions of last year’s PDSA Animal Wellbeing report, that the majority of the UK’s pets are stressed, lonely, overweight, aggressive or misunderstood, we can see that even with the best intentions to do well for our pets, some street dogs, with freedom to roam, and complex social groups, may actually have a relatively good quality of life in terms of their mental and behavioural welfare.

Despite this, dog overpopulation is a global issue. Every year around 55,000 people die of rabies, with dogs acting as the primary vector for the disease, and dog bite injuries create fear in human communities, often leading to dog culling through beating or poison. Surgical sterilisation of both male and female animals has been practiced by many governmental and non-governmental organisations to control dog populations but with sterilisation rate of over 70% required to stabilise populations, such programmes can be expensive and not always effective. Over recent years chemical sterilisation in male dogs using zinc gluconate injections have been trialled through South and Central America but are yet to be widely adopted globally. Most experts agree that in order to control dog populations, sterilisation of the female is the most crucial approach, and unfortunately these injections only target the male dogs. Additionally injection site reactions occur in approximately 4% of dogs, causing pain, swelling and often causing extensive damage to the scrotum.

Unfortunately when it comes to dog population control there are no easy solutions, fortunately, there are many groups determined to make progress on these issues. Later this year the UK will host the 1^st conference on International Dog Population Management  (https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/dogs2012/index.cfm  ) where experts from around the globe, including the team from the Jeanne Marchig international Centre for Animal Welfare Education will come together to discuss issues surrounding dog population management, and develop inter-sectorial collaborative approaches to these issues.

International Society of Equitation Science Conference

Not long before the International Society of Equitation Science Conference starts in Edinburgh – July 18^th -20^th.

There is still time to register for the full three day conference including two days of presentations at the University of Edinburgh’s, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies from equine experts talking about a wide range of subjects to do with measuring and improving the interaction between the horse and rider. There is an exciting programme with more than 30 spoken papers and 70 posters, with key talks including Dr Sue Dyson of the Animal Health Trust on the sustainable equine athlete to International Dressage Riders Club Secretary General and the World dressage Masters foundation’s, Wayne Channon, on the future of equestrian sports: evidence-based training systems. The conference practical day will be held on the 20^th July at the Scottish National Equestrian Centre compèred by Olympic GB dressage team member, Richard Davison, with demonstrations by Dr Andrew McLean and other leading international scientists and practitioners.  We welcome one day registrations for this event and encourage attendance by anyone with an interest in understanding how to use an evidence based approach to riding, driving and training.

For more information about whats on, the speakers and how to register, visit: www.ises-uk2012.com

Promoting the use of alternatives to animals in teaching and research

We are continuing with our work to exchange information and promote the use of alternatives and the welfare of animals used in research and teaching through collaboration with other organisations both internal to the University and externally.

We held a very successful one day symposium on laboratory animal welfare at the University of Edinburgh’s Medical School in April, where a variety of excellent speakers described their work in the area of viable and effective animal alternatives to 150 registered participants from the UoE. We were also delighted to award scientists and technicians for their efforts in replacement as well as reduction and refinement.

At our recent two day conference held by the JMICAWE in collaboration with the University of Northumbria in Newcastle, we explored concerns as well as opportunities for animal welfare in research and teaching as a result of the upcoming transposition of the EU directive relating to animal use, into UK law. This meeting was attended by influential people from across three disciplines, Ethics, welfare science and law – and we recognised the value of working together to ensure that all aspects of animal welfare were properly considered.

A booklet containing the talks as well as a publication of selected papers will be produced for circulation.

Workshop on animal welfare for veterinary practitioners in Romania

As part of the continuing commitment to animal welfare education in Europe, the Romanian Veterinary Medical Association, in conjunction with the Federation of Vets of Europe and the European Commission organised a national meeting for veterinary practitioners in Romania last week. Heather Bacon the Veterinary Welfare Education and Outreach Manage of the Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education, participated in in the workshop by delivering lectures and practical sessions to equip Romanian veterinary practitioners with the skills needed to recognise and assess animal welfare problems.

The meeting was opened by the President of the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) and the President College of Romanian Veterinarians - highlighting that the aim of the conference was to remind delegates of the importance of animal welfare in Romania and the role that veterinarians can play to educate others.

Delegates were then encouraged to assess animal welfare issues and challenges relating to nine different areas, ranging from companion animals to poultry to wild animals held in captivity, through a variety of lectures, group-discussions and field-based practicals  - and each group were requested to provide a five minute presentation of their suggested solution, incorporating current Legislation and Animal Welfare Assessment tools.

http://www.fve.org/events/index.php?ev=past

International colleagues promote alternatives to animals in Veterinary education

Our recent trip to the Veterinary and Animal sciences University in Kerala, highlighted enthusiasm for developments in teaching methods and animal welfare within the Indian veterinary curriculum. Dr Anoop the head of surgery in the small animal hospital at the University recognises the importance of undergraduate vets developing their confidence, dexterity and skills before attempting clinical techniques on animal patients, and to this end has applied for government funding to support the development of a clinical skills suite within the University. Similarly the delegates on our problem-based learning and animal welfare course were very interested in some of the models we had brought with us to demonstrate alternative teaching and learning techniques without causing any animal distress.

Successful conference about animal welfare legislation and the new EU Directive relating to animal use in research was jointly held by JMICAWE and Northumbria University Law Faculty last week

Prof Nat Waran chaired an extremely informative conference held in Newcastle on the 14/15^th June hosted by the Northumbria University Law faculty, co-organised by Kathryn Hunter and Debbie Rook and the JMICAWE and kindly sponsored by UFAW (Universities Federation for Animal Welfare).

The two day conference brought together ethicists, scientists, veterinarians, NGOs and lawyers to consider the new Directive and its transposition into UK law – with speakers reflecting upon concerns as well as opportunities for animal welfare and the use of alternatives to animals in research.

The opening speaker, Professor Kenneth Boyd, challenged the audience by posing questions about the moral justification for the use of animals in research, followed by the first speaker, Dr Duncan Wilson, a Wellcome Trust research fellow from the University of Manchester who described the history of the use of alternatives to animals in research (Tissue culture in science and society). Various excellent talks followed exploring issues such as the use of animals in teaching, the conundrums presented by application of the 3Rs framework, the importance of ethical review panels and the importance of transparency and accountability in science. Finally, Dr Judy McArthur Clark (CBE) Head of the Animals in Science Regulation Unit at the Home Office, discussed the way in which the new Directive promotes transparency, sharing of best practice in animal welfare and most importantly the objective of full replacement through the advancement of alternative approaches to the use of animals in research and how this goal was fundamental to the Directive and its transposition into UK law and practice.

Successful Animal Welfare workshop held at the Kerala Veterinary School in Thrissur India.

JMICAWE’s Professor Nat Waran and Heather Bacon have just returned from India where they facilitated the first of three workshops to be held in India as part of a British Council Internationalising Higher Education, KEP award.

The project entitled, ‘Embedding a Problem based learning approach to teaching animal welfare science and ethics in an Indian Veterinary School Curriculum’ was held in collaboration with the KVASU in Thrissur last week.

Traditionally veterinary education has tended to be content heavy, relying heavily upon lectures and tutorials, with the students' learning directed by their teachers. The purpose of this first workshop was to demonstrate the way in which a problem based learning approach can be incorporated into the lecturers’ teaching tool kit in relation to the delivery of animal welfare science and ethics.

The workshop was attended by 15 veterinary faculty staff members who engaged enthusiastically in various activities designed to illustrate the PBL approach within the veterinary curriculum.  The team will deliver the second workshop on farm animal health and welfare, in September.