Red squirrels living on a Scottish island are fighting fit, say University vets.

A survey of the animals on the Isle of Arran has been conducted by scientists who are monitoring the population in a bid to help save the species.

They have found the squirrels to be in excellent health and showing few signs of disease.

Welcome findings

Researchers were particularly relieved to find no evidence of the deadly squirrelpox virus.

Keeping squirrelpox at bay is vital to red squirrel survival and being on an island gives Arran’s population the best chance of avoiding this disease.

The findings are good news for the future of this endangered species.

Competition threat

Red squirrels around the UK are under threat from deadly diseases and competition for food and habitat from grey squirrels, which were introduced to Britain from North America in the 19th century.

Arran is one of 19 red squirrel strongholds in Scotland - there are no grey squirrels on the island.

Red squirrels are found in both deciduous and coniferous woods all over the island.

Animal health

The survey was led by vets and scientists at the University’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and funded by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and Forestry Commission Scotland.

The team humanely trapped and examined 21 live squirrels with the help of local foresters and rangers.

Vets also examined the remains of 16 squirrels that had been killed on the roads.

Detailed health checks included tests for common squirrel diseases, such as parasites and viruses, and also investigated the genetics of the animals.

“Some populations of red squirrels have been found to have high levels of diseases, and lack of genetic diversity could also affect their health, so we’re delighted to find that Arran’s red squirrels are fit and healthy.” Professor Anna Meredith

 

Squirrel photo by Alistair Rae

Animal welfare given a regional focus in Singapore

Animal welfare given a regional focus in Singapore

Last week Heather Bacon of the JMICAWE travelled to Singapore to attend the Asia for Animals Conference. Asia for Animals is a regional coalition of NGOs working on diverse animal welfare issues across the region http://asiaforanimals.com

The conference brings together animal welfare experts, campaigners and grassroots groups to share information and expertise on techniques to improve welfare ranging from effective utilisation of social media to resolving conflict at the human-wildlife interface. Heather delivered a lecture during the main session on ‘Animal welfare – moving beyond the Five Freedoms’ and ran a workshop session on optimising veterinary care’, focusing on issues relating to pain recognition and management. In addition workshops on the ‘dog meat trade’ and ‘dog population management’ provided opportunities to discuss some of the work done by the JMICAWE in these areas.

Building capacity and skills using clinical training materials and evidence based on research is a crucial part of the work done by JMICAWE and we look forward to the next meeting in 2015!

Talk on - A future for genetically engineered livestock

Commonwealth Veterinary Association and Karnataka Veterinary Council
in association with The University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies are organising a talk in India:

Date and time: 19th February 2014, 3pm

Venue: Karnataka Veterinary Council auditorium, Veterinary College campus, Hebbal, Bangalore

Title: "A future for genetically engineered livestock"

Presented by Professor Bruce Whitelaw - Head of Division of Developmental Biology at the Roslin Institute and Professor of Animal Biotechnology

Professor Whitelaw’s research focus throughout his career has been the development and application of gene expression systems in transgenic animals.

Having pioneered the use of lentivirus vectors for transgene delivery, he is currently establishing robust methodology for genome editing in livestock and seeks to apply this technology in the field of animal biotechnology. Specifically, he aims to exploit this knowledge to develop innovative biotechnological solutions to combat infectious disease in animals, evaluate new treatments of human disease through transgenic animal models, and establish efficient protein production systems in animals.

He is the current Editor-in-Chief of ‘Transgenic Research’ and a past member of the OIE Ad hoc Group on Biotechnology.

The Roslin Institute is a UK National Institute of Bioscience (NIB) and is part of the University of Edinburgh’s, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. The Roslin Institute undertakes top-class basic and translational science to tackle some of the most pressing issues in animal health and welfare, their implications for human health and for the role of animals in the food chain. The Institute won international fame in 1996, when Professor Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and their colleagues created ‘Dolly the Sheep’, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.

For more information contact: Pankaj Muthe - pankaj.muthe@ed.ac.uk

JMICAWE awarded Dogs Trust Canine Welfare Grant

The JMICAWE team here at the R(D)SVS received welcome news over the festive period  when they discovered that their application for a Dogs Trust Canine Welfare Research Grant had been successful.

The research proposal entitled ‘Developing and validating a robust canine welfare audit system for use in Trap Neuter Return (TNR) programmes,’ aims to develop an effective framework to evaluate the welfare of individual dogs through trap-neuter-return programmes.

Trap-neuter-return (TNR) of free-ranging domestic dogs is an important tool in preventing conservation problems such as infectious disease transfer to wildlife populations and hybridisation with endangered wild canidae. Additionally TNR is recommended by the OIE as a tool to combat problems relating to dog overpopulation such as zoonotic disease e.g. rabies, shelter overpopulation, and dog bite attacks on humans

Veterinarian Heather Bacon of the JMICAWE, who is leading the project said

“Whilst well-planned TNR programmes are a useful tool in addressing these issues, it is important to recognise that welfare of the individual dog may be compromised by a population management approach. This project seeks to develop a framework by which we can objectively assess the impact of TNR population management programmes on the welfare of the individual dogs experiencing TNR.”

The Dogs Trust is supported by our Head of School Prof David Argyle, who acts as a trustee, and collaborative projects with the Dogs Trust including both the Canine Welfare Grant research project and Veterinary training initiatives in Sarejevo, Bosnia, have been supported by Professor Natalie Waran, Director of the Centre, and Hayley Walters RVN of the JMICAWE.

 

 JMICAWE Veterinary welfare and outreach manager Heather Bacon training Chinese students in appropriate neutering, anaesthesia and analgesia techniques.

 

JMICAWE Animal welfare and Anaesthesia Veterinary nurse Hayley Walters (centre), training Bosnian vets as part of a collaborative Dogs Trust training programme

 

Excellent article from Edinburgh's animal welfare specialist Cathy Dwyer

Better care for pregnant animals can have a positive and lifelong effect on their offspring, says Cathy Dwyer

WE KNOW that the love and support of parents, especially in our early years, is critical to human development. Not only does a parent provide the food, shelter and comfort we need, they also help us shape our thoughts, opinions and cultural references.

For many domestic and farmed animals, the reality is quite different. They are often separated from their mothers at an early age. Scientists, including a team at Scotland’s Rural College, are trying to assess how that affects the offspring – and we are finding that good welfare begins in the womb.

Read the full story by clicking on this article.

Luke Gamble gives presentation at The Dick Vet on 17 January 2014.

The Dick Vet - LT2 @ 4pm

Title: "The role of the WVS in improving animal welfare"
 

Luke Gamble graduated from Bristol University in 1999 as a vet and then went on to Cambridge to specialise in large animal medicine and surgery. Although primarily based in his New Forest practice, Pilgrims, his voluntary  work with the Worldwide Veterinary Service charity 'which he founded in 2003' takes him much further afield and was the subject of two TV series on Sky 1. He also runs an emergency service for animals in Dorset and a pet travel company.

Open to staff and students.

PRESTIGIOUS ANIMAL WELFARE AWARD GOES TO UK VETERINARY ORGANISATION

Each year, the Trustee’s of the respected international grant making charity the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust, recognise through its top Award individuals or organisations for their outstanding services to animal welfare.  The Trustee’s are therefore pleased to announce, that the recipient of the prestigious “Jeanne Marchig Animal Welfare Award 2013” is Luke Gamble MRCVS, the Founder and CEO of the Worldwide Veterinary Service, based in the UK. 

Luke Gamble established the Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) in 2003 to alleviate animal suffering and improve the moral perception of animals worldwide by co-ordinating teams of veterinary volunteers to assist the work of animal welfare organisations; supplying medicines, equipment and advice where they are most needed; and providing sustainable input, building long term relationships and establishing education programmes for the benefit of local animal and human populations. 

Since its inception, WVS has sent many hundreds of volunteer ‘veterinary teams’ to almost every continent of the world, including when required ‘Emergency Response Teams’ to help the needy ‘front line’ animal welfare and protection organisations alleviate the cruelty and suffering inflicted on animals in their areas and thus enable them to cope better with the demands placed upon them.  WVS has also sent to these and other organisations each year, hundreds of thousands of pounds of free veterinary medicines, equipment and materials which it had sourced from supportive veterinary companies. 

Luke Gamble through WVS, established an International Training Centre (ITC) in India, which provides a platform for both vets in India and worldwide to learn best practice techniques in areas such as humane stray animal population control and vaccination programmes.  In addition, this year he spearheaded a new initiative in India entitled ‘Mission Rabies’ which aims to undertake mass anti-rabies vaccination programmes in ten ‘hotspots’ whilst at the same time, running surgical training courses for local vets. The initial goal of this project was to vaccinate 50,000 dogs against rabies in one month.  However, instead with a team of Indian and international vets, local charity workers and volunteers, incredibly over 61,000 dogs were vaccinated in just 28 days.

In announcing the 2013 winner of the Award, the Chairman of the Trustees, Les Ward commented:
“As in previous years, the Trustees of the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust received a large number of nominations for the Award from all over the world.  With so many worthy candidates, the decision was not easy.  Nevertheless, in the end the Trustees were unanimous that the “Jeanne Marchig Animal Welfare Award 2013” should be made to Luke Gamble, the Founder and CEO of the Worldwide Veterinary Service in recognition of his outstanding and tireless practical work over many years in the international field of animal welfare and protection.  Under his voluntary direction, WVS has become one of the most effective international animal welfare and protection organisations.  Through providing much needed support to other organisations throughout the world, WVS is making a huge difference in the fight to help, protect and alleviate the suffering of animals.  Both Luke and WVS are worthy recipients of this Award”.

In receiving the “Jeanne Marchig Animal Welfare Award 2013”, Luke Gamble said:

“It is a huge honour to receive this award and I would like to thank the Trustees very much. The Marchig Trust has long been a source of inspiration to charities and individuals involved in animal welfare around the world, and for WVS to be recognised in this way is a huge lift to both me and the whole team. The pledge is to now direct this fantastic award towards making a difference where it counts – on the front line of animal welfare, championing the united ideals of both WVS and The Marchig Trust.”

 

International Veterinary Education meeting held in Thailand

Staff at the JMICAWE have just returned from a successful visit to the Kasetsart University in Thailand, where they delivered a workshop on integrating animal welfare and problem-based learning into the veterinary curriculum. Delegates from the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia as well as from Veterinary schools across Thailand, and also the WSPA, attended the workshop.

 

The workshop covered essential aspects of international veterinary training including critical thinking skills, problems-solving approaches and providing education for different leaning styles utilising the theme of animal welfare to demonstrate how best to introduce new subjects into exiting teaching.

 

The workshop also challenged existing paradigms in veterinary education and discussed the importance of animal welfare in practice, exemplified by the use of non-animal models and manikins into the curriculum, something which has been championed by Professor Apinam, the Dean of Kasetsart Veterinary School, and developer of rubber latex alternatives to animals.

 

Heather Bacon of the JMICAWE said ” We are delighted with the success of the workshop and with the strong focus on utilising alternatives to animals in veterinary teaching that we found at Kasetsart. Through our collaborative activities, Professor Apinam in Thailand has already sent some of his models to our colleagues in veterinary schools in China, and we at the JMICAWE hope to continue to support these collaborations across Asia”.

 

 

 

Congratulations to our MSc Animal Behaviour & Welfare graduates

Congratulations to our MSc Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare students of 2012-13 who graduated recently. 

 

It was a fantastic ceremony in the amazing McEwan Hall, with everyone enjoying wearing their gowns, being presented with their certificates and even singing along with the Graduation Choir! 

 

Following post ceremony celebrations with numerous photos being taken and many hugs being given from proud families and friends (and equally proud staff members) - we all headed off to the beautiful Playfair Library for a Graduation Lunch. 

 

Well done to everyone.

 

Dr Susan Jarvis

Programme Director

 

MSc AABAW

 

'Farmed Salmon – Scotland’s largest agricultural export. But what about their welfare?'

Prof Jimmy Turnbull gave an excellent seminar here at the Vet School recently.   His talk was entitled 'Farmed Salmon – Scotland’s largest agricultural export.  But what about their welfare?'.   Jimmy gave us an overview of the Salmon Industry within Scotland including the production and management systems used, the training of staff in animal welfare, environmental and predation issues and welfare accreditation schemes within the industry. 

He then moved on to discuss many of the welfare issues that are of concern within the industry such as the effects of repeated handling, conspecific aggression, crowding, feeding methods and feed restriction, as well as issues related to disease and at the time of slaughter.  He presented scientific findings in relation to these welfare issues such as whether salmon show preference for shade, and the finding that crowding and feed restriction can lead to increased conspecific aggression.  We also talked about the importance of temperature gradients within the environment in enabling fish to cope better with disease challenges.

Although in animal welfare research, animal based measures are normally recorded at the individual level, we spent quite a bit of time discussing the difficulties of this approach in fish, and that in fish it is more practical to record welfare outcomes at the population level. 

Overall there are lots of challenges facing us in terms of fish welfare – how do we assess preference in fish?, can we measure fish welfare at the individual level?, can we develop robust fish welfare assessment tools?  Lots of food for thought.

The seminar attracted many undergraduate vet students, our MSc students, staff and even those from the Scottish Government.

Many thanks to Jimmy for a stimulating presentation

 

 

 

 

18th CVA Asian Regional Meeting and UoE Conference - Feb.2014

18th CVA Asian Regional Meeting and Conference ,Bangalore India.

The Commonwealth Veterinary Association (CVA) in association with The University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, will be hosting the 18th CVA Asian Regional Meeting and Conference on 20 – 24 February 2014, in the NIANP Auditorium, Adugodi, Bangalore, India.

Both Professor Nat Waran and Heather Bacon from the JMICAWE will be presenting at the conference, where a variety of speakers will be covering topics on “Advances in Veterinary Research: Impact and Opportunities”.

 

Click here for draft programme - http://commonwealthvetassoc.org/

4th China Veterinary Conference Champions Animal Welfare

4^th China Veterinary Conference Champions Animal Welfare

 Last week the JMICAWE team headed for China once more to support the Animal Welfare session a t the 4th China Veterinary Conference. Accompanied by international colleagues, we shared a range of practical and research experiences relating to both the development of animal welfare in veterinary education and practice and, the influence of evidence-based research on livestock husbandry, transport and food safety, an issue that is currently of enormous importance in China. The conference was supported by the Animals Asia Foundation and WSPA, and attended by colleagues from the SRUC, the World Veterinary Association, the Federation of Vets of Europe, and the OIE.

 By linking Animal Welfare to its practical benefits, such as improved health, improved productivity,  improved food safety and improved research and education outcomes, even those with little interest in the subject may be inspired to develop better practices that benefit animals around China. But that is not to say that there is no interest in developing better practises simply for the sake of the animals – the Chinese Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) has recently been working with the Ministry of Education to integrate Animal Welfare into the National Veterinary Exam – making it a core subject for all veterinarians in China.

 Over the next year the JMICAWE will be working with the CVMA to develop successful teaching practises and integrate animal welfare throughout the Chinese Veterinary curriculum.

 

 

 

Animal Welfare reaches wider audience at Edinburgh University

Edinburgh University Student Zoological Society (EUSZS) monthly presentations

Heather Bacon and Hayley Walters from the JMICAWE have been working with the Edinburgh University Student Zoological Society to spread the word of the JMICAWE and its partners in improving animal welfare around the world.

Last month Hayley presented on Animal Welfare issues in China, highlighting the trade and farming of endangered wildlife, particularly Asiatic black or ‘moon’ bears, caged for years to provide bile for use in Traditional Medicine.

This week (6/11/2013) Heather will present on the range of welfare issues faced by zoos around the world, highlighting the limitations that zoo animals may face in terms of their welfare but also discussing practical solutions that may be implemented to improve zoo animal welfare.

Presentations take place as part of the programme organised by the Edinburgh Zoological Society on Wednesday Evenings at 7pm at lecture theatre 270, Old College, University of Edinburgh.

More information on the EUSZS, which is a  brand new society for all those students and non-students of Edinburgh with a passion for animals, can be found at http://www.zoosoc.com or email at edzoosoc@gmail.com.

 

 

Veterinary Technician training in Bosnia

Our welfare veterinary nurse, Hayley Walters, has just returned from a veterinary technician training neutering workshop in Sarajevo Veterinary Faculty in Bosnia. This is the third time Dogs Trust UK have ‘borrowed’ Hayley to assist in their Dogs Trust BH neutering training workshops but it is the first one she has been involved in that was specifically aimed at vet techs.

Dogs Trust have now completed their sixth week long neutering workshops aimed at up-skilling local Bosnian vets in anaesthesia, analgesia and surgical sterilisation  and they are now well underway to neutering and rabies vaccinating some of the 13,000 dogs living on the streets of Sarajevo.

The aim was to up-skill local vet techs to assist those vets who have already completed the Dogs Trust neutering workshop and are now taking part in the mass sterilisation programme. To date over 3,000 dogs have been neutered and returned to the streets but the need for well-trained vet techs became obvious early into the vet training programmes.

Hayley’s role was to teach the delegates the principles of anaesthesia, analgesia, preparation and care of the surgical patient, welfare, care of the hospitalised patient, and care of surgical equipment. It was a very busy week and Hayley was the only international member on the team.

Videos of how to intubate a dog and how to place an intravenous catheter and lectures in all of the most important aspects of surgery were given prior to any practical work taking place. The vet techs then practised intravenous catheter placement skills on a mock vein board which meant that they had their skills perfected before it came to actually doing it on the street dogs that needed to be neutered, and therefore no dogs suffered in the name of training.

“The vet tech delegates were fabulous and very keen to learn and improve their skills in the placing IV catheters, intubation, giving intra-muscular injections, surgical preparation and monitoring anaesthesia,” said Hayley.

She also added, “At JMICAWE we believe that neutering projects must never be viewed as a numbers game. Each of these dogs is a sentient being, with the ability to suffer if anaesthesia is inadequately practiced and welfare is negatively affected by poor management and a lack of knowledge or experience. Whilst population management is hugely important, it is vital that neutering projects focus on the individual’s welfare, and not just the removal of its reproductive organs”.