Breaking News: MSc Commonwealth Scholarships 2019

BREAKING NEWS: Our Online Masters Degree International Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law has been selected to be eligible for Commonwealth Scholarships for 2019.

Do you want to study at a top UK university and stay in your home country – able to work and have family commitments and study at masters level? If so, the University of Edinburgh’s online masters degrees allow you to do this.

International Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law is an online masters degree with the aim to provide knowledge and a critical understanding of animal welfare science, with a focus on the international issues arising from animal use in all its forms.

For a September 2019 start, applicants from the following countries have the possibility to apply for Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarships covering all university fees for three years.

The eligible countries are: Bangladesh; Cameroon; Ghana; India; Kenya; Lesotho; Malawi; Mozambique; Nigeria; Pakistan; Rwanda; Sierra Leone; Sri Lanka; Eswatini; Tanzania; The Gambia; Uganda: Zambia.

In order to be eligible you MUST apply by the 15^th of March 2019. Please apply here: 

http://edin.ac/2R7jUYQ

You MUST also get an English Language certificate as soon as possible –IELTS or TOEFL.

We cannot guarantee the awarding of the scholarship as they are by competition and decided by the Commonwealth Scholarship committee. 

For further information, please email IAWEL@ed.ac.uk

 

Lekking capercaillies - Director Cathy Dwyer on BBC Sounds

Cathy took part in a phone interview with John Beattie on his BBC Sounds programme last week, discussing aggressive behaviour by a lekking capercaillie on Glen Tanar Estate, Aberdeenshire.  The interview provides an interesting insight into such lekking behaviours amongst Scotland's wild animal species.

The piece starts 48:15 minutes into the programme.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000210j

Introducing Roxy Woodrow RVN to the JMICAWE Team

Roxy has joined JMICAWE on a 6-month contract, working with Heather Bacon & Louise Connelly to develop education resources in dog population management.

Roxanne moved to Edinburgh in 2007 to study Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh after spending her childhood abroad, mostly in the Middle East and Asia. After earning her Honours Bachelor's degree, she continued her studies in Veterinary Nursing at the College of Animal Welfare. Roxanne qualified as a Veterinary Nurse in 2015 and began her career working at the University of Edinburgh’s Hospital for Small Animals, working as a surgical veterinary nurse within the hospital and then progressing to specialist orthopaedic nurse. The teaching referral hospital allowed her to fulfil her interests in both referral level veterinary nursing as well as teaching the veterinary students and trainee veterinary nurses.

Since July 2018, Roxanne has spent her time volunteering in Sri Lanka and India with two animal welfare charities with a focus on street dog population control and rabies immunisation.

Yesterday was our team project review day, followed by our post-Christmas office party - quite the first day for Roxy!  We welcome her to the team and look forward to working with her over the next six months.

Introducing Kirstin McIlvaney to the JMICAWE team

Today was Kirstin's first official day with JMICAWE, where she will work alongside Director Tamsin Coombs as Co-Ordinator on the On Campus Applied Animal Behaviour & Welfare MSc.

By way of an introduction, here is Kirstin in her own words:-

During a gap year spent working as an international show jumping groom I developed a keen interest in equine behaviour and modern training methods. This led me to complete a Masters in Zoology at the University of Glasgow which further widened my interest into the behaviour and welfare of other of domesticated species. I joined the Animal Behaviour and Welfare team at SRUC as a research assistant shortly after graduating, where I spent 14 years, initially working with Prof. Cathy Dwyer on a transgenerational study of maternal behaviour and neonatal development in sheep. This study required training Scottish Blackface sheep to stand still for regular ultrasound scan measurements to be made, which tested all of my experience working with flighty prey species as well as most of my patience!   

I worked with a huge variety of species during my time at SRUC as well as the animal production systems in which they are kept. I provided technical assistance and experimental management on many projects including the development of welfare indicators, out wintering beef cattle, factors influencing pig aggression and investigating the role of maternal care on positive welfare.

With a particular interest in non-invasive means of data collection (such as the use of sensors to monitor welfare) my attention has followed the role new technologies can bring and how we manage data collected from them, which focussed me on improving the efficiency of data collection as well as promoting high standards of data management at SRUC.

I have been involved in supporting students with their own research projects for many years and look forward to sharing my wide range of experience and my enthusiasm for high standards of practical research practices in my new role as MSc Co-ordinator.

A warm welcome to Kirstin, we all look forward to working with you.

Happy New Year for 2019

Happy New Year for 2019

As 2019 begins we would like to thank all our collaborators, colleagues, friends, and supporters for their help, enthusiasm and dedication to making the world a better place for animals, and for the people who depend on them, over the past year.

2018 was a busy year for the JMICAWE team – we welcomed two new members of staff to the team: Dr Fiona Lang joined us for a year to work with the team on a project funded by Animal Welfare Foundation to determine the priority animal welfare issues for different species in the UK; and Dr Louise Connelly has recently joined the team for two years to develop our digital learning materials. Part of Louise’s role will be to help develop resources for, and promote, our Dog Welfare Assessment App which we launched in May. We are also delighted with the recognition of the dedication and hard work of one of our veterinary nurses, Hayley Walters, who received an MBE from the Prince of Wales in April for services to animal welfare.

Over the last 12 months we have delivered teaching in animal behaviour, welfare and ethics to our undergraduate students throughout the year; delivered a short course on animal welfare to final year students in May; and supported the 2^nd student-led Veterinary Ethics Conference in September. We have also taught more than 220 MSc students on our 3 Masters programmes, either on the campus in Edinburgh or worldwide through our online MSc programmes. Internationally we have been involved in the delivery of teaching, training and workshops on animal welfare, animal behaviour and veterinary clinical skills in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam, Japan and India. We also continue to promote the vital role of veterinary nurses in animal welfare and are working with colleagues in India and Sri Lanka to develop curricula and resources to support this.

We have been working closely with a number of different organisations, nationally and internationally, in developing animal welfare activities and have been part of the WSAVA team that developed international guidelines for animal welfare. We were also very pleased to be able to support the International Veterinary Students Association in their animal welfare conference in Munich; UFAW and City University in the Animal Welfare Beyond Borders conference in Hong Kong; and ICCAW for the Farm Animal Welfare conference in Beijing.  

We look forward to a similarly productive year in 2019, and wish you all a very happy and healthy year in all your activities to improve animal welfare.   

Update from vet nurses in Kerala

JMICAWE's vet nurse Jess Davies travelled with RVN Roxy Woodrow to visit Kerala Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences University to see how the veterinary nursing students were doing and catch up on the progress with the implementation of the new eleven month veterinary nursing course.

Whilst there they met the new Vice Chancellor of KVASU who was encouraged to hear about the rise of veterinary nursing in Kerala State with the beginning of the new course and agreed to do all he could to assist in its development.

Over the course of three days, Jess and Roxy spent time with veterinary nursing students in the clinic teaching them practical techniques, giving impromptu teaching sessions on bandaging, anaesthesia monitoring and the importance of asepsis. They also spent some time with the veterinary lecturers who are responsible for the ongoing teaching of these students to find out what materials we could provide that could help their teaching.

On their last day, Jess and Roxy visited a nearby ABC clinic. There, they were fortunate to be met by Smt. Beena Murali who is the deputy mayor for Thrissur district.  She wanted to meet the visiting veterinary nurses from University of Edinburgh and look around the clinic that does so much to improve the welfare of the street dog population in the area. The promotion of veterinary nursing in India was further boosted by a film crew following the deputy mayor to record a piece for that evening’s news for which Jess and Roxy we interviewed along with a journalist from The Times of India who was to write a piece about the Deputy Mayor's visit.

This was a great opportunity to promote the fact that veterinary nursing is a profession that is vital to the welfare of all animals along with the fantastic work that the wonderful team at the ABC clinic performs.

First international behavioural husbandry workshop for zookeepers hosted in Agra

First international behavioural husbandry workshop for zookeepers hosted in Agra

After successfully completing the small animal training workshop in Goa, JMICAWE’s Heather Bacon travelled to Agra in the North of India to participate in India’s first international behavioural husbandry workshop for zookeepers.

Focussed primarily on bear species and co-organised by:- the Bear Care Group, an International charity committed to improving the lives of captive bears; and Wildlife SOS, a Indian NGO responsible for eliminating the dancing bear trade in India and rescuing over 500 bears; the workshop attracted zookeepers, veterinary surgeons and academics working with a range of species from across India.

Heather spoke at the workshop on behavioural management, geriatric care and veterinary care of zoo animals, and also ran an interactive session on behaviour and emotion in zoo animals.

The workshop ended with a practical enrichment and training day at the WSOS bear rescue facility. 

Feedback from the workshop was extremely positive, with representatives from the Indian National  Zoo Authority expressing an interest in developing a hub of excellence in zoo science and welfare.

Vet training in Goa a success

Vet training in Goa a success

Heather and Jess of JMICAWE made their last trip of this year to India where they met up with ex-University of Edinburgh Veterinary nurse Roxanne Woodrow to deliver a two-day workshop on animal welfare, behaviour, and clinical skills to 25 vets from across India.

These vets, who work in private practice as part of the Aniheal group, were keen to further develop their small animal skills as the Indian veterinary curriculum focuses primarily on livestock species.

The workshop covered topics such as behavioural assessment, low-stress handling techniques and a problem-solving approach to triage and trauma. Delegates also participated in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) to evaluate their new skills using non-animal models and manikins.

Heather said “This workshop has been very successful with demonstrable improvements in the knowledge and skills of participants as the workshop progressed. We look forward to developing our relationship with the Aniheal group further”

JMICAWE welcomes Dr Louise Connelly to the team

Hello, I’m Louise Connelly and I’m delighted to be seconded the Jeanne Marchig team as their Senior E-Learning Developer, for two years.  I am very much looking forward to working with such an enthusiastic and compassionate team who promote animal welfare and education.

 Let me tell you a little about who I am and what I will be doing with the Marchig Centre. I have had a varied background, with a career in marketing, IT, and digital education, and a PhD in religion and media. At the University of Edinburgh, I have been working in digital education for over six years and my research focuses on students’ use of social media. I am also Co-convenor of the Human Ethical Review Committee (HERC) at The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.

My main role in the Marchig team is to update the website, create education resources, and develop apps. I’m also excited to be involved with research, such as the dog welfare assessment project. I’m sure there will be lots of opportunities to work with others and even meet a few animals!

I love all animals and some might call me a ‘crazy cat lady’ – which I can’t deny, as I love cats. I have a cat who is a spritely 13 years old and she is the face of the The Truth About Cats and Dogs free online course. I’m sure I will manage to include a few more videos and pictures of cats on the website and in the learning resources. In the meantime, here is a photo of my cat sound asleep.

Research profile: https://edin.ac/2rm2ZHc

Bear Care Group in India

Our JMICAWE vet Heather Bacon is a Director of Bear Care Group who are in Agra, India this week attending an international bear conference hosted by Wildlife SOS Agra Bear Rescue Centre.  The welfare of bears and other wild animals in zoos, sanctuaries & rescue centres is being discussed by 80 delegates from 11 different countries.  The aim is to bring together global experts to share knowledge on bear care, wildlife conservation and human/wildlife conflict mitigation.

Graduation Day for MSc students

Last week saw the latest cohorts graduate from the online MSc International Animal Welfare, Ethics & Law.  "A fantastic time was had", writes Dr Fritha Langford, Programme Director, "and it was great to meet our graduates and their families in Edinburgh. We were also thinking of all our graduates who were not able to come to Edinburgh for the ceremony.

Well done all of you, many congratulations - you have all worked so hard and deserve every success in the future."

Small Animal Veterinary Training in Goa, India

Heather Bacon & Jess Davies are joined in Goa this week by Roxy Woodrow RVN, who previously helped the team out with workshops in Vietnam earlier this year.  

This time, they are running a pilot project at PetZone with AniHeal Veterinary Group, training a group of 30 small animal vets and vet nurses.  

The two day workshop will equip delegates with the basic skills needed to handle, diagnose and treat dog and cat patients in a clinical setting.  It is hoped to roll this pilot project out across India in the future.

       Roxy Woodrow

Zoo Academy highlights importance of animal welfare and legislation in Zoo UK zoos

Zoo Academy highlights importance of animal welfare and legislation in Zoo UK zoos

JMICAWE’s Heather Bacon recently visited Sparsholt College to participate in the launch of the new ‘Zoo Academy’ as well as to deliver animal welfare and ethics teaching to UK zookeepers enrolled on the Diploma in the management of zoo and aquarium animals (DMZAA).

As a DEFRA-appointed zoo inspector and the course organiser of the welfare and ethics teaching for the DMZAA, Heather was pleased to celebrate progress in education on animal welfare and legislative protection of zoo animals in the UK. The newly-founded Zoo Academy, headed by Andy Beer, will incorporate training of a range of zoo professionals including zookeepers and zoo inspectors in the legislative, welfare and ethical responsibilities of zoos.

Heather said “We’ve recently seen increased momentum in the recognition of the importance of animal welfare across the UK zoo community, and the development of the Sparsholt Zoo Academy brings that into focus by recognising the increasing specialisation and need for training of professionals across the zoo community.”

Photo L-R: top row: Tim Jackson - Sparsholt Principal, Heather Bacon - JMICAWE, Douglas Richardson - RZSS and independent zoo consultant, Andy Beer - RZSS and programme director of the DMZAA, others - zookeeper students on the DMZAA

Large Animals 3Rs Symposium

On 20th November, we look forward to welcoming c. 75 attendees and speakers to the University of Edinburgh's 3Rs awards for large animals studies, held at the Roslin Institute.

Following the success of the laboratory animals awards back in May, a poster competition will be held for application of 3Rs to studies using large animals models, with prizes per category for scientists and animal technicians/vet nurses/grooms who come up with an original, scientific or technological initiative that minimises animal suffering and improves the welfare of animals used in research, or has contributed to a reduction in the number of animals used; or has led to the development of an alternative, non-animal method.

We look forward to seeing successful candidates' work at the Symposium tomorrow, with a morning of talks and posters, all co-organised with Bioresearch and Veterinary Services.