Wildlife welfare in action, and next steps in animal welfare education in India

Wildlife welfare in action, and next steps in animal welfare education in India

JMICAWE Director, Prof Cathy Dwyer, has just returned from a packed 2 weeks in India, catching up with friends old and new, and exploring new opportunities for collaboration in animal welfare. 

Cathy was a guest of Dr Abdul Rahman at the Bangalore Veterinary College, which was hosting the 7^th Pan Commonwealth Veterinary Conference, now in its 52^nd year. Bangalore with also be the host city for the 54^th International Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE, the learned society for research in applied animal behaviour and welfare) in 2020, where Cathy and previous JMICAWE director, Prof Nat Waran, will be helping with the scientific organisation.

The College is also setting up its very own Animal Welfare Research Centre, so an entire day of the conference was devoted to animal behaviour and welfare, and discussions relating to the functioning of the Centre. JMICAWE will be helping with capacity building for staff and students to help make the Centre a success story for Indian animal welfare.

As part of the visit Cathy, along with colleagues JMICAWE honorary fellow Dr Mike Appleby, Massey University Professor Emeritus David Mellor and ISAE Senior Vice President, Dr Birte Nielsen, spent a day out at the Bhannergatta Bear Rescue Centre seeing the work done by Wildlife SOS in rehabilitating ex-dancing bears. This was a wonderful opportunity to see the work in practice and the fantastic approaches used to engage the communities that used to rely on exploitation of sloth bears for their livelihoods. These families are now working with the Centre to care for and develop enrichment for the bears. Despite their previous difficult life experiences, the bears are now able to spend their days out in the park, with great care paid to their diets, health and behavioural enrichments and to have the opportunity to spend the rest of their lives being bears. Cathy and colleagues were greatly moved by the kindness and care of the staff, and their wonderful approach to practical animal welfare.

Cathy ended her trip with a visit to Delhi, spending a day at the Lala Lajput Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (LUVAS) to discuss opportunities to support development of courses at the National Institute for Animal Welfare, particularly focusing initially on teaching animal welfare and related skills to para-vets. Finally she visited the Indira Gandhi National Open University, where JMICAWE and SRUC colleagues are contributing to the development of a post graduate diploma in animal welfare, hopefully launching later this year.   

  

Dick Vet Animal Behaviour Society Conference 2019

A guest blog from the Conference organisers, EG & IK, both undergraduate vet students:-

On the 23^rd February 2019, animal behaviour enthusiasts from both Glasgow and Edinburgh vet schools, gathered at Easter Bush Campus to attend the annual Dick Vet Animal Behaviour Conference.

With over 80 delegates in attendance, the Veterinary Teaching Building buzzed with excitement, in anticipation of a day jam-packed with animal behaviour! Throughout the day, a dazzling line up of speakers took to the stage to deliver 6 fascinating talks:

Alasdair Bunyan: Rehabilitation and Training in the Rescue Environment.

Jenna Richardson: Rabbit Behaviour: A hop, thump, and a grunt – what does it all mean?

Samantha Lindley: Something’s got to give: The impact of pain on the behaviour of the dog and cat.

Francoise Wemelsfelder: Qualitative Behaviour Assessment: Assessing animals’ emotional expressivity.

Kevin McPeake: Medications and pheromones in the treatment of canine and feline behaviour problems.

Eva Bertilsson: Cooperative Care with Voluntary Handling.

Having received much positive feedback from this year’s delegates, it is fair to say that the 2019 conference was a resounding success! And with delicious food and drink provided throughout the day, a raffle with some fantastic prizes, and a brownies and beverage reception to close, the crowds left content and satisfied at the end of the day, their mind’s brimming with new animal behaviour knowledge!

For making this fantastic day possible, the Dick Vet Animal Behaviour Society extend their sincerest thanks to their sponsors. The DVABS are incredibly grateful to the Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education; for their kind donation of raffle prizes; for providing some wonderful goodies for our delegate bags; and for their extremely generous financial contribution towards conference costs. Thank you, once again, JMICAWE, for helping us to help animals, through animal behaviour education!

JMICAWE deliver successful animal behaviour workshop at University of the Philippines, Los Banos

A successful animal behaviour workshop at University of Philippines, Los Banos

Last week JMICAWE Director, Cathy Dwyer, and SRUC colleagues, Fritha Langford and Marie Haskell, delivered a 2-day workshop at the College of Veterinary Medicine at University of Philippines, Los Banos (UPLB), focusing on the application of animal behaviour in animal welfare studies.

The workshop was attended by the Deans and representatives of nine other vet schools from across Philippines as well as students and faculty from UPLB. The workshop participants worked on different methods of animal behaviour measurement and testing, considered the different ways that animal behaviour is important in different aspects of animal lives, and had a great field trip out to the vet school’s farm to practice their new found behavioural observation skills on sheep and horses. Conducting a novel object test on a group of the Centre’s sheep really helped participants see the advantages and disadvantages of behavioural observation and behaviour testing.

This is a return trip for the JMICAWE team after a very successful workshop held in Manila last year, focusing on animal welfare education.  The enthusiasm and interest of the Philippine veterinary faculty in learning about animal behaviour and animal welfare was as much in evidence as our previous trip and there are now plans for UPLB faculty to disseminate the learning out to other vet schools that were not able to attend the workshop.

JMICAWE are delighted to be working with such an enthusiastic group of vets and students and are looking forward to future developments.    

Behavioural observation practical class

3 day Workshop with PKBSI & Wild Welfare in Indonesia on zoo animal health & welfare

After a successful seminar at the University of Bogor, Java last week,  Heather and Jess travelled to Lampung in Sumatra to meet Wild Welfare’s Dave Morgan and Margaret Whittaker. Together they collaborated with the Indonesian zoo association PKBSI to hold a 3 day workshop on zoo animal health and welfare. Attended by around 40 participants from zoos across Indonesia, the workshop highlighted the importance of good animal welfare in achieving good animal health, focussing on behavioural management and preventative care. The workshop also highlighted the work of Wild Welfare and PKBSI in developing a welfare certification scheme for zoos in Indonesia, and offered participants practical guidance on achieving improved welfare for zoo animals.

 Visual physical examination

 Checking temporal abscess

“Animal welfare is important in all contexts” said Heather, “Whilst we all have differing ethical viewpoints on the role of zoos in society, the reality is that millions of animals are involved in the global wildlife trade for pets, medicines, luxury goods, and even for zoological exhibition. By working with zoos, we can highlight some of the issues within the community, and provide support to assist zoos that are involved in conservation of endemic species, and rehabilitation of animals from trade.”

This is the second collaborative workshop between Wild Welfare, PKBSI and the JMICAWE, and we hope to continue to support progress in zoo animal welfare.

JMICAWE Director at American Association for the Advancement of Science

Attending the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington DC

JMICAWE Director Cathy Dwyer recently presented at the largest science meeting in the world, the 2019 AAAS, in Washington DC. Cathy was part of a delegation funded by the EU to present some of the work and approaches being used in EU projects, particularly the concept of a multi-actors approach to achieving science impact

These projects involve scientists, policy makers, end-users and other stake-holders throughout the world with the aim of sharing knowledge and experience, and ensuring a greater uptake of scientific outcomes than can sometimes be the case.

Cathy shared the platform with Jean-Marc Gautier, a researcher and extension specialist from Institut de l’elevage (IDELE) in France and the coordinator of an EU funded project ‘SheepNet’, and Huw Davies, a sheep farmer and former member of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) from Wales. A good discussion around the difficulties of achieving human behaviour change and uptake of innovations then followed the presentations.

A highlight of the visit was also attending a talk by US neuro-endocrinologist, Robert Sapolsky, from Stanford University who gave a wonderful seminar on the complexities for human behaviour. Cathy says:

‘it was a great treat to be able to hear Professor Sapolsky describing the underlying neurobiology affecting stress and human behaviour, his passion and ability to make a complex story clear and understandable were inspiring. Since then I have been pondering on the linkages to animal welfare, and how we might be able to bring about behavioural changes to improve welfare.’

Next stop, Vietnam..

After a successful week in Indonesia, Jess & Heather continue to Hanoi today, where they will be spending a week in one of Vietnam's National Parks, Cuc Phuong, to run clinical training with Save Vietnam's Wildlife, including work at a pangolin rehabilitation centre.

JMICAWE Director plus colleagues head to The Philippines

JMICAWE Director Prof Cathy Dwyer and her colleagues Dr Fritha Langford (University of Edinburgh) & Prof Marie Haskell (SRUC) will present a 2-day workshop on “Using Animal Behaviour To Improve Animal Welfare” at University of the Philippines' Los Banos (UPLB) Campus next week.

It is a return visit for Cathy who visited the Vet School with Jess Davies in 2018.  Our thanks to Dean Torres (centre of group below) for co-ordinating this visit.

Animal behaviour & welfare training at the University of Bogor

Animal behaviour and welfare training at the University of Bogor

This week Heather and Jess are in Indonesia delivering a 1-day seminar on Clinical animal behaviour, handling and pain management at The University of Bogor Vet school. The seminar, coordinated by Dr Ligaya at Bogor, was attended by 80 veterinary and paraveterinary students and live-streamed to an additional 50 veterinary practitioners.

Dr Ligaya said “Animal welfare and behaviour is of increasing importance to vets in Indonesia, and this subject is very important for improving animal welfare in the clinical environment.”

The JMICAWE hopes to build on this successful seminar to partner with the University of Bogor on further developing their veterinary curriculum in the areas of animal behaviour, welfare and veterinary ethics.

Winter Newsletter 2019

Read our latest Newsletter here:-

https://edin.ac/2DeYJyB

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.