We would like to welcome Dr. Camila Cavalli as the newest Postdoctoral Researcher in the Animal Welfare Program! Camila recently earned her PhD in Psychology (2022) from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina and is working with Dr. Sasha Protopopova in the Human-Animal Interaction Lab. Learn about Camila’s interest in animal welfare below and see her publications on her ResearchGate profile.
How did you first get interested in animal welfare? How did these early experiences prepare you for your research today?
I have always loved dogs, and anybody who met me as a kid can attest that I used to carry a book about dogs everywhere and talk endlessly about them to whoever that would listen. I would watch Animal Hospital on Animal Planet all the time and tell everybody I wanted to be a veterinarian. However, as I grew, I realized I wasn’t as interested in the medical aspect of veterinary care, and by the time I went to college I had decided to major in Psychology. It was as an undergraduate student that I came across a Lab studying dog cognition and my mind was blown with the opportunity to combine my love for animals with my love for Psychology. I believe a deeper understanding of the way dogs communicate with humans is vital to improve our relationship with them and protect their welfare, and thus I decided to devote my career to the study of dog cognition. After I decided against being a veterinarian, I thought I wouldn’t be able to develop a career centered on animals, and I’m pleasantly surprised at the roundabout way in which I still ended up talking about dogs to whoever that would listen, but now as a Dr!
What will your upcoming research focus on? What led you to be interested in this topic?
My PhD focused on dogs that participate in Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI), which are commonly known as “therapy dogs” that visit people in places such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools and so on. Although these kinds of interventions have been found to improve human health, animal welfare could be a concern because this type of work can be challenging for dogs. During my PhD, I compared the sociocognitive abilities of therapy dogs and pet dogs, and now as a postdoc I want to further expand my research, finding more about the characteristics of successful therapy dogs and whether their motivation to participate in therapy sessions can be increased through training. Finally, giving dogs the option to choose whether to participate or not in therapy sessions is a novel approach that focuses on their welfare, and can provide further understanding about their motivation to participate.
Most of the research within the area of AAI is devoted to their effectiveness and positive impact in human outcomes, but studies focusing on the animals taking part of them are surprisingly scarce. I think this type of research is essential, not only in order to protect the welfare of the animals but because therapy dogs are a really interesting population of dogs. While many dog cognition studies have compared family dogs with dogs that have a limited experience interacting with humans, such as shelter or free ranging dogs, therapy dogs allow us to explore the opposite situation: What happens with the sociocognitive abilities of dogs that have an increase in their frequency and variety of interactions with humans?
What impact do you hope your research will have?
Discovering more about the characteristics of successful therapy dogs will be particularly beneficial for medical, education, or mental health providers that could apply them in the selection of dogs. Moreover, knowing whether training can be enough to make a dog become a good therapy dog regardless of their initial characteristics, would also be extremely useful and could be applied to create a national therapy dog training program.
Why did you choose to come to UBC?
The Animal Welfare Program is one of its kind and being part of it is an incredible opportunity for the development of my research and teaching career. I am really excited to collaborate in such an interdisciplinary program. Moreover, Dr. Protopopova’s research interests are closely aligned to mine, and I believe her guidance will be invaluable to grow my skills as a dog cognition researcher. Finally, as an international postdoctoral fellow, I am eager to spend time in Canada and get acquainted with the rich variety of cultures that comprise the country. Additionally, Vancouver is renowned as a great city to live in, with an exceptional mix of city life and beautiful nature which I am greatly looking forward to experiencing and exploring.
Where do you see opportunities for collaboration?
One of the best parts of research in animal cognition is how interdisciplinary it is in itself, drawing together academics coming from fields as diverse as Psychology, Anthrozoology, Biology, Veterinary, etc. I think collaborating with people from different fields is vital to get a holistic view of the subject and I’m excited to discuss my ideas with them. Moreover, the field of therapy dogs is closely related to industry groups, and I also believe it is an asset as well as a necessity to work in close contact with them in order to carry out better studies and explore matters that are relevant to them.
What do you find satisfying/interesting about research?
As I mentioned above, I have always been fascinated by animals in general, and dogs in particular. I love that research provides a systematic way to examine a given subject and generate novel and deeper knowledge about it. My motivation to study Psychology was a deep interest in understanding more about behavior, and I believe research is vital to tackle on such issues. Of course, besides my interest in the fundamental aspects of dog cognition research, there is also the importance of the applied part. In this case, I find it very rewarding that finding out more about dogs’ motivation to participate in AAI can help protect their welfare during these sometimes complex situations. Finally, I am not going to lie, what I enjoy the most is being able to play and cuddle with my test subjects after the tasks are finished.