Research on Sickness Behaviour Featured in Latest Issue of Progressive Dairyman
Katy Proudfoot and Julie Huzzey, alumni of UBC’s Animal Welfare Program, just published an article in Progressive Dairyman summarizing the Program’s research on understanding the relationship between dairy cattle behavior and health. Katy Proudfoot has recently been appointed as an Assistant Professor with the Department of Veterinary Medicine at The Ohio State University College of […]
Pair housing makes for smarter calves
Dairy calves are typically separated from their mothers and housed by themselves for the first 6 to 8 weeks of life. A new study, published by in PLoS One by researchers in UBC’s Animal Welfare Program, shows that calves raised individually have a harder time learning compared to calves socially housed with another calf. Calves […]
Fish euthanasia research featured in Nature
Today’s issue of Nature covers recent research by UBC’s Animal Welfare Program, highlighting more humane methods for the killing and anaesthesia of laboratory fish. To learn more see our previous post on this topic.
PhD graduate appointed as BC SPCA Chief Scientific Officer
Sara Dubois recently completed her PhD with UBC’s Animal Welfare Program and has now been appointed as the BC SPCA’s first Chief Scientific Officer. The BC SPCA is the first animal welfare organization in Canada to establish such a position.
Liv Baker: Translocation stress in Stephens’ kangaroo rats
Liv Baker’s PhD dissertation studied the effects of translocation on kangaroo rats, and how stressors during translocation can compromise the animals’ ability to cope.
Killing them softly – new research shows a better way for euthanizing laboratory fish
A new study just published on the open access journal PLoS ONE shows how practices in research laboratories can be made more animal friendly.
A little privacy please?
A new study has found that dairy cows seek privacy when giving birth. Cows are typically moved to a ‘maternity area’ when they due to calve, but until now there has been little information available about what this area should look like from the cow’s perspective. Researchers created a pen that allowed cows to choose […]
Graduate research explores emotional depth of calves
A study led by Heather Neave, the first to use a cognitive bias test to address the emotional response to pain in non-human species, found calves showed signs of pessimism after having their horns removed.
2013 Stratton Lecture in Animal Welfare
The 2013 Stratton Lecture in Animal Welfare was given October 29 by Chris Draper, Programs Manager, Captive Wildlife/Science, for London- based Born Free Foundation, http://www.bornfree.org.uk/. The subject of the talk was “Captivity, Conservation and the Welfare of Wild Animals”. The Stratton Lecture is an annual public talk hosted by the UBC Animal Welfare Program and […]
World Organisation for Animal Health developing global animal welfare standards
The Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health is developing global animal welfare standards based on 10 “General Principles for the welfare of animals in production systems”. David Fraser and Julie Huzzey of the UBC Animal Welfare Program led the writing of a major review paper giving the scientific background to the General Principles. The paper […]