Emotional rats
What emotions do rats experience and how can we know? A newly published article by Animal Welfare Program members Joanna Makowska and Dan Weary reviews evidence that rats experience a range of positive and negative emotion, and that these states can be assessed scientifically using a range of techniques. The authors conclude that existing standards […]
Early separation of cow and calf
Newly published in the Journal of Dairy Science is an article by Beth Ventura and colleagues with UBC’s Animal Welfare Program describing attitudes toward the common practice of separating the dairy cow and calf and birth. Results suggest that this practice is a highly contentious. Opponents of early separation contended that it is emotionally stressful […]
Nature profiles Program’s research on improved euthanasia methods for lab animals
An article in this week’s edition of the journal Nature profiles the contributions of graduate students Joanna Makowska and Devina Wong in developing more humane methods of euthanizing lab animals
Two new studies on attitudes toward the use of genetically-engineered animals in science
Post-doctoral scholar, Elisabeth Ormandy, and colleagues in the Animal Welfare Program and at the Canadian Council on Animal Care recently published two articles on the use of genetically-engineered animals in research. The first article describes public attitudes towards animal research, and the effects of invasiveness, genetic engineering, and regulation. The second article described the views […]
David Fraser co-authors paper in Science
Prof. David Fraser is co-author of a paper on “Sustainable Intensification in Agriculture: Premises and Policies” in the journal Science, released today. A policy known as sustainable intensification could help meet the challenges of increasing demands for food from a growing global population. The goal of sustainable intensification is to increase food production from existing […]
Better methods for drying off dairy cows
Cows are healthiest when they are given some downtime between lactations. When human mothers stop breastfeeding, they typically do it gradually, but standard practice on many dairy farms is to dry off cows abruptly. In a new study just published in the Journal of Dairy Science, UBC Animal Welfare Program researchers compared methods and found […]
Plenary presentation on animal suffering
The Animal Welfare Program’s Dan Weary gave a plenary presentation at the 47th Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology. Dan’s presentation was entitled ‘A new science of animal suffering’. Click here to read more about the ideas presented.
Dan & Nina Win Award for Bovine Welfare
The Canadian Association of Bovine Veterinarians has recently announced Drs. von Keyserlingk and Weary will receive the 2013 Metacam 20 Bovine Welfare Award!
Ph.D. student Gosia Zobel wins prize for best presentation
Gosia Zobel, a PhD student in UBC’s Animal Welfare Program, took home the coveted award for best student presentation at the University of Guelph’s 6th Annual Animal Welfare Symposium. Gosia’s presentation discussed emerging health and welfare issues for dairy goats. Her energetic and simple presentation style earned the audience’s approval.
AWP research on lameness featured in Hoard’s Dairyman
Recent results from benchmarking research on cow lameness and hock injuries were featured in this article in the current issue of Hoard’s Dairyman. Hoard’s is one of the most influential magazines serving the dairy industry.