Sophie Neveux, agr. Alumni Profile
Animal Welfare and Milk Quality Advisor at Agropur in Saint-Hubert, Quebec What brought you to the Animal Welfare Program?I had the opportunity to work on dairy farms prior to completing my B.Sc. and realized that dairy producers need the input from various professionals. It is a team effort. In addition, many of the improvements that […]
Individual differences in rat sensitivity to carbon dioxide
Post-Doctoral Researcher Dr. Lucia Amendola, PhD student Anna Ratuski, and Dr. Dan Weary have recently published an article in PloS One on the individual differences in rat sensitivity to CO2. While CO2 is commonly used for rodent euthanasia, this gas elicits negative emotions in rats, but the negative experience is different between individuals. Authors found […]
Dr. Nina von Keyserlingk elected as a new Director on the National Farmed Animal Health and Welfare (NFAHW) Council Board
Congratulations to Dr. Nina von Keyserlingk for being elected as a new Director on the National Farmed AnimalHealth and Welfare (NFAHW) Council Board! The NFAHW Council provides advice on topics of importance to animal agriculture to the FPT Regulatory ADMs ofAgriculture Committee and all other stakeholders. NFAHW Council is a national organization that brings togetherindustry, […]
Pessimistic individuals more vulnerable to depressive-like states after hot-iron disbudding
Disbudding dairy calves is a common but painful procedure to prevent horn growth. Even when controlling for the immediate, intra-operative pain, post-operative pain can last for days after the procedure. Anhedonia, the reduced ability to experience pleasure, is associated with low mood in humans. In the current study, UBC researchers report the first evidence of […]
Seminar: Use of therapy dogs as part of special education classrooms
Are you curious about therapy dogs as part of special education classrooms? Sasha Protopopova, NSERC/BC SPCA Industrial Research Chair in Animal Welfare, will be giving a free 3-hour seminar in coordination with the Applied Behavior Analysis Center’s ABACLive Cambridge Center Series on Thursday, October 1, 2020. With increasing parental demand and interest in adding therapy dogs […]
AWP awarded CFI John R. Evans Leaders Fund for Equipment and Infrastructure
Dr. Alexandra (Sasha) Protopopova, recently announced NSERC IRC Chair in Animal Welfare, has been awarded funding from the Government of Canada, through the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) invests in research infrastructure at institutions across Canada. Sasha will be establishing a laboratory for human-animal interaction and companion animal welfare. Congratulations to Sasha, […]
A history of social science research from UBC’s Animal Welfare Program
Since its inception, the Animal Welfare Program has used a range of tools from the social sciences to bring together experts (farmers, veterinarians, scientists, animal advocates) to identify new solutions to problems in animal industries. The graphic below highlights theses from our program from this area of research. Download as a PDF * https://awp.landfood.ubc.ca/publications/ (1) https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0090498 (2) https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0091066 […]
Animals, Climate Change and Global Health: Webinar series
Are you interested in the intersection of animals, climate change and global health? Animalsclimatehealth is offering a series of webinars that explore these topics in the time of COVID-19. Please see https://animalsclimatehealth.com/ for full details. The first session, entitled Animals, Pandemics and Global Health will be held September 18, 2020.
Increase pasture use: Steps to success
Use of pasture can provide many benefits for dairy farmers across the globe. See this article featuring research conducted by UBC’s Animal Welfare Program Alumna Dr. Anne-Marieke Smid: https://www.dairyglobal.net/Nutrition/Articles/2020/8/Increase-pasture-use-Steps-to-success-628733E/
Individual variability in response to social stress in dairy heifers
Congratulations to Emeline Nogues for publishing her first paper with the Animal Welfare Program, together with PhD candidate Benjamin Lecorps, in Animals! The paper, ‘Individual variability in response to social stress in dairy heifers’, examined whether it is better to engage or avoid social interactions when mixed with older cows. Mixing unfamiliar animals (or regrouping) […]