Atlantic Veterinary College
University of Prince Edward Island
550 University Ave,
Charlottetown, PEI
Canada
C1A 4P3
animalwelfare@upei.ca
tel: (902)628-4360
fax: (902)566-0958
To make a donation
Guest Speakers and Conferences
September 2007 Equine Welfare: In Practice
September 2006 Companion and Exotic Animal Welfare: In Practice
October 2005 Farm Animal Welfare: In Practice
On October 14 and 15, the AVC Humane Ethics Club hosted its inaugural annual symposium, “Farm Animal Welfare: In Practice.” The primary theme was on-farm welfare assessment, and Dr. Suzanne Millman from the Ontario Veterinary College spoke on this topic and led 20 people on a visit to a dairy farm. Dr. Kip Lemke of AVC spoke on anaesthesia and analgesia in farm animals, and Dr. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University provided the keynote address on humane handling and slaughter. Dr. Grandin spoke by videolink, which proved to be a very effective and economical format. The symposium was well-organized, and was attended by vet students, students from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, veterinarians, and some producers. While on the Island, Dr. Millman also gave an interview on CBC radio’s Maritime Noon programme about on-farm welfare assessment.
Sponsorship for the conference was provided by the SJDAWC (through the Student Project Fund), the Canadian Farm Animal Care Trust (CANFACT), the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada, and Vetoquinol. Congratulations to students Shawn Llewellyn, Tasha Kean, and Carrie Arnett for the success of the meeting. Plans are under way for the next “Animal Welfare: In Practice” conference, to be held September 22–23, 2006.
September 2005 Animal Abuse and Family Violence: Building a Community Response
The SJDAWC’s 2005 Invited Lecture in Animal Welfare was given by Marie Suthers-McCabe, DVM, Director of the Center for Animal Human Relationships at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, as part of the conference, “Animal Abuse and Family Violence: Building a Community Response.” The other speakers were Mary Zilney, MSW, RSW, of Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington County; Judee Onyskiw, RN, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Family Violence and Children’s Health, University of New Brunswick; and Alice Crook, DVM, SJDAWC. Topics included the link between animal abuse and family violence, setting up a Safe Pets Programme for pets of women leaving abusive homes, the effects on children of witnessing violence in the home, and building community partnerships to promote early and effective intervention. In addition, parallel sessions covered “Recognizing and addressing suspected animal abuse” (M Suthers-McCabe and A Crook), “Assessing and identifying risk, and developing appropriate intervention strategies (child welfare)” (M Zilney), and “Childhood exposure to abuse and abusive behaviour in adulthood” (J Onyskiw).
The conference was a great success, judging from the number and mix of participants, and the enthusiastic comments on the evaluations. There were over 80 registrants in all, from across Canada and the US, as well as from all four Atlantic provinces. Participants included veterinarians, vet students, social workers, child protection workers, probation officers, family violence workers, and humane society personnel. The conference was co-sponsored by the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre and the PEI Transition House Association, with support from the Community Mobilization Programme (federal) and the Premier's Action Committee on Family Violence Prevention (provincial).
October 2004 - Dr. Katherine Houpt
On October 30 2004, as part of our tenth anniversary celebration, Dr. Katherine A Houpt from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University gave our fourth annual Invited Lecture in Animal Welfare. She addressed the question "Are horses happy?" and reviewed the welfare concerns surrounding the different uses of horses in North America, from those used to produce estrogen for human medication, to racehorses, to horses prized for a particular appearance such as Arabians and Tennessee Walking Horses, to the horses kept by leisure use. During her visit, Dr. Houpt also gave a seminar on research done by her and her students on aspects of crib-biting; met with veterinary students and faculty; and gave an interview on CBC radio's Island Morning.
November 2003 - Dr. Joe Stookey
On November 1, Dr. Joe Stookey from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, gave the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre's 2003 Invited Lecture in Animal Welfare. The lecture generated a lively discussion and was the plenary lecture at the Atlantic Veterinary College's Fall Conference. Dr. Stookey examined the paradox that companion animals are castrated under anesthesia while farm animals receive no anesthetic or pain killers for the same procedure. He also examined the contradiction that painkillers are not commonly given for tail docking in any species even though the available data indicate that the procedure causes acute and sometimes chronic pain. He argued that it is largely indefensible to conduct routine surgical procedures in animals that are known to be painful without providing adequate pain relief, particularly when, in the case of dehorning, data do not support the popular view that horned beef animals produce better carcases. Dr. Stookey also noted that questions about the humane management of these procedures are not going to leave the veterinary profession or the livestock and companion animal industries. As an animal scientist who grew up on a farm and has worked on and managed farms in the past, he called for all groups to carefully examine the various issues and interests, and to be proactive in addressing ethical concerns.
During his visit to the College, Dr. Stookey also gave a seminar on recent research done by him and his graduate student, Derek Haley. A number of objective indices indicated that two-step weaning was much less stressful for beef calves that abrupt weaning. In addition, Dr. Stookey met with graduate students and faculty at the College, and gave an interview on CBC radio's Maritime Noon.
January 2003 - Dr. Suzanne Millman
On January 17 2003, the Animal Welfare Centre sponsored an afternoon focused on animal welfare for the annual convention of the Student Chapter of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association which was held at the Atlantic Veterinary College. The plenary lecture was given by Dr. Suzanne Millman, Assistant Professor and farm animal welfare researcher at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. The title of her lecture was Animal welfare as a 'public good': challenges and opportunities for the veterinary profession. The event was recorded on video, available in the UPEI library.
During her visit Dr. Millman also gave a lunchtime talk for PEI producers entitled Opportunities to use animal welfare to the advantage of PEI producers. The talk was also recorded. Dr. Millman was subsequently invited back to PEI to give two presentations at the annual meeting of PEI's beef producers on February 21-22 2003.
November 2002 - Conference: Unowned Companion Animals
On November 18, 2002, we held our second annual guest lecture in animal welfare, as part of a symposium about the relinquishment of companion animals to shelters. The guest lecturer was Nadine Gourkow MSc, Animal Welfare Research Manager of the British Columbia SPCA. Ms Gourkow is well-known for her work on enriching the psychological well-being of cats in shelters, and she has produced an excellent video and accompanying workbook which will be valuable tools for anyone housing cats and assessing feline behaviour. Ms. Gourkow spoke about this work and about other initiatives at the BC SPCA to improve the welfare of the animals there, including the development of a hide-and-perch box for cats. The videotape and accompanying book are available at the Robertson Library, and the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre also has a copy of each of them.
Following Ms. Gourkow's talk, there were presentations about local initiatives for unowned companion animals in PEI. Dr. Norma Guy, AVC Behaviour Service, spoke about the AVC humane dog training programme at the PEI Humane Society. Then, Barb Jones, President of the PEI Cat Action Team, spoke about a trap-neuter-return scheme for controlling feral cat populations in PEI. Both programmes are sponsored by the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre.
The symposium closed with a panel discussion about the reasons for and long-term solutions to the problem of companion animal relinquishment. The panel members were Ms. Gourkow, Dr. Guy, Jack MacAndrew (journalist and pet owner), Dr. Claudia Lister (local veterinarian), and Heather Irving (Executive Director of the PEI Humane Society). Many useful points were made. In particular, panellists stressed that modern lifestyles and expectations, and the failure of owner-animal attachment are key contributors to relinquishment. The panel agreed that responsibilty for the problems of relinquishment and overpopulation of dogs and cats, is shared across society. Ms. Gourkow's closing suggestion was that both problems must be addressed in terms of a holistic and humane vision for society, which extends to companion animals.
The symposium was video-taped. Copies are in the UPEI (Robertson) library and at the Animal Welfare Centre.
October 2001 - Dr. Mike Appleby
Dr. Mike Appleby (Vice-President for Farm Animals and Sustainable Agriculture, Humane Society of the United States) joined us for the Atlantic Veterinary College's Fall Conference, October 12-14, 2001. Dr. Appleby is one of the world's leading animal welfare scientists. His research on the welfare of pregnant sows and of hens in cages, made an important contribution to recent changes in European Union legislation for these species.
Dr. Appleby gave a number of presentations including
We will be having other guest speakers. Keep an eye on our Highlights page for further information!
