Guelph Vet Students Organize Animal Welfare Forum

September 24, 2007 — 

Several veterinary students at the University of Guelph are working to organize the eighth annual Animal Welfare Forum scheduled for September 29, 2007.

This year's event will feature international speakers addressing animal welfare where they live and work. Presentations will be given in the morning and followed by a panel discussion in the afternoon. The topics will cover issues associated with house pets and farm animals alike according to the organizers Emily Brown, vice-president of the student-run Animal Welfare Club, and Tiffany Learn, the club's information officer. Brown said when she started at the University of Guelph "animal welfare was not on my radar." She attended her first animal welfare forum two years ago, and now hopes to end up working in animal welfare research.

Speakers include the program director for the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, Shelagh McDonald, who has fought for amendments to the animal cruelty sections of the Criminal Code for seven years, the forum's program said. She is also a member of several groups that address animal welfare issues involving companion animals, farm animals and animals used in research. She'll represent Canada at the forum.

For example, an animal welfare concern is how animals are transported; either being moved from farm to farm or when being moved to an abattoir. "If they mixed barns of pigs and they don't know each other, they'll fight," Brown said. Factors such as whether the pigs are used to each other, how long they're traveling and whether they're comfortable are some to consider when thinking about animal welfare.

Source: Animalnet.com, September 23, 2007