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Nov 2025

1. Applications now open:  Applications are now open for 2026 intake to our MSc (on campus and online) programmes - including Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare; International Animal Welfare Ethics and Law; Clinical Animal Behaviour; and Equine Science. Full list of programmes available on the website.
2. Award: Jade Urquhart-Gilmore, who is a current student on our MSc Clinical Animal Behaviour programme, was nominated and a finalist for the BVA Young Vet of the Year 2025. Read Jade’s story and advice for aspiring vets.
3. New PhD student: Welcome to Izzy Terry. Her PhD titled ‘Predicting emerging issues of One Welfare and One Health and improving the care of Scotland’s animals’. The aim of the project is to analyse historical data from the Scottish SPCA, apply a mixed methods approach to better understand One Health and One Welfare dynamics and help develop strategies to improve services and better support animal welfare in Scotland.  
4. New publication: Taylor, D. E. F., Lancaster, B. E., & Ellis, A. D. (2025). The Use of Sound Recorders to Remotely Measure Grass Intake Behaviour in Horses. Animals, 15(15), 2273. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15152273
5. New publication: Rayner, E. L., Bastola, R., Bedre, S., Gibson, A. D., Gamble, L., & MacKay, J. R. (2025). ‘No one cares about the animal like me.’ Indian veterinarians’ experiences of improving animal welfare through Continuing Professional Development. Animal Welfare, 34, e8. doi:10.1017/awf.2025.3 
6. Seminar: Professor Peter Sandøe from the University of Copenhagen delivered an engaging seminar on 15 Oct, titled ‘What do we owe feral animals?’

Oct 2025

1. Connect with us: We have a new LinkedIn page & a new email address AnimalWelfare.Centre@ed.ac.uk
2. Policy consultation: Prof Susan Jarvis attended the Scottish Parliament and participated in the Round Table Discussion on Farrowing Crates, Chaired by Jim Fairlie – Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Scotland
3. New publication: Assessing the welfare of smallholder pigs in Vietnam with our collaborators International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) & the University of Sydney. Dang-Xuan, S. et al. (2025) Assessing the welfare of smallholder pigs in Vietnam using a pilot protocol. Tropical animal health and production. [Online] 57 (8), 392.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-025-04602-5
4. New publication: Gatehouse, E. et al. (2025) Assessment of a behavioral scale for the measurement of fear, anxiety and stress in dogs visiting the veterinary practice. Journal of veterinary behavior. [Online] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2025.08.008
5. New publication and conference: Dr Rebecca Doyle (Centre Director) was a part of the team publishing the paper "Animal welfare for production and working animals: evidence and need for action”. Rebecca presented key messages from this paper at the FAO 2025 Global Conference on Sustainable Livestock Transformation (29 Sept-1 Oct). Read more and link to publications - ‘Featured Activities’ webpage
6. Visitors: In September, colleagues from the Centre and the School met a group of veterinary students from Japan, as part of an established exchange programme with Hokkaido University. Read more on our ‘Featured Activities’ webpage
7. Symposiums: This World Animal Day, SRUC hosted a collaborative event with University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow, with speakers and PhD students from all groups presenting their work. Prof Cathy Dwyer, previous director of the Animal Welfare Centre, presented at the China Animal Health and Food Safety Alliance (CAFA) on A good life for pigs and Dr Vicky Sandilands (SRUC) presented on Broiler welfare.

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