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Aug 2026

1. LinkedIn: If you would like to connect with over 850 people with a passion for animal welfare as well as being kept up to date about publications, conferences, funding, and much more - join the Animal Welfare Centre LinkedIn page
2. Student research shortlisted: Helena Charlton, a final-year veterinary student, had her undergraduate SRC project shortlisted as one of the top four out of more than 150 projects submitted this year. Helena travelled to Nepal where she investigated the impact of gender dynamics on the welfare of working equids in Nepalgunj. Her project was funded by World Horse Welfare and supported by Animal Nepal. Helena was supervised by Marie Rowland.
3. BEVA Day:  Gemma Pearson (Edinburgh), Ellie Girgis and Tamzin Furtado (Liverpool) delivered a BEVA CPD day, in Edinburgh, on 17 June. The day focused on practical equine behaviour. There were various speakers and the Vet School teaching horses were also involved (see pictures). Feedback from delegates “Excellent. A good mix of lectures, practical and discussion. Plenty of chance to look at cases” and “A really informative course with lots of learning that can be applied in everyday work. The human clicker training was such a good way of highlighting how difficult it can be for a horse to understand what we are asking of them”.
4. Online course: A new online course from the University of Edinburgh, Sustainable Control of Haemonchosis in UK Livestock Grazing Systems (FAMACHA Card Training). This course is aimed at small ruminant farmers, livestock keepers (e.g. camelid owners), SQPs (suitably qualified professionals who are licenced to sell anti-parasitics such as anthelmintics for GIN) and veterinary surgeons. Upon completion of the course “users” would be posted 2x FAMACHA cards. Further information about the course can be found on the website.

June 2026 - Focus: Connections and Outreach

1. Symposium: A number of the Animal Welfare Centre members attended the Vet School Seafood Symposium on the 13^th May.  Professor Susan Jarvis presented on ‘Welfare assessment in salmon; challenges and opportunities in aquaculture’.  There were great discussion groups during the symposium where fish welfare was one of the main points of discussion.
2. Visiting Professor:  We are delighted to be hosting Professor Sayoko Hamano from Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, who will be here with us at the Animal Welfare Centre, for 6 months. Prof. Hamano is based in the Laboratory of Comparative Developmental Psychology, and is a veterinarian with a PhD in developmental psychology. During her time here, we will be collaborating on research and teaching focusing on human-animal relationships.
3. Visiting Researchers: The R(D)SVS Behaviour Clinic and Animal Welfare Centre co-hosted Dr Amin Azadian from UBC, Canada on a visiting researcher grant supported by Mitacs Canada. Erick Cabrera Vasquez from UC Davis is visiting Dr Sarah Brown, to develop behavioural neuroscience skills in collaboration with Dr Irene Camerlink at the Polish Academy of Life Sciences.
4. Multidisciplinary workshop: Together with James Yeates, the CEO of the World Federation for Animals,  we hosted a collaborative multidisciplinary workshop with R(D)SVS researchers to explore how animals and their well-being can be integrated with other sustainable development concepts. Dr Yeates also presented the annual R(D)SVS Charnock-Bradley lecture.
5. China: Hayley Walters, RVN delivered workshops to 14 Shanghai clinic owners and managers, on how to improve patient welfare in the clinic in collaboration with ‘Ada’s Vet Clinic, Shanghai’ – a high welfare veterinary clinic that is aiming to inspire others and teaches practical techniques to reduce fear and anxiety for patients in the clinic. Hayley also presented at BjSAVA (Beijing Small Animal Veterinary Association) on veterinary nursing, pain recognition, welfare in the clinic, and human behaviour change to improve animal welfare. The conference was well attended with vets from all over China, Thailand, The Philippines, and Hong Kong.
6. Student presentation: Tess Kimber, a former MSc IAWEL student presented her MSc dissertation findings at The 6th annual UK Animal Law Conference on 3-4 June 2026 at the University of Birmingham. Tess’s presentation was titled “Lesson from the XL Bully Ban: The Future of Breed Specific Legislation. Tess was supervised by Marie Rowland & Mark Farnworth.

Updates - 2026

Updates - 2025

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