Updates

April 2025

1. PhD Scholarship:Dr Izzy Terry has accepted a PhD scholarship from the R(D)SVS and will start here with our team in October. Izzy’s project is Predicting emerging issues of One Welfare and One Health and improving the care of Scotland’s animals.
2. New publication: Naydani, C. et al. (2025) Development of a research tool leveraging theoretical frameworks to better understand One Health systems thinking among livestock farmers. CABI One Health. [Online] 4 (1). https://doi.org/10.1079/cabionehealth.2025.001
3. Conference presentation: Cynthia Naydani presented at the Behaviour Change for Health and Sustainability Conference in Portugal, co-hosted by UCL and the Nova National School of Public Health, on her recent publication (see item 2 above).
4. New funding: We are delighted to have secured significant new funding from the Wild Animal Initiative (WAI) to support teaching and research in the welfare of wild animals. The funding will support student and staff research projects to assess welfare in wild animals, seminars and new educational material in the welfare of free-living wild animals.
5. Workshop: Dr Rebecca Doyle attended the Brooke’s Global Disaster Risk Management Research on-line workshop which was held over two days. Further information about the Brooke can be found on their website. You can find out more about their research strategy (PDF) and their LinkedIn newsletter.
6. Workshop: Prof. Cathy Dwyer took part in a 3-day workshop (run by NatureScot) focused on developing a National Strategy to protect wildcats in Scotland and develop a plan to ensure their survival. Wild cats are the only free-living top predator in Scotland and a thriving population can act as an indicator of healthy biodiversity.

March 2025

1. New publication: Naydani, C. J., & Coombs, T. (2025). Exercise as a welfare strategy? Insights from horse (Equus caballus) owners in the UK. Animal Welfare, 34, e14. https://doi.org/10.1017/AWF.2025.11
2. Symposium: The Global Agriculture and Food Systems Symposium  on The Future of Livestock in Global Food Systems takes place on 25 April 2025. The symposium will explore livestock’s role in nutrition and health, nature and climate change mitigation and adaptation, and in livelihoods and a just transition, in a range of contexts. Full details and registration on the website.
3. Free online programme (Hindi): Wild Welfare and the University of Edinburgh launched the Hindi translation of the free online programme – Wild About Welfare. The 8 module self-directed learning course is aimed an animal care staff in zoos, wildlife sanctuaries, and aquariums. The online programme is also available in other languages. Find out more from the Wild Welfare website – Hindi.
4. Visit: Cathy Dwyer (Director) attended the annual meeting of the EU-funded TechCare project in Alghero, Sardinia, which is investigating Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) approaches to welfare management of small ruminants. Novel technologies that may help to assess welfare in sheep and goats were discussed, and the team visited some Sardinia dairy goat and sheep farms.

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