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Dec 2025

1. Festive Greetings! The Animal Welfare Centre would like to thank all our Associates, collaborators, students and members, who share the same aim of improving animal welfare!
2. Publication:  Katharine Ross’ new publication has received media coverage from the Vet Times;  Ross, K.E. et al. (2025) ‘The canine welfare, public health and environmental impact of systemic under-regulation within the UK puppy trade: A scoping review’, Animal Welfare, 34, p. e72. doi:10.1017/awf.2025.10046.
3. Publication: MSc Equine Science student publishes in the International Journal of Equine Science’s special issue “Emerging Practices and Technologies for the Other 23 hours of Equine Management". Miggitsch, N., Naydani, C.J. and Lancaster, B.E. (2025) “Prevalence and Perceived Effects of Enrichment Elements in Outdoor Areas on the Behavior and Welfare of Group-Housed Horses”, International Journal of Equine Science, 4(S1), pp. 17–28. doi:10.64292/ijes.192.
4. Collaboration: The Animal Welfare Centre has joined Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences (IMAAAHS) and the International Cooperation Committee on Animal Welfare (ICCAW), SRUC and RSPCA International as collaborators in the International Collaborative Innovation Centre for Ruminant Welfare Science. The centre was launched in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China on 2 November.
5. BSAS Equine Conference (21-22 Nov): Two online MSc Equine Science students (Abdulaziz Dharman and Catherine Bradley) are presenting at the BSAS Equine Conference 2025 and MSc Programme Co-ordinator – Dr Victoria Lindsay-McGee is on the organising committee and Scott Pirie is a keynote speaker.
6. Outreach: Dr Gemma Pearson (research profile), presented at the European Veterinary College of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation conference, Turin and delivered a workshop on low stress veterinary care. Gemma has also been working the King's Troops, applying behavioural principles to help horses perform their roles.

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?’

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