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Oct 2026

1. Welcome: A warm welcome to Hazel Roberts, our new MScR student, who will be researching the connections between agroecology and One Health.
2. Webinar – recording available: ‘Artificial Intelligence and Animal Welfare: Opportunities and Challenges of Emerging Technologies’ on 1 Oct 2026 with Dr JillMacKay is now available to watch. Find it on the event page.
3. Empathy and Compassion in One Health: We had a great time at the Empathy and Compassion in One Health conference, led by Professor Andrew Gardiner and the team at the Edinburgh Empathy Place. Several of our colleagues presented:

Katie Mellanby: Exploring empathy with final-year veterinary students through community and shelter medicine; Fiona McDowall: Veterinary nurses' involvement in euthanasia of companion animals and horses: is there a connection with PTSD and workplace-associated grief?; Sharon Boyd: The nature connection between us; Brian Mather: Virtual simulation and compassion in education; Katharine Ross and Izzy Terry: Development of the Edinburgh In-Patient Welfare Assessment Tool (IPWAT) to support the assessment of in-patient welfare and ethical treatment decision-making; Jill Mackay: Compassion for the artificial animal: how does genAI media impact One Health and welfare?; Sarah Brown: Mistaken intentions: interpretation of equine behaviour and its impact on the hoof-care experience; Sayoko Hamano: Sharing continuing bonds: pearl memorialisation after pet loss

4. One Health in agrifood systems: With our collaborators at Compassion in World Farming and ILRI, we published a white paper, Unlocking animal welfare potential in implementing One Health solutions for livestock in agrifood systems, for the FAO Global Conference on Actions on One Health in Agrifood Systems. Dr Rebecca Doyle also spoke at a conference side event hosted by the World Federation for Animals and Compassion in World Farming.
5. Policy for impact: Katharine Ross and Izzy Terry hosted a workshop on How to Use Policy as a Tool for Research Impact.
6. Seminar:  Dr Anne Quain from the Sydney School of Veterinary Science gave an internal seminar, Mind the gap! How can we address blind spots in veterinary ethics?
7. Presentation:  Dr Loni Loftus, presented at the Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians Vet Q&A, ‘Clipping hell! – Tips for helping clipper-shy horses’. You can access the slides and watch the recording on their website.

Sept 2026

1. Free webinar: The Animal Welfare Centre are pleased to announce a free webinar with Dr Jill MacKay – ‘Artificial Intelligence and Animal Welfare: Opportunities and Challenges of Emerging Technologies’ on 1 Oct 2026 (6-7pm GMT). Places are limited, please register from our event page.
2. SciFAW conference: AWC represented at this year’s SciFAW conference. Katharine Ross presented ‘Consumer demand, intervention efficacy and potential canine welfare implications of the puppy trade: Evidence from temporal and linguistic patterns in classified online adverts’, on behalf of Stella Mazeri, Verity Bowell, Kirsten M. McMillan (Dogs Trust). Izzy Terry’s poster ‘Analysing Scottish SPCA Operational Canine Data to Inform Practices, Policy and the Public’ with Zupei Liu, Gilly Mendes Ferriera Scottish SPCA) and Rebecca Doyle. Sarah Brown contributed ‘Animal health and welfare: Time for a refresh?’ by Alistar Lawrence et al., ‘Socio-cognitive development of pigs in enriched and barren housing condition’s byCabrera Vasquez et al., and ‘Neurobiology of Positive affect’ by Goursot et al. at the LIFT workshop.
3. SciFAW updates: On behalf of our colleagues at SciFAW, we would like to promote:

• Systematic Review Grant US$100,000 funded by AAALAC International for a rigorous systematic review on welfare recommendations for animals used in research and teaching. Deadline 1 Nov. 
• Publication discount 40% off Assessing Animal Welfare: A Guide to the Valid Use of Indicators of Affective States (eds. Mason, Nielsen & Mendl) for Science for Animal Welfare members, available until 30 Nov 2026 – contact SciFAW for the discount code
• New Centenary Research Award – up to £250,000 available for projects addressing either a major animal welfare challenge, or a fundamental animal welfare question. Find out more from their website

4. Online course: A World of Good Initiative in partnership with the Animal Welfare Centre, R(D)SVS have launched the Good Welfare Governance course; providing professionals involved in international, federal and provincial governance foundational skills in animal welfare around the world. Visit the course website.
5. New Scottish Government guidance: School experts helped shape the Scottish Government’s 2026 Welfare of Equids: Guidance, putting mental wellbeing and natural behaviour alongside physical health for the first time. The University team includes Mrs Bryony Lancaster, Dr Sarah Brown and Dr Gemma Pearson, with support from Cynthia Naydani and colleagues across Equine Science and the Animal Welfare Centre. Read the Welfare of Equids: Guidance, or find out more about our Equine Science and Equine Behaviour programmes, and the Animal Welfare Centre.

Updates - 2026

Updates - 2025

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