Sheep welfare focus of conference at Atlantic Veterinary College
The welfare of sheep is the focus of the Atlantic Veterinary College’s 2016 Animal Welfare in Practice conference from September 30 to October 1.
Keynote speaker Dr. Paula Menzies, a professor of small ruminant health management at the Ontario Veterinary College, will give a free public lecture on Friday, September 30, about using the National Farm Animal Care Council’s (NFACC) 2013 Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Sheep to improve the welfare of sheep. The NFACC’s codes of practice provide owners with guidelines to ensure that animals of different species are cared for properly. Menzies’ lecture will take place at 7 p.m. in AVC Lecture Theatre A.
On Saturday, October 1, Dr. Michael Cockram, Chair in Animal Welfare at AVC, and Andrew Hebda, president, Purebred Sheep Breeders Association of Nova Scotia, will join Menzies to speak on a variety of topics relating to sheep welfare. All three speakers were involved in the development of the NFACC’s 2013 code of practice for sheep. Menzies will also give a talk on goat diseases and management.
Registration is required to attend the presentations on Saturday. All presentations take place in AVC Lecture Theatre A. The complete program and registration information are available at awc.upei.ca.
The conference is co-hosted by the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre at AVC, and the AVC Animal Welfare and Small Ruminant Clubs, with assistance from the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada.
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About Dr. Paula Menzies:
Dr. Paula Menzies is a professor of small ruminant health management in the Department of Population Medicine, and a member of the Ruminant Health Management Group at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. She is a diplomate in the European College of Small Ruminant Health Management and is the current vice-president of the International Sheep Veterinary Association. She was recently elected to the board of the International Goat Association. She has been awarded the Carl Block Award for contributions to Canadian agriculture, Don E. Bailey Small Ruminant Practitioner of the Year (AASRP), and Zoetis Research Award in Animal Health. She has developed health management programs for sheep and goats including the Ontario Maedi Visna flock status program and the Ontario sheep health program, and was involved in the development of the Handbook for the Control of Internal Parasites of Sheep and Goats. Most recently, she wrote guides for udder health of dairy sheep and dairy goats. She has been on numerous national and international committees for the health and welfare of small ruminants.
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