Eminent animal welfare scientist to give public talk at AVC Oct. 17
Eminent animal welfare scientist Professor David Mellor, University of Massey, New Zealand, will give a public lecture at the Atlantic Veterinary College on Tuesday, October 17, at 7 p.m.
During his lecture, “Thriving, not merely surviving: A fresh perspective on animal welfare,” Mellor will look at negative and positive emotions in animals and how these emotions affect behaviours. He will offer a fresh perspective on animal welfare management through promoting positive states and minimizing negative ones, and consider the interaction between them.
Much of Mellor’s pioneering and well-recognized work in the field of animal welfare is on animal emotions and behaviour, and the promotion of positive welfare states in companion animals, farm animals, and others. He led the development and subsequent refinement of the Five Domains model of animal welfare, which covers all aspects of animal welfare including nutrition, environment, health, behaviour and the animal’s mental state, both negative and positive.
His contributions to animal welfare cover many aspects of the science, including the welfare and development of young animals, how to assess animal welfare comprehensively and systematically, investigation of negative experiences such as breathlessness, thirst, hunger and pain, and the study of positive emotional states in a range of animals.
For his work and leadership in animal welfare, he was honoured with the Global Health and Pharma Animal Welfare Award 2016—Best Animal Welfare Academic, New Zealand. In 2015, he was awarded the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare medal, which recognizes the exceptional achievements of an individual scientist who has made fundamental contributions to the advancement of animal welfare science over a number of years.
The Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre is hosting the lecture, which is part of AVC’s annual community workshop series. For information, contact Janice MacWilliam at jmacwilliam@upei.ca or (902) 566-0589.
