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| Buddy the kitten is a beneficiary of our current understanding of animal welfare. But what exactly is that and why does it matter? |
Do we look after animals as
well as we could? What is animal welfare and what can we do to ensure the
wellbeing of companion animals?
Small Animal Talk promotes
the welfare of companion animals and beyond that, the welfare of animals
(including the human kind).
There are a few events
coming up for those interesting in learning more about the issues.
On March 23, the Robert
Dixon Animal Welfare Memorial Symposium will be hosted at the University of
Sydney. The panel will be discussing why animal welfare matters in veterinary
education. The event is free to attend but you do need to register first.
Register here. Panellists include Prof Andrew Fisher, Dr Raf Freire, Dr Susan Hazel, Dr Jennifer Hood, Dr Janice Lloyd, Prof Kevin Stafford, Ms Joy Verrinder and myself.
Another important forum is
the RSPCA’s annual Animal Welfare Seminar, which will be hosted at the
Australian War Memorial (Canberra) from 9am-3.30pm.
Animal welfare is, and always has
been, core business for the RSPCA. But how much does ensuring the welfare of
animals actually matter in today’s society and our human-centred day-to-day
lives? You don’t need to be an ‘activist’ or a ‘radical’ to regard animal
welfare as a priority issue, nor does this have to mean that animal use should
be abandoned altogether.
This
year’s RSPCA Australia Animal Welfare Seminar brings together leaders in
business, science, education, government and the not-for-profit sectors to
share their stories of how and why animal welfare matters to them, their
organisations and the people they connect and work with.
You can find out more about
the program and register here.
These events are always
educational, edge-of-your-seat topical (there are usually fairly robust disagreements)
and attendance is a chance to network with others in the field. You don’t have
to be a veterinarian to attend either, so please come along.
