International Companion Animal welfare Conference promotes the need for an evidence based approach

 

This month, the JMICAWE was delighted to be invited to present at the annual International Conference on Companion Animal Welfare, Hosted by the Dog’s trust in Porto, Portugal.

The conference showcased the work being done around the world to improve dog and cat welfare by organisations such as Dog’s Trust, IFAW, Mission Rabies, Nowzad, and Change for Animals Foundation, as well as including presentations from Rachel Casey of the University of Bristol and our own Heather Bacon of the JMICAWE.

Speaking at the conference Heather said;

“This is a great opportunity to engage with stakeholders working in all aspects of dog and cat welfare – from TNR projects to shelters to pet dogs and cats, the ubiquitous nature of our companion animals means that we often rely on tradition or assumptions to manage them, but conferences like this promote the communication of evidence-based approaches to dealing with thorny issues such as overpopulation, rehoming, or behavioural problems.”

Heather’s presentation – on the evaluation of dog welfare in TNR projects highlighted the importance of the individual, even in large scale population control effort. She presented the results of work carried out by the JMICAWE team in India and Africa, funded by the Dogs Trust,  to develop a method for assessing the welfare of the individual animal before, during and after experiencing a 'Trap, Neuter and Return' programme.  

The conference also included the second annual meeting of the EU Dog and Cat alliance – a multidisciplinary group working on dog and cat relevant health and welfare issues across the EU http://www.dogandcatwelfare.eu/