On International Dog Day, we’re seeing a fundamental change in how people think about animals. And anyone caring for dogs must understand it comes with profound responsibilities
Pursuit, University of Melbourne

By Dr Mia Cobb, University of Melbourne

Seminar 
Tuesday 10th October 2023, 12.00pm – 1.00pm AEDT 
PDF and recording of presentation is available
go to our ​Seminar Page

Jordan Hampton is the joint recipient of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) Early Career Animal Welfare Researcher of the year for 2023.

Jordon is a McKenzie Research Fellow in the Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Australia. His focus is the welfare of wild animals, an emerging field of animal welfare science, in which he has already been highly influential.'
​
Jordan has authored 75 peer-reviewed publications, with his current research focusing on the indirect animal welfare impacts of contaminants such as lead on wildlife.

Much of his research to date has been both novel and applied, fostering collaboration between animal welfare scientists, wildlife managers and conservationists. This approach has wide-reaching impact outside of academia and has resulted in improvements in wildlife management and regulation in Australia and New Zealand.

Further details: UFAW

Thesis title: Human-animal interactions, early life experiences and stress resilience in pigs. 

Megan investigated the effects of human contact and housing during rearing on stress in pigs. She found that these early experiences affected the behavioural and physiological responses of pigs later in life to routine commercial stressors, highlighting the importance of the early environment on pig welfare.

​Primary supervisor: Prof Paul Hemsworth
Co-supervisors: Dr Lauren Hemsworth, Prof Alan Tilbrook, Dr Rebecca Morrison

The recording of her recent talk at Faculty of Vet & Ag Sci can be accessed here 
Presented Tuesday 28 June 2022
Dr Bidda Jones AM BSc(Hons) GradDipPub PhD
In This Talk: Australians care about animal welfare, and their level of concern is growing. But what does this mean for the systems in place that govern how we house, care for, and interact with animals? Do our laws, regulations, and animal welfare standards live up to community expectations, or match what contemporary science tells us about what animals need to experience in terms of good animal welfare? Dr Jones has devoted her career to improving the lives of animals through using science to affect policy change. In this talk, she reflects on her experiences as an animal advocate, and consider what reforms are needed to ensure the interests of animals are heard and respected.

About the Presenter: Dr Bidda Jones is the former Director of RSPCA Australia, whose career with that organisation spanned 25 years, including her recent appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to animal welfare science and advocacy. Dr Jones is an Honorary Associate with the Sydney School of Veterinary Science. Her research interests focus on improving the welfare of animals in Australian society, from companion animals, animals in sport, native and introduced wild animals, to humane killing and slaughter. Dr Jones is a regular panellist at the Robert Dixon Memorial Symposia and is co-developing an introductory OLE unit on understanding animal welfare. She has published over 35 reports, book chapters, and peer-reviewed articles, and has represented animal welfare interests on numerous national committees and as an invited speaker at multiple conferences, workshops and symposia.

Please follow this link to find an expanded version of an article first published on The Conversation website:

Where to now for dairying? link
​Andrew Fisher
Chair of Cattle and Sheep Production Medicine, The University of Melbourne



​The milk, the whole milk and nothing but the milk: the story behind our dairy woes - Conversation link

Videos of presentations from our AWSC Student Research Showcase are available to view and download on our VIMEO site.
Please visit and feel free to share ​AWSC Student Research Showcase 

​The news media frequently report animal welfare abuses, often as a result of covert recording or filming by animal rights organisations.  These stories generate considerable public interest. The message conveyed is that the livestock industry in question engages in poor animal welfare practices and that some aspect of it should be substantially changed or even banned.
Generally, the abuses are instances of inappropriate treatment of animals by carers or someone who is interacting with the animal as part of the production process – for example, prior to slaughter or during shearing. These instances are then generalised to the industry and the conclusion is drawn that the behaviour is widespread and presents a serious welfare risk to the animal.
It is important to establish the prevalence of the behaviours, the reasons for their occurrence and the appropriate industry responses. These points need to be considered in the context that we owe a duty of care towards the animals with which we have contact. Most people agree that it is acceptable to use animals for companionship, food or clothing and even many of those who do not consume meat, do consume other animal products or provide them for their pets. The animals that provide these resources are dependent on humans for food and shelter throughout their lives. Therefore, we do owe a duty of care to those animals that are dependent on us.
In our research, we have found the prevalence of deliberate mistreatment of animals to be low. That is not to say that there are occasions when an individual might mistreat an animal because of a particular set of circumstances, such as in response to the animal’s behaviour or because the person is upset for another reason or is unwell. There also will be cases where a person is so insensitive to the state of the animal that their behaviour is persistently inappropriate. However, most of the instances of poor behaviour arise because the management of animals has largely been learned “on the job” and people may be unaware of the effect of their behaviour on the welfare of the animals under their care. In all these cases of mistreatment, either deliberate or not, the appropriate industry response is to ensure that these behaviours do not occur. Despite the regular media coverage of adverse events, interviews of several hundred stockpeople in the Australian livestock industries by the authors surprisingly indicate that, while many expressed a dislike for various aspects of the job, a clear majority enjoyed working with their animals.
While we might expect farm animals to become fearful if they are mistreated, frequent use of some routine handling behaviours also increases fear and stress levels and thus reduces welfare of commercial farm animals (Hemsworth and Coleman, 2011). Although frequent use of physical force, such as hitting, can increase animal fear, surprisingly the results from our research in the main livestock industries show that the frequent use of routine tactile, auditory and visual handling behaviours, such as slapping, shouting and fast and unexpected movement, is also responsible for high fear and stress in commercial farm animals.  Low fear levels at commercial farms are associated with a low percentage of these so-called moderate negative tactile, auditory and visual handling behaviours (eg slapping, shouting and fast and unexpected movement) and a high percentage of so-called positive behaviours, such as talking, patting or stroking and slow and deliberate movement.
It is important to emphasise that the kinds of moderate negative behaviours we are referring to do not represent stockpeople mistreating their animals. It is necessary to occasionally use some moderate negative behaviours when moving farm animals in commercial settings, and it should be recognised that this is a normal part of interacting with the animals. However, it is inappropriate to use negative behaviours more often than is really necessary, just as it is equally inappropriate not to use positive behaviours when the opportunity arises. The important point is that sometimes negative behaviours are necessary when stockpeople are working with animals.  If the farm animals were fearless and pet-like, it would be impossible for stockpeople to carry out their routine handling in a timely and safe manner.
There is no evidence that stockpeople are naturally suited to manage animals. Coleman (2004) reviewed the available data and the evidence clearly indicated that the way in which stockpeople handle animals is largely learned. A major factor affecting stockperson behaviour is his or her attitude to the animals and to working with them. These attitudes are based on the beliefs that stockpeople hold about the animals and are shaped by both ad hoc advice from co-workers and by direct and indirect experiences with animals. They are therefore learnt and consequently through training of stockpeople targeting the key attitudes and related behaviour which affect animal fear, should be effective in reducing animal fear and stress and consequently minimising risks to animal welfare through poor handling.  In fact, when training programs that are based on an understanding of both the beliefs that underpin behaviour and the appropriate ways of handling animals are used, there is a dramatic improvement in stockperson behaviour with a concomitant improvement in animal welfare as well as animal productivity (Hemsworth and Coleman, 2011).
Therefore, selection and training procedures which target the attitude and behaviour of the stockperson offer considerable opportunity to improve farm animal welfare. This is the new direction for industries.  Much has been done to improve genetics, nutrition, health and housing, but efforts to target the stockperson, who performs such a key function, have just begun. Further, an industry response that recognises this will reduce the occurrence of adverse events, assist in ensuring that the workforce is well suited to handling animals and will also improve the overall welfare and productivity of livestock. Most industries have animal welfare policies in place, but policies alone do not change the behaviour of individuals unless there are major sanctions that are enforced but this requires constant surveillance which is rarely practical or acceptable in the workplace. Direct interventions, in the form of targeted behaviour change training programs, as our research has shown (Coleman, 2004; Hemsworth and Coleman, 2011), provide a proactive means to retain a skilled workforce that acts in the best interests of the animals under their care. Such programs (for example ProHand, an attitude and behaviour change program) lead to cultural change within the organisation which, in turn, reduces the prevalence of mistreatment of animals by changing the disposition of stockpeople and by peer pressure from co-workers.
 
Key references
Coleman, G.J. (2004) Personnel Management in Livestock industries.  In: Benson, G.J. and Rollin, B.E. (eds.) The Well-Being of Farm Animals: Challenges and Solutions. Blackwell Publishing, Ames, Iowa, USA, pp.167-181.
Hemsworth, P.H., and Coleman, G.J.  (2011). “Human-Livestock Interactions: The Stockperson and the Productivity and Welfare of Farmed Animals”, 2nd Edition CAB International, Oxon UK.

Please download the full program for the event by clicking here

Melbourne University’s Animal Welfare Science Centre contributes to improved animal welfare as a world leading provider of expert information, advice and education underpinned by rigorous research.​  Formed in 1997, we have developed our scientific research and teaching capacity in animal welfare science and have made many important national and international contributions to animal welfare research, teaching and training.
 
We have designed this event to give prospective students and those who are interested in our work a chance to find out about our research and how it improves the lives of  animals.  Attendees will also be able to chat with our students and get an idea of the varied employment opportunities which are available for graduating students.

​RSVP to Jeremy Skuse
 

Congratulations to Carmen Glanville - winner of the University of Melbourne's Visualise your Thesis competition for her presentation "Protecting Pets by Changing People".

The competition challenges graduate researchers to present their research in a 60 second, eye-catching digital display. Using a pre-supplied template, entrants are tasked with developing a striking looped presentation to encapsulate their research projects in short, engaging, digital narratives.

Carmen will represent the University of Melbourne in the online 2019 International Visualise Your Thesis Competition.

See her presentation HERE