Summary
A unique fourth year course gives students an opportunity to develop many skills including critical thinking, public speaking, ethical reasoning, concise messaging, and more, all within the context of evaluating of animal welfare on the basis of scientific theory and data.
What do dolphins, pigs, octopuses, show cattle, caged laying hens, penguins and frogs have in common? They have all been animals studied in the ANSC4010 Animal Welfare Judging class. A fourth year Animal Biosciences class, this unique course gives students an opportunity to develop many skills including critical thinking, public speaking, ethical reasoning, concise messaging, and more, all within the context of evaluating of animal welfare on the basis of scientific theory and data.
Co-taught by Drs. Tina Widowski (OAC) and Derek Haley (OVC), the always-full course is taken by a wide-range of students including those aiming to apply to vet school and Aggies. Many have no previous judging experience. Students learn through team work, group experiences, tours, presentations, guest speakers and more, to evaluate animals in a wide variety of settings. In the past few years, tours have included visits to local humane societies, the Toronto Zoo, various farms, University of Guelph Animal Research Centres, and the Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto.
According to Haley, “students learn to integrate information within specific scenarios. For example, they see and get information about four different set-ups for caged laying hens, and must evaluate all of the information to form an answer as to why they think one set-up is more welfare-friendly. They need to assess the care and welfare of all aspects of each species’ situation, including transport, housing, health, caretaker training, retirement, production, slaughter/euthanasia, etc. The public speaking aspect comes in as the students have to give concise, timed reasons to their classmates, or instructors. Doing this over and over in front of peers allows them to become more comfortable speaking in public.”
Every year the students are given four different species which they will study. These are set by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) as part of their international Animal Welfare Assessment Contest where teams of students representing different universities assess the welfare of animals in a variety of settings using science-based methods and reasoning. Some of the students in Haley and Widowski’s course go on to compete at this competition. For 2024 the animals are dairy cows; laboratory frogs (Xenopus laevis); zoo penguins and commercially bred dogs.
Shaela Hurley, a fourth year veterinary student at Guelph took the course in the last year of her Animal Biology degree and competed on the University’s Animal Welfare Judging Team. She had always had a strong interest in animal welfare and had learned many of the fundamental principles & research methods involved in animal welfare science in other courses, but didn’t feel that she’d had a chance to develop practical skills for assessing welfare.
Hurley says “One of the most valuable skills I took from this course was learning to prioritize animal welfare concerns. When faced with a scenario, there can be many aspects of an animal’s care and environment that we might want to try and improve. I learned the importance of connecting management factors with animal-based outcomes to determine which aspects of care are having the greatest impact. At a glance, factors that might be the most glaring for us may not have the greatest effect on the animals based on their health & behaviour, and vice versa.
Aside from skills relating directly to animal welfare, the course also really helped my public speaking and communication skills. I gained extensive practice putting together persuasive arguments and articulating myself clearly to a roomfull of people. I also learned to think on my feet and speak with confidence, even with minimal practice!”
“Haley believes that the skills learned in this course and the way it is taught by a two-prof team adds to the attraction of the course. There’s always a waiting list, and we have even attracted international students. This year, students are coming from Denmark and New Zealand while last year we had a student from the Netherlands. This shows the international relevance of animal welfare.”
Hurley is now a final-year veterinary student at the Ontario Veterinary College and will be graduating as a veterinarian next year. “As a veterinarian, I will be responsible for ensuring the welfare of my patients and for being a trusted resource on animal well-being. I will be someone working directly with pet owners and animal caretakers, making it critical that I can evaluate animal welfare in “real life” scenarios. Taking this course has given me the ability to critically assess and utilize animal welfare research, ensuring I’ll always be able to make evidence-based recommendations for my patients and be able to clearly and concisely communicate my concerns and rationale with clients.”
