“Gwelfare” students win again.
Once again, CCSAW's students lived up to their nickname "Gwelfare" at the 2025 American Veterinary Medical Association Animal Welfare Assessment Contest held at Texas A&M University.
Student Successes – New Theses Published
In her University of Guelph PhD research, Anna Garland investigates how being overweight impacts horses—focusing on both the physical changes in fat tissue and the inflammatory effects on joint cartilage. Across four studies, she discovered that inflamed fat tissue can trigger more inflammation in cartilage than direct exposure to bacterial toxins. In one study, horses were fed to gain weight over 16 weeks, and measurements showed that fat wasn’t distributed uniformly—spots like the tailhead and neck held the most fat. Another study compared three weight-loss plans: exercise only, calorie restriction only, or both combined. The exercise groups lost more fat, and when these horses performed a standardized exercise test, their joints showed signs of inflammation in synovial fluid, whereas the diet-only group showed lower levels of inflammatory markers. Overall, Garland’s work suggests that exercise-based weight loss may improve body composition faster, but may also stress joints—highlighting the need to balance weight management with inflammation control in overweight horseshttps://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/items/4bc170b4-4405-4e2b-a747-207543af902c
The interaction of play, genetics and robustnessness in pig surroundings
There is no evidence yet that housing treatments meant to stimulate play reduces reactivity in piglets under stressful challenges.
Read more about "The interaction of play, genetics and robustnessness in pig surroundings"
Learning to Judge Animal Welfare
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.
Congrats and bon voyage Prathipa!
Prathipa Anandarajan is flying home to India today to finish…
