Teaching animal welfare via competitive judging contests

Abstract Text:

The scientific study of animal welfare involves complex assessments of an animal’s physical health, emotional state, and the naturalness of its environment. As the public becomes more aware of animal welfare, the demand for students knowledgeable about animal welfare science is increasing, yet many universities provide little training in this field. The Animal Welfare Judging and Assessment Contest (AWJAC) was created in 2002 at Michigan State University with support from Purdue University to teach students how to assess and critique the welfare of animals used for food production, research, companionship, and other human purposes. Each year at the annual competition, computer-based scenarios on four pre-determined animal species are presented to the students with information on performance, health, physiology, handling, and behavior of the animals. The students evaluate the scenarios to determine which facility has the best welfare, and defend their decision through oral reasons presented to judges. The competition now has undergraduate, graduate, and veterinary divisions. The 2015 competition was held at Ohio State University with 25 teams and 105 individuals competing. A course was created at Colorado State University (CSU) in 2012 to prepare students for the competition, and can serve as an example of how to teach students about animal welfare assessment. The course teaches students about general animal welfare principles, provides in depth training on the four featured species through guest lecturers, field trips, and review of the scientific literature, and develops public speaking skills. The CSU teams have continued to be successful at the contest, and in 2015 CSU won first place in the graduate division, as well as numerous individual awards. The contest combined with the course provides learning opportunities about the growing field of animal welfare science.

Keywords: animal welfare; judging teams; welfare assessment