A chance encounter as a student sparked a compassionate plan in Sam Kovac One day back in 2009, having just enjoyed a family lunch in Woolloomooloo, Sam Kovac was walking back to his car when he came across a homeless man with a cattle dog. The cattle dog was coughing […]
Abstracts: Equine welfare during exercise: an evaluation of breathing, breathlessness and bridles
Horses engaged in strenuous exercise display physiological responses that approach the upper functional limits of key organ systems, in particular their cardiorespiratory systems. Maximum athletic performance is therefore vulnerable to factors that diminish these functional capacities, and such impairment might also lead to horses experiencing unpleasant respiratory sensations, i.e., breathlessness. […]
Vet ethics: guardian dogs
I recently attended the annual AVA conference in Melbourne. In one of the talks, Chris Johnson, a Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the University of Tasmania, discussed the use of so-called guardian dogs to protect livestock on Australian farms. This idea involves a new approach to a longstanding animal welfare […]
Abstracts: Australian regulation of animal use in science and education: a critical appraisal
One of the touchstone principles in Australia’s regulation of the use of animals for scientific and educational purposes is reduction, refinement and replacement (3Rs). However, the use of animals for scientific and educational purposes is increasing in Australia, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the current regulatory framework in achieving […]