Technology, Public Perceptions to Be Addressed at Aug. 6 Animal Wellbeing Symposium

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The impact of continuing challenges in animal welfare and changes in public perception and technology will be addressed Aug. 6 by speakers at the 5th Annual Symposium on Current Issues and Advances in Food Animal Wellbeing. The event is sponsored by the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing, a unit of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

The event will be held in the John W. Tyson Building's Leland Tollett Auditorium on the University of Arkansas campus. Registration is $25. Those planning to attend should register by July 31. Registration information and the program are online at http://foodanimalwellbeing.uark.edu/AnnualSymposium.html. 

Karen Christensen, a Division of Agriculture extension associate professor of poultry science, will discuss current issues. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Professional Animal Auditors Certification Organization and a cattle farmer with a passion for the welfare of all animals.

Kate Barger, director of animal welfare for Cobb-Vantress Inc., will present her views on issues facing poultry welfare across the globe. Her position with Cobb-Vantress requires worldwide travel to work with the company's outlets.

Colin Scanes, a University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, professor of animal physiology and nutrition physiologist, will also discuss stress-related issues. He has authored and edited numerous books in poultry science and more than 600 other publications. Scanes believes that an animal's response to stress must be understood to optimize the animal's welfare.

Other speakers presenting at the symposium include Paul Siegel, Virginia Tech University distinguished professor emeritus of animal and poultry science; Paul McKellips, author, director and producer; Lucy Anthernill, U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service humane handling enforcement coordinator; Rusty Rumley, senior staff attorney at the Division of Agriculture's National Agricultural Law Center; and Ruth Woiwode, Colorado State University.

The goal for the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing is to improve animal health, animal handling, food safety and productivity by developing and defining objective measurements of wellbeing including measures of behavior, stress physiology, neurophysiology, immunology, microbiology and production efficiency.