Document type: October Newsletter of the Animal Welfare Chair of VetAgroSup
Author: Luc Mounier
Preview: At a time when opinion is becoming more important than fact, when we can make assertions and are not required to demonstrate their validity, when extremes are exacerbated, science and scientific facts are under threat. Yet they are all the more necessary. It is of prime importance to draw on science, observation and facts in the fight against lies and preconceptions .. and doing so is essential if we are to be able to exchange ideas constructively, even if doing so is becoming increasingly difficult. The study of animal welfare is a science that is founded on experimentation, observation and open minds. It does not involve opinions or principles that are not grounded in the science. The accessibility of science to stakeholders, political decision-makers and the general public is key, and its communication must be based on fact. This then allows decision-makers and citizens to establish political positions, in full knowledge of the facts. It is the core activity of the Animal Welfare Chair, which uses scientific research and its expertise to educate and inform and to make animal welfare issues accessible ... this scientific evidence base was important in the past but is essential today.
In the spotlight:
- Agroecology: a collective effort focused on the living world
- Medicaltraining
- Farming summit: exchanges on the evolution of European animal welfare regulations
- Adoption and dog training: an ethologist's point of view
- Myth of the month: Can all animals be pets?
- and a selection of press articles...
