Animal Welfare Award for SAC Researcher and Colleague
SAC animal welfare researcher Dr Malcolm Mitchell and his long time research partner Peter Kettlewell are the joint recipients of an award recognising the significant impact their work on live animal transport has made to the understanding and promotion of good animal welfare. The RSPCA/BSAS Award for Innovation Developments in Animal Welfare was presented at the Annual Conference of the British Society of Animal Science in Nottingham.
It is unusual for the award to be presented to two people from different organisations, but the organisers felt it was highly appropriate. It not only highlights the benefits to be gleaned from collaborative working between different research teams or individuals, but it also acknowledges and rewards both recipients for the highly significant and productive work that they put into improving animal welfare.
Dr Malcolm Mitchell, a physiologist, joined SAC in 2006 from the Roslin Institute where he had begun the studies on the effects on farm livestock of transportation and associated conditions. Peter Kettlewell was an engineer at the Silsoe Research Institute until it closed in 2006 and is now an animal transport consultant.
Together they have studied the transportation of many animal species and high profile projects have focussed upon the transportation of pigs across Europe in summer conditions and the imposition of transport stress on poultry carried on trucks in Canadian winters. Their work has led to the development of new vehicle designs and standards and underpinned European legislation. During their research they also developed a wide range of improved approaches and techniques for assessing and measuring physiological stress responses in a wide range of species, including pigs, sheep, cattle and poultry.
The award was presented by Prof Nigel Scollan of Aberystwyth University and President of BSAS who said:
The impact of their research has been immense. It has informed animal welfare legislation and codes of recommendation, improved commercial practices and procedures, and contributed to advances in the design and operation of livestock facilities, transport containers and vehicles across the EU. Their research has also had an impact on practices in other countries, including Canada, the USA and South Africa
The annual award to innovative developments in animal welfare is made jointly by the RSPCA and BSAS. It was first initiated in 1989 to acknowledge and encourage scientific research and development in the area of animal welfare. The award is presented to the person or groups whose work has whose work has made a major contribution to the understanding and promotion of the welfare of animals, with the judges taking account of both the nature of the work of the candidates, and its potential and actual impact on welfare.
BSAS (Charity No SC004845) The Society’s aim is to enhance the understanding of animal sciences and to promote its integration into economic and ethical systems. It is committed to improving the productivity and welfare of farm animals and the quality and safety of food, whilst protecting the environment. To achieve this the Society runs conferences, workshops and meetings to exchange information, ideas and experiences.