At the recent Humane Canada’s 2025 Summit for Animals (Montreal, Quebec) and the International Society for Applied Ethology North American Regional meeting (Guelph, Ontario) a team of animal welfare scientists, with support from UFAW led interactive activities to explore how science can engage diverse actors to ensure a more unified future for farm animal welfare.
Katie Koralesky and Bianca Vandresen (University of British Columbia, Canada), Jamie Ahloy-Dallaire (Laval University, Quebec, Canada) and Jen-Yun Chou (Prairie Swine Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada) also led a panel discussion at the Summit titled: “How can we avoid a polarized future for farm animal welfare in Canada?”. The session brought together animal welfare researchers from three different institutions, a representative from the National Farm Animal Care Council[1] and a PhD student in Applied Animal Biology representing future leaders in farm animal welfare, to explore how scientific evidence and inclusive dialogue can help foster unity.
At each conference, the team designed interactive activities where delegates were invited to share their thoughts about farm animal welfare through a combination of surveys, interviews and workshops. Attendees were first invited to answer the question: “What does good farming mean to you?” from their own perspective, before being asked to spin a wheel and consider the same question from a different perspective - such as how a farmer, policymaker, animal, scientist or veterinarian would answer the same question. The task aimed to spark curiosity and encourage empathy amongst participants. More than 50 people took part in the activities across each conference, the results of which will be published by the team in the coming months.
UFAW was pleased to support this project through our Travel, Training and Events Grant scheme, recognising the potential for the project to arrive at practical and implementable solutions to improve farm animal welfare.
[1] The National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) is a collaborative partnership of animal welfare groups, farmers, government and enforcement agencies in Canada working to advance farm animal welfare. https://www.nfacc.ca/about-nfacc
