The winner of the inaugural UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science was announced at the UFAW International Symposium ‘Making animal welfare improvements: Economic and other incentives and constraints’ held in Portsmouth UK, 28th and 29th June 2011. A commemorative medal and £3,000 was presented by Professor John Webster of Bristol University, UK, on behalf of UFAW, to Professor Ian Duncan of the University of Guelph, Canada.
“Ian Duncan is one of the pioneers of the new direction in animal welfare science that began around 40 years ago with investigation of the animal’s own perspective of its world,”
said James Kirkwood, UFAW’s Chief Executive and Scientific Director.
“He has had a highly productive career and his work has been very influential. He is well known for promoting the idea that welfare is about animals’ feelings, which has come to be widely accepted. Work by Ian revolutionised the study of poultry behaviour, inspiring scientists and others around the world, and ultimately helped lead to the European Union ban on battery cages. We were delighted to award the first UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science to Professor Duncan.”