A commemorative medal and award were presented to Professor Jeff Rushen at UFAW’s International Symposium on measuring animal welfare at Royal Holloway, University of London on 28th June.
The UFAW Medal recognises exceptional achievements of individual scientists who have made fundamental contributions to the advancement of animal welfare over a number of years. The award is open to individuals, anywhere in the world, whose research, teaching, service and advocacy has significantly benefited the welfare of animals. UFAW was very pleased this year to recognise the remarkable achievements of Jeff.
Professor Jeff Rushen of the Dairy Education & Research Centre, University of British Columbia, has an extraordinary lifetime record in the field of animal welfare science. He has co-authored the most important books to date on both the welfare of cattle, and stereotypic animal behaviour.
Over the course of his career, Jeff has published over 300 papers that provide a model of clear-thinking and research excellence. Amongst his work has been a series of very high impact papers on how people can become an important source of fear for animals, and how this fear can be mitigated to improve human-animal relationships.
Jeff also has an impressive record of service and leadership within the field. He led Canada’s National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) process ensuring that the welfare standards are science-based, and also served as science expert to the Council. He was a member of the European Food Safety Authority working group reviewing dairy cow welfare and is currently a member of the US Farmed Animal Well- being Commission for Beef.
Dr Derek Haley from the University of Guelph, Canada was one of Jeff’s sponsors for the award. He said:
“A key contribution has been Jeff’s work assisting animal agriculture in understanding and addressing animal welfare issues … In particular his service in helping develop the species Codes of Practice for the Care and Handling of Farm Animals in Canada has been exceptional. His knowledge of the issues and the science around those issues, together with his level-headed approach to making real change, have made him highly sought after when it comes to compiling the requirements animal agriculture must follow to ensure the welfare of their animals.”
UFAW’s Chief Executive Dr Robert Hubrecht, who presented the awards, said:
“Professors Jeff Rushen and Sandra Edwards are both world-leading experts in their fields, who have made substantial contributions to our understanding of farm-animal needs and husbandry. They are very worthy winners of the 2017 UFAW medal”