WHEN we re-convened for the last
leg of this exciting congress, we
were not disappointed, despite it
being only a half-day.
Our first topic was
“Recent re-evaluations
in veterinary
behavioural
medicine”. Hannah
Wright reported on
“Effects of food
substrates on
reliability of salivary
cortisol measures in
dogs in training
context”, her joint
study with colleagues,
including Professor
Daniel Mills from
Lincoln and others
from the Food and
Environment Agency,
York.
Rachel Casey from Bristol then
deputised for Anne Seawright with “A
case-control study of the risk factors
for feline idiopathic cystitis”; after
which, a very hoarse and vocally
challenged Gary Landsberg manfully
took to the podium and, ably assisted
by Sagi Dagenberg, gave us an
entertaining and interesting
presentation entitled the “Validation of cognitive test battery for cats”.
The coffee break that followed provided a last chance to view the
posters before we finished with a session that had the
underlying theme
“Profiling animals:
application and
implication”.
It began with
“Behavioural, legal,
medical and welfare
implications of the
DDA in UK”. This
featured Kendal
Shepherd’s
impassioned account
of a sad case she had
been involved in
where clear evidence
of an underlying
medical problem appeared to have been
ignored by those who were commissioned to care for a seized dog
while her case ground slowly through
the legal system.
Complex area
Whilst we are all aware that this is a
difficult and complex area with no easy
answers, the fate of this sad individual
and her owners, who were reunited with their pet
after many
months, as
Kendal put it,
simply to give
permission for
euthanasia,
highlights the fact
that our
profession has a
clear
responsibility to
speak out in
defence of these
incarcerated dogs.
Jacqui Ley,
representing Australia, then
told us about the
“Development of
the Canine Five
Factor Model of
Personality and
Monash Canine
Personality
Questionnaire –
Revised (MCPQ-
R)”. Emma
Creighton gave us
two presentations:
“Feeding routine
risk factors
associated with
pre-feeding
behaviour
problems in UK
leisure horses”
and “Can
standardised
behaviour tests
predict suitability
for use in horses?” before the
penultimate offering saw Stephanie
Ott from Germany discuss
“Evaluation of a training programme
for police interview assistance dogs”.
The last presentation of a truly
excellent Congress – which would never have taken place without the
generosity of a number of sponsors –
was given by another colleague from
Bristol, Christine Basse, who discussed
“Predicting separation problems in
dogs: development of a practical test
for re-homing centres”.
