Standing Committee on Animal Welfare
Standing Committee on Animal Welfare
IVSA Standing Committee on Animal Welfare (SCAW) intends to address one of the IVSA’s main objectives; to actively support measures of improving the standard of animal welfare worldwide. SCAW aims to engage veterinary students on an international scale to increase levels of awareness and education about animal welfare and work towards creating a world in which animal welfare is maintained to the highest standards and animals and humans can live in harmony; whilst also preserving the environment.
Mission
Create partnerships with organisations protecting Animal Welfare
Promote international and local organisations involved in Animal Welfare
Organise animal welfare workshops, lectures, webinars, etc. at IVSA events or separately
Encourage and support local MO’s to organise animal welfare events
Create our Animal Welfare Journal and write articles for other relevant IVSA journals and newsletters
Provide sources of information and knowledge on Animal Welfare
Create places of training on Animal Welfare for veterinary students
Inform students on Animal Welfare opportunities and work with international organisations to create further opportunities
Work with other Standing Committees of IVSA on shared issues and goals
Projects
Animal Welfare Week
During the week 23rd-29th of March (2020), SCAW encourages Member Organisations around the world to organise animal welfare events in their local communities.
SCAW helps members organise these events and relays them through their social media to help promote all the different initiatives worldwide. We promote and encourage veterinarians and veterinary students alike to pursue local efforts to improve animal welfare in their communities. The aim of this week is to foster debate and thought about animal welfare issues, whether it be inside veterinary schools or in collaboration with outside organisations - or even the general public.
Week in Welfare
The SCAW Publications Team works hard to raise awareness on important animal welfare issues worldwide by regularly posting short articles on the social media channels. SCAW has covered topics from brachycephalic dogs to welfare of zoo animals to commercial whaling.
SCAW aims to promote discussion among veterinary students internationally as well as highlight animal welfare issues that veterinarians of the future need to tackle.
Animal Welfare Toolkit
You've always wanted to organize something to promote animal welfare, but you don't feel like you know quite enough about the subject? Well rejoice, because soon you can access our animal welfare toolkit, a summary of the basic principles of animal welfare: based entirely off of scientific studies, this toolkit summarizes the essential points of defining, protecting and promoting animal welfare, from generalities to species-specific characteristics.
Coming to you soon!
3rd Animal Welfare Conference in Malaysia
28th-30th of August, 2020
Set this year in Selangor, Malaysia, SCAW's Animal Welfare Conference is a biennial (every two years) event bringing together veterinary students across the world around the topic of animal welfare. It is an opportunity to hear lectures about multiple aspects of animal welfare, take part in interactive workshops around animal welfare, and most importantly get to meet like-minded vet students from all horizons. During a three-day-weekend, all participants are in a safe space to debate and question the world around us, with the hope that new ideas and solutions will emerge from the brainstorming. If this sounds like it might interest you, save the date and get ready for Malaysia!
SCAW Ambassadors
The ambassadors serve as a connection between SCAW and the Member Organisations. They keep the committee updated on any animal welfare related activities and events held in their university or any current animal welfare issues that are discussed in their university or community. In turn, SCAW – through the ambassador manager – will inform the ambassadors of projects or opportunities organised by SCAW or IVSA, as well as relay and promote the events organised by these MOs through social media.
SCAW Ambassadors can organise animal welfare events themselves, such as the annual Animal Welfare Week. These events can include lectures by local or international specialists, quizzes and scavenger hunts to engage other students and to improve their awareness of SCAW, IVSA or animal welfare topics overall. SCAW supports the ambassadors in these efforts. The ambassadors may write articles for the SCAW blog about animal welfare issues that they are interested in or by interviewing a specialist from their local community.
SCAW Blog
Chair and Committee Structure
Committee Structure
Chair of Committee: Anna Wilson, email: scaw@ivsa.org
Secretary:
Schedule SCAW committee team meetings and take minutes during these meetings
Function as the chair’s right hand and assist the chair with several task
Project Manager:
Create regular reports for sponsors on use of funds
Organise sponsorship for MO’s for animal welfare events – especially for Animal Welfare Week
Work closely with Regional Teams and MO’s to organise events online or and in person events – in compliance with local COVID restrictions (with ExCo approval)
Create reports for external partners on SCAW’s activities/community engagement in relation to their organizations
Research and Data Analyst (2x):
Search for new research developments on animal welfare in livestock & wild species in each of SCAWS regions – partial collaboration with Liaison Officer
Prepare reviews of scientific literature on specific topics: eg: livestock transportation, animal testing, patient care
Investigate alternatives for laboratory animals and livestock welfare developments
Investigate the significance of higher welfare certification schemes for farms/fisheries and its effects on all stakeholders including farmers, consumers, animals,and the environment
Prepare monthly reports on new developments/findings in the welfare science world.
Investigate the sentience and specific welfare needs of different species
Stay abreast of animal welfare legislation globally
Education Officer:
Create new materials to educate students on specific animal welfare issues
Create surveys to identify what areas of welfare are being taught well/poorly in MO vet schools – this information will be used to create a SCAW report at the end of the year
Collaborate with SCOVE/SCOH to create animal welfare material for their platforms
Keep up to date on animal welfare webinars/conferences/new books etc- to share with our committee/SCAW network via social media and meetings
Collaborate with Ambassadors Manager to educate on animal welfare issues/create regional activities
Organise & coordinate webinars & workshops with guest speakers
Organise bi-monthly (every two months) SCAW debate series
Editor (2x):
Create a final edit of all public facing SCAW material focusing on proper use of grammar, sentence structure, and overall voice
Review material written by other SCAW committee members for grammar, sentence structure, and voice
Edit SCAW position statements and other official documents and comments
Fact check blogs, articles, social media posts before publication
Assist Social Media Managers with increasing social media engagement
Ambassador Manager:
Manage & promote recruitment processes (in collaboration with Social Media Managers).
Assist in evaluating selecting SCAW ambassador applications
Managing communication with ambassadors
Motivate and engage ambassadors in projects in monthly projects
Collect responses for Global Voices Project and other SCAW activities
Prepare social media ready extracts from the Welfare Global Voices reponses.
Collaborate with Liaison Officer to organise regional animal welfare organisation directory and animal welfare/lobbying tool kit
Collect Ambassador reports on a monthly basis
Social Media Manager (2x): Social Media Duties:
Create factual, interesting posts for SCAW’s Instagram and Facebook accounts – Week in Welfare series
Create a posting schedule and create a ‘SCAW brand’- keep everything consistent & relevant
Following and interacting with other animal welfare organizations via social media under supervision of the Chair
Work on improving engagement with posts and growing SCAW’s audience
Work with Education and Liaison Officers to share animal welfare opportunities to relevant groups via social media
Share information on SCAW’s activities via social media
Create topical posts – tie in holidays, national days, EU/Global/regional decisions etc.
Collaborate with the Education Officer & Research & Data analyst to present new research/educational materials via social media
Graphic Design Duties:
Create fun, brand specific graphic designs for all SCAW social media publications
Create designs for SCAW event presentation PDFs and slideshows
Work with the Research & Data Analyst to create fun, interesting articles etc from scientific literature designed to be easily digestible for the general public
Design SCAW’s public facing promotional materials
Create designs for SCAW’s projects – eg: Animal Welfare/Lobbying Tool Kit and collaboration with Education Officer to create a monthly animal welfare opportunities booklet
Create graphics and articles for the SCAW website
Liaison Officer:
Help to disseminate information on SCAW’s activities to all Regions and Communities
Attend Regional meetings and provide Committee updates
Work with Education Officer to disseminate information on animal welfare related scholarships, internships/externships, fellowships, and other regional and global opportunities
Collect information from Regions and communities on animal welfare concerns specific to them to use in animal welfare/lobbying tool kits in collaboration with the Regional Team.
External Relations Manager:
Maintain the relationship between SCAW and its current partners/sponsors
Create new partnerships and sponsorships for SCAW
Ensure the committee’s MOUs with its current sponsors/partners are up to date and that SCAW is fulfilling their responsibilities
