OTHER NEWS 2012 Animal Welfare Judging and Assessment Contest
2012 Christofor Award in Animal Welfare
Congratulations to the AVC team of Marianne Parent, Jessie Dowe, Nicole Mayne, Laura-Beth Collins, and Shari Raheb (pictured below with Dr. Ian Duncan) who placed second in the 12th Annual Intercollegiate Animal Welfare Judging and Assessment Contest held in November at the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario. Veterinary and animal science students from universities across North America and the Caribbean were judged based on their cumulative individual scores in assessing the welfare of two different scenarios of veal calves, laying hens, and companion animals in a veterinary clinic, together with assessment as a team of the welfare of laboratory mice. Nicole Mayne and Shari Raheb tied for fourth place in individual scoring. The AVC team was coached by Dr. Michael Cockram, with additional coaching by Dr. Jonathan Spears. Dr. Crook was a judge at the competition and gave a presentation entitled “Welfare of companion animals in a veterinary clinic environment.”
Fourth-year student Shari Raheb received the 2012 Christofor Award in Animal Welfare at the AVC Fall Awards and Recognition Night on October 4. The depth of Shari’s long-standing and sustained commitment to helping animals is readily apparent from her active volunteer activities since the age of 13, including fostering cats and kittens from the Toronto Humane Society while still living at home; providing enrichment through socialization and exercise of dogs, rabbits, rats, and guinea pigs with Central Animal Services while an undergraduate at the University of Guelph; and, while on a six-month exchange programme in Sydney, Australia, assisting in the day-to-day care and socialization of cats and kittens at the Cat Protection Society of New South Wales. Upon relocating to PEI, Shari began volunteering with the PEI Humane Society and, in her second year at AVC, she was accepted in the SJDAWC-funded Humane dog training programme, which she describes as a “dream come true.” She became the student coordinator of the programme and gained experience through leading the team of fellow student trainers. She has worked closely on behaviour modification with the dogs
Funding for the students’ expenses was provided through the SJDAWC Student Project Fund, the American Veterinary Medical Association, and the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, UK.
2012 Christofor Award recipient Shari Raheb and presenter Dr. Alice Crook at the shelter, provided advice to past and potential adopters about behaviour problems, and visited local schools and community groups to talk to children about responsible pet care, dog safety, and bite prevention. This experience has strengthened her interest in shelter medicine and clinical behaviour (especially as related to shelter animals). The SJDAWC-funded Feral cat neutering programme is also dear to Shari’s heart. She became involved in an organizational capacity in her first year at AVC and has helped out with almost every bi-monthly Saturday neuter clinic since. She says this programme, through which veterinarians, veterinary students, and community members work together to reduce feral cat numbers in a safe and humane way, has taught her that improving animal welfare is a community endeavour but that veterinarians have a very important leadership role to play. Shari was a member of the AVC team that placed second at the 2012 Animal Welfare Judging Competition at the University of Guelph, and she tied for fourth place in individual scoring.
AVC team of Marianne Parent, Jessie Dowe, Nicole Mayne, Laura-Beth Collins, and Shari Raheb (with Dr. Ian Duncan) who placed second in the 12th Annual Intercollegiate Animal Welfare Judging and Assessment Contest
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SJDAWC News
The SJDAWC congratulates Shari on her well-deserved receipt of the Christofor Award and has no doubt that she will continue to promote the best possible mental as well as physical health in her patients, to make their welfare the best it can be.