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Improved animal welfare has over the last few years become a priority target of governmental organizations and politicians across the world. But animal welfare legislation often develops with insufficient access to scientific information. The current project is part of the AWIN (www.animal-welfare-indicators.net) programme, which includes ten institutions in seven countries across Europe, USA and Brazil. The goal of the project is to develop a framework to facilitate the implementation of science based legislation on animal welfare.
The research project at the University of Cambridge will develop new animal welfare indicators and use them to build a better understanding of the role of the sheep diseases foot-rot, mastitis and pregnancy toxaemia in compromising animal welfare. Diseased and control animals will be identified in sheep flocks in East Anglia, England and from other participant countries of the AWIN programme. The PhD project will measure behavioural markers and biomarkers of stress in naturally occurring diseased animals and in control animals from the same flock. The prevalence and nature of pain related behaviours, and lameness scores where appropriate, will be recorded. Biomarkers including glucocorticoids and cytokines, will be measured in samples collected from both control and diseased animals before and after successful treatment. The benefits of pain relief on recovery will also be explored. The results will be used to develop tools to promote improved animal welfare outcomes for diseased sheep.
Dr David Sargan is the Director of Graduate Studies. The project supervisors are Dr Murray Corke and Dr Fernando Constantino-Casas and for further information please contact Dr Corke at on mjc56@cam.ac.uk or Dr Constantino-Casas on fc307@cam.ac.uk
Please apply by sending a covering letter and CV to Meg Staff, Research and Graduate Education Officer at the Department of Veterinary Medicine, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ES or by email to mas32@cam.ac.uk
Funding Notes:
Candidates should have a good degree (at least a 2:1 or equivalent) in one of the biological sciences. It is desirable but not essential that the candidate has (or are about to obtain) a veterinary degree eligible for MRCVS.
This project is EU funded for 3 years.