We are an animal welfare epidemiology research group in the Department of Animal Science at UC Davis. We conduct research in a variety of areas including low-stress handling, mitigating agonistic interactions in socially housed animals, developing strategies to reduce procedural pain and stress, and studying human-animal interactions. We conduct research with a range of animal species including companion cats, dairy goats, laboratory rodents, and fish.

We are currently studying the following areas: 1) improving accessibility to veterinary care for cats and their guardians, 2) kitten socialization,  3) reducing negative experiences for cats and their guardians during in-clinic veterinary visits, 4) improving the welfare of dairy goat kids during early rearing practices, 5) fish welfare in hatcheries.

What is animal welfare epidemiology?
Simply put, we mix animal ethology & animal epidemiology concepts, research methods, and statistics to conduct research that is focused on improving the lives of animals. We are an inherently interdisciplinary and collaborative group of researchers!

Photo: Olive

We are affiliated with the following UC Davis groups:

UC Davis Center for Animal Welfare – http://animalwelfare.ucdavis.edu/
Animal Biology Graduate Group (MS & PhD Programs) – https://animalbiology.ucdavis.edu/
Master of Preventative Veterinary Medicine Graduate Group (MPVM Program) – https://mpvm.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/
Working Anthrozoology Group – https://wag.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/