Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre at AVC offers fall webinar series
The Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre (SJDAWC), Atlantic Veterinary College, will offer its 2021 Fall Webinar Series on September 14 and 28, and October 12. Each webinar will take place from 4 to 5 pm. Atlantic Daylight Time.
Dr. Karen L. Overall, professor of behaviour medicine at AVC and a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behavior (ACVB), will present the three webinars. Dr. Overall is author of over 100 scholarly publications, dozens of textbook chapters, the texts Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals and Manual of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Dogs and Cats, and the DVD, Humane Behavioral Care for Dogs: Problem Prevention and Treatment. She is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Veterinary Behaviour: Clinical Applications and Research.
The first webinar, which will take place on September 14, will address the welfare of dogs and cats during veterinary visits. Dr. Overall will discuss making decisions about alleviating suffering that may be caused during a visit, unintended though it is. She will address several issues, including whether pets should be premedicated, acceptable levels of distress for dogs undergoing veterinary evaluation, and benchmarks that suggest medication be used to help manage fear, anxiety, and distress. The talk will involve a discussion of medications that may be useful, alone or in combination, and will feature a series of flow charts and decision trees that can provide guidance to ensure that patients do not learn that veterinarians are threats.
During the webinar on September 28, Dr. Overall will talk about new approaches to minimizing stress and distress when handling dogs and cats. She will address issues such as the effect of restraint on an animal, deciding whether there is a need for restraint, and how the way decisions are made about restraint are changing. She will focus on some of the neurochemical effects of restraint and newer data showing alternative approaches that may keep all involved safer and allow them to practice medication in a way that benefits everyone.
The third webinar, on October 12, will address “What’s new, hot, and important in veterinary behaviour and behavioural medicine literature?” The best of veterinary behaviour and behavioural medicine literature is published in journals that are not readily accessible to busy veterinary teams. Dr. Overall will review recent publications that have clinical applications meaningful for veterinary patients.
The cost of registration is $50 per webinar or $120 for all three (HST included), plus Eventbrite fees. There is no charge for veterinary students or AHT students. Participating veterinarians and veterinary technicians will earn one hour of RACE-accredited CE per webinar (RACE-program number: 20-864250). Click here to register.
For more information, go to awc.upei.ca/webinars/
