UBC Animal Welfare Program

Over 100 attendees joined UBC AWP for the 2026 Canine Science Conference in Vancouver!

Researchers and practitioners from eight countries shared insights on dog welfare, behaviour, health, evolution, and human–dog relationships. The conference also featured a special public event celebrating the Coast Salish Woolly Dog through storytelling, film, and discussion with authors, knowledge holders, and researchers. Thank you to all of the speakers, panelists, volunteers, and attendees who made this event possible!

Read more about the 2026 CSC here: https://awp.landfood.ubc.ca/2026/06/14/ubc-awp-hosts-the-2026-canine-science-conference/

Congratulations to AWP Postdoc Dr. Lexis Ly for winning the People's Choice Award for her presentation at the 2026 Canine Science Conference! Lexis shared her research about dog data collection in animal shelters.

🎉 Huge congratulations to (Kehan) Sheng for taking second place in the Three Minute Thesis competition during the Responsible AI Track at the 2026 Canadian AI Conference (Vancouver, BC)!
Sky presented work from her PhD thesis exploring how generative AI shapes our perception of livestock farming. What makes this research particularly striking is that the AI model itself is aware of the modern realities of intensive livestock farming, but the prompt revision process erased them from the generated images in favour of more agrarian images.
Congratulations, Sky! We look forward to seeing where your research goes next. 🎊

Here is the link to Sky's paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.19771

Join the Canine Science Society and the UBC AWP at a special event, "The Woolly Dog: An Evening of Story, Film, and Coast Salish Knowledge," to explore the history, science, and cultural significance of the Coast Salish Woolly Dog.

As part of the 2026 Canine Science Conference, taking place at UBC Robson Square, this evening event includes an author and book presentation, documentary screening, and panel discussion.

🗓️ Thursday, June 4th, 2026 @ 7:00-9:00 pm (PT)
📍 UBC Robson Square, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
🎟️ Tickets available for purchase (non-conference attendees) here: https://www.caninesciencesociety.org/event-details/the-woolly-dog-an-evening-of-story-film-and-coast-salish-knowledge

Recently, David Fraser met with Barry Hughes in Edinburgh, where they had been colleagues in the early 1970s. At that time, Barry was starting a distinguished career doing some of the earliest research on the welfare of poultry. His first work demonstrated nutrient-specific appetites in chickens and proposed the use of preference-testing as a method to identify better alternatives in animal housing.

New publication from the AWP!
In an invited Animal Behaviour and Welfare case study, PhD student Maya Bodnar and colleagues outline their application of the "drop method" for laboratory mouse isoflurane anesthesia, and discuss the practical and animal welfare considerations associated with this approach. This method can be used as an effective and humane alternative for anesthesia before euthanasia in facilities lacking access to vaporizers. This case study provides guidance on various aspects of implementation, including induction chamber design, dosing calculations, and animal monitoring.

Read the article here: https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/10.1079/abwcases.2026.0010.

New research from the Animal Welfare Program at UBC explores: Automatic milking systems (AMS) - how much freedom do cows have to choose when they are milked?
In this invited review article published in the Journal of Dairy Science, post doctoral researcher Sarah Kappel and colleagues from the UBC Animal Welfare Program explore cows’ opportunity for agency in AMS. The review highlights that “voluntary” milking still requires cows to be milked at regular intervals, typically incentivized through rewards such as feed. How much control cows have over the milking process is further limited by the factors associated with system design and individual characteristics of the cow.
Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2025-27863

New research from BSc Applied Animal Biology graduate Silvija Grava, supervised by Dr. Lexis Ly and Dr. Alexandra Protopopova, explores how pet cafés may support the adoption of rescued rabbits.
In a survey of visitors to a rabbit café in Vancouver, they found that most people came to spend time with rabbits and valued hands-on interaction, but only 2% were looking to adopt an animal. More social rabbits were generally preferred by visitors, suggesting that behaviour may shape adoptability. While the café created meaningful experiences, it did not lead to adoptions during the study period, highlighting the need to better connect visitor interest with adoption outcomes.

Read the full paper here: https://jsmcah.org/index.php/jasv/article/view/167

AWP Postdoctoral Fellow (PhD '25) Lexis Ly won the 2025 Faculty of Land and Food Systems Top Dissertation Award for her work "Investigating owner relinquishment to animal shelters through data practices, self-rehoming outcomes, and community surrender pathways."
Congratulations, Lexis!