Dr. Sara Dubois
Animal Welfare Researchers to Develop Wildlife Accreditation Program
Apr 26, 2016
The control of problem wildlife is a global issue and an unsolved problem of animal welfare. Although many wildlife control companies market their methods as “humane”, there are few standards and currently no third-party accreditation programs.
Earlier this month, LFS Adjunct Professor Sara Dubois and Professor David Fraser were awarded $180,000 from the Vancouver Foundation to create an accreditation program for humane wildlife control. The funding will support the development of the program in 2016, a BC pilot project in 2017, and a BC-wide strategy in 2018.
Drawing on global research and the BC SPCA’s experience in managing an accreditation program for animal-source foods, the new project will set out widely accepted principles and standards, and develop a self-sustaining accreditation program to certify that companies are using humane methods.
Prof. David Fraser
The project began in late-2014 with a Solutions Initiative grant from the Peter Wall Institute which funded the hiring of LFS alumna Erin Ryan (BSc APBI) for 2015 & 2016, and the hosting of an international workshop at UBC in July 2015. The additional funding from the Vancouver Foundation will bring Nicole Fenwick (MSc graduate from the Animal Welfare Program) into the team to work on implementing the accreditation program.