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News
SCAS welcomes parliamentary support for Pets for Life campaign
SCAS will receive a welcome boost of support this Friday 5 March, when Nigel Waterson MP presents to the House of Commons the Second Reading of his Private Member's Bill to increase the number of residential care and sheltered housing providers which allow pets to live with their owners.
As Shadow Minister for Older People, Nigel Waterson MP explains: "The UK needs to adopt a more enlightened and responsible policy towards increasing the number of care homes and sheltered housing accommodation which allow pets in residence. The current practice is totally unacceptable in a civilised country and we should follow the example of countries, such as France and the USA, who have passed legislation aimed at allowing people to keep their beloved pets."
SCAS responds to Dignity Care Report
The Society for Companion Animal Studies (SCAS) applauds Sir Michael Parkinson's call this week to break down stereotypes and ensure older people in care are treated with dignity. SCAS is also taking the opportunity to highlight other considerations important to the health and wellbeing of older people, including the companionship of pets.
Jo-Ann Fowler, Director of SCAS, said: "As well as basic crucial standards of care for older people, we must not overlook the lifestyle choices that enhance their quality of life, such as pet ownership. Around a quarter of all people over retirement age own pets, and the health and social benefits are well-documented. But the reality is that many people are forced to give up their beloved pets when they move into care and this issue must form part of the debate about the rights and dignity of older people."
The Pets for Life campaign, launched by SCAS in 2008, aims to highlight the impact on older people of the widespread lack of coherent policies on pet ownership in residential care homes and sheltered accommodation throughout the UK. The charity is urging housing providers to develop clear pet policies to ensure that older people can make informed choices about the most suitable accommodation.
Visit our Pets for Life pages to find out more
12th international IAHAIO conference, 1-4 July 2010, Stockholm, Sweden People and Animals: For Life
Visit IAHAIO_2010_conference for more details.
Deadline for Abstracts: 30 November 2009
SCAS research scholarship 2009
We are delighted to announce that the SCAS scholarship has been awarded to Miss Marguerite (Maggie) O'Haire, a student at the University of Queensland, Australia. Her study will be assessing the impact of animal-assisted activities with a pet guinea pig for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their peers in a classroom setting. Full results of the study will be published in a future issues of the SCAS Journal.
COST Action: Animal-assisted interventions - calling researchers and practitioners
COST is an intergovernmental European initiative to foster co-operation between nationally funded research activities. COST Actions are networks of scientists who receive support to enable them to cooperate and to disseminate the results of their cooperation. At the beginning of October 2008, Elizabeth Ormerod, SCAS Chairman and SCAS member Karen Kendall, participated in a COST 866 Green Care workshop in Thessaloniki Greece. Through effective networking and discussion, gained further support for the creation of a new COST Action for animal-assisted interventions (AAI), including animal assisted therapy (AAT) andEducation (AAE).
Click on the link below to find out more about this proposed new COST Action and how you can participate.
Update: The preliminary proposal was submitted in September and the outcome of this first round submission should be known in November. If successful, a full proposal will be submitted in March next year with the final outcome known towards the end of 2010.
Practical guidelines on pet management for housing providers
Pathway, of which SCAS is a member, and the Pets Advisory Committee have recently launched a new resource for housing providers.
Covering all types of pets from dogs, cats and rabbits to spiders, snakes and snails, the pack gives expert advice in a number of essential areas. The resource pack is free and it can be downloaded from the Pathway website at Pathway.
Alternatively, if you would like a hard copy of the full document, please send a cheque for £2.50 to cover postage and packing (payable to Dogs Trust) to Pathway, c/o Dogs Trust, 17 Wekley Street, London, EX1V 7RQ.