Author Archives: SCAS

Scottish Labour’s Paws Clause

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Scottish Labour believe everyone, particularly those who are vulnerable, should have the opportunity to access the wellbeing benefits that pets can provide. As such, their Green Paper, Paws Clause, has been developed to identify a number of potential policies which would help people in Scotland to keep their pets with them more easily.

We were delighted to be invited by Claudia Beamish (Scottish Labour Spokesperson for Environment, Climate Change, and Land Reform) to submit a formal response to this Green Paper to show our support and help influence the formal process for policy decision making within the party. Continue reading →

Purina Better with Pets Prize initiative – closing date 15 April 2018

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The BetterwithPets Prize, valued at CHF 100, 000, offers a fantastic opportunity for human-animal bond programmes and projects to gain support for their work. The prize is aimed at supporting and expanding leading innovations and initiatives focused on harnessing the positive power of the pet-human bond. This is a European initiative and entry is open to applicants from any country in the European Union as well as Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine and Norway. Applicants will get the chance to win prizes totalling CHF 100,000 and receive feedback on their initiatives from experts in their field.  Closing date for application is 15 April. Further details can be found here.

SCAS seeking new Trustees

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SCAS is seeking to appoint new Trustees to help drive its development over the next few years. SCAS’s Board of Trustees needs members with business skills, management experience and understanding of charities. Relevant professions currently not represented on the SCAS Board include social sciences, health and social care, web and digital development and medicine, including psychiatry and psychology. Trustees should ideally have relevant experience of the human-animal bond and must have an interest in this special bond and a commitment to the work of SCAS. Potential Trustees should have the drive and enthusiasm to take the charity forward.

Nominations for the Board need to be returned by the 1st March 2018. Elections will take place at the AGM on the 17th March 2018.  

Click here for further details of how to apply and the nomination form.

 

SCAS conference 2018 – Pets and Housing

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Details of our next conference on 17 March 2018 are now available! Our focus for the conference is the important issue of Pets and Housing. We will explore the evidence and consider the latest findings as we look to raise awareness of how pets can enhance the health and wellbeing of tenants.

This event is free to SCAS members and £50 for non-members.

Get Involved: New Research Group

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Call for expressions of interest to join a research group in Early Childhood Educational Anthrozoology (based at Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK)

The research group has a particular focus on developing connections between researchers who are looking at the ways in which;

  • young children’s animals-related learning is scaffolded by early education professionals and in education settings
  • child-animal relationships are supported/managed in different early education contexts
  • adults develop young children’s thinking about anthrozoology

and how;

  • practice varies in different contexts
  • teaching and learning is connected to local and global initiatives

Within the research group, a journal is being developed – the Journal of Early Childhood Educational Anthrozoology – which members are encouraged submit to.

If you would like to join the ECEA research group, please email ecea@ljmu.ac.uk in the first instance, with a brief synopsis of your research background and your interests as they relate to the focus of the research group.

Please share this information with others who might be interested in the group. There is a new page on Facebook ‘Early Childhood Educational Anthrozoology – ECEA – research group’

Get Involved: Help with AAT research

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Masters student Kerry Townsend invites practitioners who deliver animal-assisted therapy (AAT) sessions to complete a brief (10-15 minute) online questionnaire.

This is a student research project, undertaken as an element of the MSc Occupational Therapy (pre-registration) degree at Sheffield Hallam University.

The study aims to survey the skills and activities worked on by people who practise AAT across the UK. The researcher is particularly interested in stroke rehabilitation, however it is not necessary for you to have prior knowledge or experience in stroke rehabilitation or occupational therapy to complete the questionnaire. Participation is entirely voluntary.

You will be contributing to research that hopes to inform the evidence base for AAT. The study is sponsored by Sheffield Hallam University and has been reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee.

Please complete the questionnaire by 13th of September 2015 (date has been extended).

Questionnaire link: http://goo.gl/forms/zyfVTHKd1p
Any questions please contact Kerry Townsend, Kerry.L.Townsend@student.shu.ac.uk

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS – HAI RESEARCH

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CALL FOR APPLICATIONS – HAI RESEARCH

The WALTHAM® Human–Animal Interaction (HAI) Research Programme is pleased to announce the availability of £340,000 (approximately 524,000 USD) in 2015 to fund high quality research into the impact of companion animals on human cognition or academic outcomes.

Although animals are often included in educational settings for a variety of purposes, there is little empirical research documenting the efficacy of such practices. In the absence of an assessment system for these activities there are significant gaps in our understanding of the potential impact of animals on measures of academic success. Fundamental research is required to provide an evidence base to inform practice and guide educators and administrators on when, and under what circumstances, animal presence or animal ownership may be pedagogically valuable.

Specific areas of research eligible for funding under this call include but are not limited to the following categories:

  • Reading/literacy
  • Academic learning outcomes
  • Aspects of cognition (executive function, memory, learning, categorization, language etc.)
  • Stress/anxiety reduction
  • Classroom behaviours impacting academic success
  • Physical activity and cognition/learning
  • Typical and/or special populations (e.g. ADHD, autism spectrum, etc.)

Deadlines:

Letter of Intent: Prior to submitting a formal application, investigators are required to submit a Letter of Intent to Dr. Nancy Gee (nancy. gee@effem.com) by June 1, 2015.

Application: The application deadline is June 31, 2015.

Further details and the application can be downloaded from the WALTHAM
website:
http://www.waltham.com/waltham-research/other-funding-opportunities/

Job vacancy at Dogs for the Disabled

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Dogs for the Disabled is seeking a full time AAI Services Development Adviser on a two year fixed term contract to lead the focused development of the charity’s Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) services.

Specifically, the post will develop and implement detailed business plans, create the required staffing structures and ensure commercial opportunities within the charity’s wider operation are optimised.

Further information and a full job description is available from the Dogs for the Disabled website.

If you have any queries regarding this vacancy or want to discuss the role further, please e-mail Peter Gorbing, Chief Executive on peter.gorbing@dogsforthedisabled.org