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Cats and Dogs and Elephants Oh My!. Applying the Open Standards to an Animal Welfare-Based Conservation Organization. Objectives. By the end of the session, participants will: Understand how to incorporate animal welfare into OS processes.
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Cats and Dogs and Elephants Oh My! Applying the Open Standards to an Animal Welfare-Based Conservation Organization
Objectives By the end of the session, participants will: Understand how to incorporate animal welfare into OS processes. Consider new ways to measure impact on conservation targets
What is Animal Welfare? • Defined as the physical and mental well-being of animals. • Often assessed using the “five freedoms:” • Freedom from hunger and thirst • Freedom from discomfort • Freedom from pain, injury or disease • Freedom to express normal behavior • Freedom from fear or distress
OS Already Works well with IFAW’s Elephants and Illegal Wildlife Trade Programs • Traditional conservation projects • Species and Threat Based
Animal Welfare Strategies Add Value to Conservation Projects • IFAW’s Alteration of the OS: • Stresses may be used to describe the biophysical and/or animal welfare impact of a threat on a conservation target; and • Strategies may be developed and implemented to reduce stress.
Animal Welfare Stress-Reduction Objectives and Measures • Sample Obj.: 2-year post-release survival rate of orphaned rhinoceros calves is 100%. • Act: post-release monitoring. • Sample Obj.: Orphaned rhino calves maintain low cortisol levels throughout rehabilitation. • Ind.: Cortisol level
What does an Animal Welfare Stress Reduction Strategy Look Like?
Open Standards, Dogs and Cats • IFAW’s alteration of the OS: • Objectives are to reduce threats and stresses. • No goal tied to target. • Interesting implication: IFAW does not oppose humane euthanasia of dogs as a strategy to reduce threats and stresses.
What does an Animal Welfare Stress Reduction Strategy Look Like for Dogs?
Why prioritize animal welfare strategies for wildlife? • Mission: • We believe that every animal has intrinsic value. • Business: • Stories of individual rescue drive communications and unrestricted funding, providing enormous flexibility for support of strategies for impact.