IVSA Animal Welfare Week 2019
This week is The International Veterinary Students’ Association (IVSA)’s Animal Welfare Week.
The IVSA is a global veterinary students association with representation across six continents and in more than 60 countries around the world.
IVSA’s Animal Welfare Week is organised by the the organisation’s Standing Committee on Animal Welfare (SCAW). Being held this year from the 4th – 11th of March, the week is all about IVSA members raising the profile of animal welfare issues worldwide.
Wild Welfare’s director, Georgina Groves, is a patron of IVSA’S Animal Welfare Committee, a role which sees her act as a mentor and contact for students looking to pursue a career in animal welfare.
Last year, Georgina spoke at the IVSA’s biennial Animal Welfare Conference, where she got the chance to inspire the next generation of dedicated veterinary professionals.
“The IVSA is a global community where students can inspire and be inspired to make a difference to animals’ lives and I’m very proud to be a Patron of one of their committees,” said Georgina.
“Their Animal Welfare Week is just one part of what they do, but what better way to raise awareness of all kinds of animal welfare issues around the world than by a week-long focus on ongoing projects, research and learning.”
Across this week the IVSA are sharing highlights from events taking place at veterinary universities around the globe, carrying out daily animal welfare quizzes on their social media pages and running animal welfare-themed competitions.
IVSA’s aims include the overall progress of veterinary students and improving the standard of veterinary education internationally. The IVSA standing committees and working groups create projects to improve IVSA members’ knowledge in particular areas, working with globally-recognised organisations to help support the more than 35,000 IVSA members worldwide.
The Chair of SCAW, Meg Rawlins, said: “Animal Welfare Week is one of SCAW’s projects close to my heart, as it truly represents the global scale of IVSA and the impact which we can have. I have been astounded in the past years by the events which local member organisations have put on, ranging from vaccination drives and conferences to animal welfare education within their local community.
“We get engagement from all over the world, with veterinary students from a diverse range of backgrounds. This week can truly make a difference to animals lives and it is inspiring to see the next generation of veterinary students making such a difference within their community.”
For more information on Animal Welfare Week visit www.ivsa-committees.org or check out their social media pages all this week.
