UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has introduced the recent rent of Abby Hodder because the assistant scientific professor of canine behavioral welfare within the Department of Animal Science. Hodder’s onboarding marks the start of a Penn State Extension canine program designed to help skilled canine breeders via training, outreach and utilized analysis targeted on canine conduct and welfare.
The canine program is available to all canine breeders — whether or not non-public or industrial — no matter their breeding targets, whether or not for service, companionship, sport, present or different functions. While many breeders have addressed canine welfare, the canine program will encourage the implementation of welfare practices past bodily wants of meals, water, area and cleanliness.
An advisory council of stakeholders representing Pennsylvania canine breeders, veterinarians, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, and animal welfare teams will help this system by figuring out business wants relating to canine welfare.
The canine extension program will conduct in-person workshops and conferences, aiming to schedule a workshop for October 2024. Other outputs will embody individual consultations and on-line/print academic supplies for numerous audiences. Hodder additionally plans to develop relationships with teams and different universities, similar to Purdue, Ohio State and others, to enhance canine breeding practices.
Dog breeders locally in search of training and help drove the creation of this system, Hodder famous. Spring Point Partners, a Philadelphia-based organization targeted on social impression and investments, alerted Penn State to the necessity. Through its Life of Riley program, which funds initiatives that advance animal welfare, the organization approached Penn State about making a position and extension program.
“The most important thing I want to get across is that the canine program is here to support breeders in every way possible,” Hodder stated. “We are on the breeder’s side and believe canine extension can learn just as much from them as they could learn from us.”
To be taught extra about this system, contact Hodder at [email protected] or 814-863-4611.
