Center for the Study of Animal Well-Being
The Center for the Study of Animal Well-Being (CSAW) at Washington State University is a
cooperative effort between the
College of Veterinary
Medicine and the Department of
Animal Sciences in the College
of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. The goals
of CSAW are to generate and disseminate new knowledge aimed at
improving the well-being of animals, to enhance the mutual benefits of
human-animal interactions and to develop and present educational and
public service programs on animal well-being and human-animal
interactions.
Both domestic and wild animals represent emotional, ecological, and economical values to humanity. There is public concern about animal use in education, research, food production, entertainment, and as companions. It is important for society to learn more about the biological and psychological needs of all animals in order to determine what factors of animal care and use controlled by humans are truly in the animals' best interest.
Both domestic and wild animals represent emotional, ecological, and economical values to humanity. There is public concern about animal use in education, research, food production, entertainment, and as companions. It is important for society to learn more about the biological and psychological needs of all animals in order to determine what factors of animal care and use controlled by humans are truly in the animals' best interest.
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Dr. Sylvie Cloutier
A research assistant professor of CSAW, Dr. Cloutier studies factors affecting the behavior and well-being of animals used in agricultural production and laboratory animals used in biomedical research. Of particular interest, is her work towards improving the quality of interactions between animals and human caretakers/researchers. It is her hope that this research will lead to improvements in the reliability of animal models and the validity of research data collected from animals used in biomedical research and of animal well-being. |
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| Dr. François Martin Associate Director of CSAW and the Head of the People-Pet Partnership (PPP). PPP exists to research and educate the public about the human-animal bond and its applications. Just as importantly, PPP works to promote the proper treatment of companion animals. Dr. Martin’s research interest is aimed at generating scientific knowledge on human-animal interactions. Specifically, the exploration of how animals can contribute to the well-being of people and how the human-animal bond influences veterinary education and the practice of veterinary medicine. |
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| Dr. Ruth C. Newberry Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Animal Sciences and the Department of Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology and Physiology. Dr. Newberry investigates factors contributing to the expression of different forms of abnormal behavior in domestic animals. Specifically, she studies effects of early experience, environmental enrichment and social housing strategies, using play behavior as an indicator of well-being. This information is used to develop humane animal care methods that reduce the risk of animal injury and promote animal well-being. Dr. Newberry is currently the Senior Vice-President of the International Society for Applied Ethology and a scientific advisor to various groups addressing issues of farm animal well-being. |
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| Dr. Jaak Panksepp The newest addition to CSAW, recently appointed as the Baily Endowed Chair for Animal Well-Being Science at WSU College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Panksepp’s internationally recognized work has focused on the nature of the basic emotional systems of the mammalian brain, with the most recent work devoted to analyzing the brain mechanisms that mediate separation distress and social bonding. His discovery of the nature of social joy by studying the psychobiological controls of juvenile playfulness and the accompanying laughter-type sounds has redefined many of the current models of animal emotion understanding. Currently, his work is aimed at deepening and broadening our understanding of these systems biologically as well as exploring the consequences of this knowledge for understanding animal and human mental health issues. |
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