EAST LANSING, Mich. — Twelve teams representing universities from across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom are competing this weekend in the ninth annual Animal Welfare Judging and Assessment Contest on MSU's campus.

The contest provides veterinary students the opportunity to use multiple measures of animal well-being, such as physiology, health, behavior, and production, to objectively assess the welfare of different species in a variety of environments.

The ability to fairly and holistically assess an animal's situation requires a comprehensive knowledge of animal physiology and behavior as well as well-developed critical thinking skills, organizers said.

Events will begin at 9 a.m. Nov. 21 and finish with an awards ceremony and reception at 3 p.m. Nov. 22. Kicking off events will be several experts - including Richard Ehrhardt and Camie Heleski from MSU - discussing the well-being of animals such as goats, sheep, horses and laboratory rats. Those speeches will be held at MSU's Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, 4125 Beaumont Road.

To learn more about the contest and for a full schedule of events, go to http://www.canr.msu.edu/animalwelfare/AWJC/AWJC.htm.

###