Join Dr. Kat Littlewood for the “Five Domains of Animal Care.” The Five Domains Model is a holistic and structured framework for gathering together well-being indicators and assessing animal well-being.

Maddie’s Fund^® Director of Outreach and Research, Sheila Segurson, DVM, DACVB will host this 60-minute webcast on Thursday, May 11 at 12:00PM PT/ 3:00PM ET.

Animal well-being represents how an animal experiences their life. It characterizes the overall mental experiences of an animal and is a subjective concept that cannot be directly measured. Instead, well-being indicators are used to cautiously infer mental experiences from resource provisions, management factors and a range of animal-based measures. The Five Domains Model is a holistic and structured framework for gathering together these indicators and assessing animal well-being. It is used to systematically assess the well-being of animals in a range of contexts and explicitly focuses on an animal’s mental experiences.

The Five Domains Model is used internationally to assess animal well-being in a range of contexts. The Model also represents a framework that could be used to advance animal care – by drawing attention to a wide range of areas where we can make improvements. While animal well-being is an animal-centered concept (i.e., the focus is on assessing an animal’s mental experiences), animal care is human-centered (i.e., the focus is on what we can provide for animals). Animal care encourages those responsible for animals to consider providing them with a range of opportunities so that they can have a good life. The aim of this presentation is to demonstrate how the Five Domains can be used to scientifically assess animal well-being and how they also provide a means of considering how best to care for animals.

After the webcast, join us on Maddie’s Pet Forum to continue the discussion and exchange ideas.

Register now for” Five Domains of Animal Care.” This webcast will be recorded and has been pre-approved for 1.0 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and by the National Animal Care & Control Association.