Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH : 2018 'Ruminant Well-Being Awards’ open for application

Ingelheim, Germany, 15 January, 2018 - Boehringer Ingelheim is announcing the 2018 'Ruminant Well-Being Awards' which are now open for application. The bi-annual awards, held in partnership with the World Association for Buiatrics (WAB), reflect Boehringer Ingelheim's long-term commitment to promoting the health and well-being of farm animals. The award ceremony, will take place at the annual World Buiatrics Congress highlighting the important role played by vets in the continuous improvement of animal welfare for food-producing ruminants.

The next congress will be held in Sapporo, Japan (28 Aug - 1 Sept 2018), and for the first time presents two different awards: (1) a Ruminant Well-Being Research Award, and (2) a Ruminant Well-Being Achievement Award. Each award comprises a €10,000 cash prize, plus reimbursement of the recipient's travel expenses to attend the conference and ceremony.

The Ruminant Well-Being Research Award

This award will be offered to a recent PhD graduate in veterinary science, animal science or related disciplines that made an exceptional contribution to the scientific knowledge on ruminant well-being by:

• Improving our understanding of pain expression as well as the recognition of pain and other forms of suffering
• Developing scientific methods of measuring animal well-being, with potential practical applications
• Developing scientific based strategies that improve animal well-being
• Identifying issues of concern and seeking solutions to challenges
• Developing methods to change human attitudes and behaviour to ensure proper stewardship

The Ruminant Well-Being Achievement Award

The second award category will be offered to a practising veterinarian or a researcher in veterinary science, animal science or related disciplines to recognise his/her achievements in advancing the well-being of ruminants. It aims at rewarding an individual that made a contribution to the well-being of food-producing ruminants by:

• Improving our understanding of pain expression as well as the recognition of pain and other forms of suffering
• Developing scientific methods of measuring animal well-being
• Developing practical well-being assessment methods
• Developing practical strategies to improve animal well-being
• Raising awareness of issues of concern; engaging different stakeholders in seeking solutions to challenges
• Changing human attitudes and behaviour to ensure proper stewardship
• Communicating information about, and proposing solutions to, animal well-being challenges with courage and integrity

The winner of the award will be selected by an independent expert panel under the supervision of Xavier Manteca, Professor in Applied Ethology at the University of Barcelona and founder of the Farm Animal Welfare Education Centre (www.fawec.org(link is external)).
Application forms and criteria can be found on the Boehringer Ingelheim website on Farm Animal Well-Being www.farmanimalwellbeing.com(link is external) as well as on the WAB website www.wbc2018.com(link is external).

About Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health
As the second largest animal health business in the world, Boehringer Ingelheim is committed to improving animal health. With more than 10,000 employees worldwide, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health has products available in more than 150 markets and a global presence in 99 countries. For more information about Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, click here.