Animal Welfare Assessment Contest
November 7-9, 2025 | Texas A&M University
Rules and resources
What to expect
During the contest, students will review computer-based presentations containing data, videos, and photos of animals under two comparable situations. The presentation will run in a loop for approximately 20 minutes. Students will evaluate the different situations, prepare their analysis, and make an oral presentation to expert judges defending their assessment.
Students also will view a live/on-site scenario at the host university. This portion of the contest may be completed as an individual or as part of a team. Students will have 20 minutes to view various stations at an actual animal facility. They will then prepare an analysis and present it to a panel of judges.
Species covered in the fall 2025 contest:
- Live: Tilapia aquaculture
- Pet gerbil
- Snakes in a zoo
- Dressage horse
Preparation tips
- Solicit a team of interested individuals (3 to 5 students per team).
- Review the contest rules.
- Previous coursework in animal welfare is helpful but not necessary.
- Identify a faculty coach if possible, coaches can assist students in reviewing relevant background material.
- Discuss current animal care practices across a variety of animal uses and debate potential welfare concerns and benefits of different approaches to housing, husbandry, and transport.
- Evaluate different scenarios using provided examples, video tapes, hypothetical data, and other useful media. Integrate a variety of physiologic, health, and behavioral indicators of well-being into welfare assessment.
- Practice providing oral presentations of welfare assessments.
- Put skills learned to the test in the next Animal Welfare Assessment Contest!
Sample scenarios
Watch these videos as examples of the presentations students are asked to review and assess during the Animal Welfare Judging Assessment Contest. During the contest, such a presentation will run in a loop for approximately 20 minutes. Students will evaluate the different situations depicted, prepare an analysis, and make an oral presentation to expert judges to defend their assessment. Most scenarios also include a PDF of a written example of what a student's oral presentation of assessment might include.
Aquaculture
Canine
Dairy goat
Rabbit
Sheep farm
Show horse
Oral presentations
Test your evaluation skills
- Test your evaluation skills with interactive quizzes:
- Test your evaluation skills with this interactive course available on AVMA Axon: