Hone your animal welfare skills this April

AVMA’s Animal Welfare Assessment Contest takes place virtually this April, making it easy for practicing veterinarians and veterinary technicians to attend this unique CE event without taking time off to travel.

Participants learn techniques to objectively assess the welfare of animals in different living and working situations, through both seminars and interactive assessment scenarios. During the awards ceremony, attendees receive feedback from the animal welfare experts who serve as judges. This spring’s event will look at animals in these scenarios: 

• Gestating sows
• Ray/shark/skate touch tank in a zoo

The contest takes place April 26-27, 2025, online. All levels of interest and experience are welcome, and attendees can earn up to 5 hours of continuing education (CE) credit.

Learn more and register here. Registration closes April 14.

What to expect

Each day of the event will feature one assessment scenario along with expert presentations on animal welfare policy, legislation, and regulation. During the assessments, participants analyze the welfare of animals in comparative scenarios, identify which scenario better supports the animals’ welfare, and present their findings orally to judges. The judges, in turn, provide feedback by explaining how they themselves assessed each scenario, along with key points they were looking for the participants to address in their oral presentations. 

Veterinarians and veterinary technicians take part in all activities, including presenting oral assessments and receiving scores, but don't compete for awards. Student participants compete for awards in three divisions: veterinary, graduate, and undergraduate.

The virtual event also will feature a poster gallery. Attendees are encouraged to submit a poster to share with other participants, featuring a research project or clinical case study involving animal welfare. Posters must be submitted by April 11.