Cutest Pet

"Garbanzo aka Lion on his Throne"

Submitted by Jessica Yamauchi, Washington State University

Photography

Submitted by Skylar Moiseeva, Virginia-Maryland CVM

Michael J. Day Scholarship

Applications invited for the 2022 Scholarship

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) is calling for applications for a new Scholarship launched in memory of Emeritus Professor Michael J. Day. Open to veterinary students around the world, the Scholarship will provide financial assistance to enable the selected Scholar to carry out research into an aspect of small companion animal infectious disease, clinical vaccinology or immunology, subjects that Emeritus Professor Day championed throughout his distinguished career until his untimely death in 2020. The Michael J. Day Scholarship has been created by the WSAVA with the generous support of MSD Animal Health.  

Applications for the 2022 Michael J. Day Scholarship are invited from veterinary students, studying towards a registrable veterinary degree in an accredited veterinary establishment in a country in which the WSAVA has a member association.  Full details and guidance on the application process, together with eligibility criteria are available here: https://bit.ly/3NVlbQW

The Scholarship awardee will spend two-three months carrying out their research in a host university or academic environment of their own selection. They will receive a grant of up to US$15,000 to support them in carrying out their project.  

The deadline for nominations is August 31 2022 with the successful Scholar informed by the end of November 2022.  Their research project is expected to be conducted between August 2022 and September 2023.  Within three months of completion, the Scholar will be expected to provide a 1,500-word report on their findings. They will also be invited to present or publish their findings in English, as a poster or abstract, during WSAVA World Congress.

Emeritus Professor Michael Day was Chair of the WSAVA’s Vaccination Guidelines Group (VGG) from 2009 until March 2020. The VGG is a team of experts from around the world focused on providing evidence-based scientific advice to the global veterinary profession on optimum vaccination practice for dogs and cats. 

While VGG Chair, Professor Day worked tirelessly to transform companion animal vaccination practice globally and, in so doing, he helped to educate thousands of veterinarians, while supporting the welfare of millions of companion animals around the world. In recognition of this and his many other achievements, including serving as a member of the WSAVA Executive Board, he was the recipient of numerous veterinary awards, including the WSAVA’s highly prestigious Award for Global Meritorious Service.  

The current Chair of the VGG is Dr Richard Squires, Associate Professor in Companion Animal Medicine at James Cook University in Australia. Commenting on the launch of the Scholarship he said: “Michael Day’s global outlook and passion for veterinary education underpinned his commitment to raise standards of evidence-based vaccination practice.  With this in mind, we are delighted to launch this annual Scholarship in small companion animal infectious diseases, clinical vaccinology, and immunology in his memory.

“We are grateful to MSD Animal Health, the long-term committed Partner of the VGG, for supporting this Scholarship and believe it provides a richly deserved and enduring professional legacy for Professor Day. It is a fitting tribute to our greatly missed friend and colleague.”

“MSD Animal Health is dedicated to vaccine science and the health of small animals, just as Professor Day was throughout his career. We believe this Scholarship is a fitting tribute to his name and reputation and are proud to sponsor this Scholarship to encourage veterinary students to continue advancing research in this field,” said David Sutton, global technical director, Companion Animal Vaccines.

The WSAVA represents more than 200,000 veterinarians worldwide through its 115 member associations and works to enhance standards of clinical care for companion animals. Its core activities include the development of WSAVA Global Guidelines in key areas of veterinary practice, including pain management, nutrition and vaccination, together with lobbying on important issues affecting companion animal care worldwide.  

About MSD Animal Health

MSD Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA, is the global animal health business unit of MSD. Through its commitment to The Science of Healthier Animals®, MSD Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest ranges of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services as well as an extensive suite of connected technology that includes identification, traceability and monitoring products. MSD Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals and the people who care for them. For more information, visit www.msd-animal-health.com.

For further information, please contact:

Rebecca George, George PR, Tel: 01449 737281/07974 161108/ email: rebecca@georgepr.com

Op Ed

Submitted by Lindsey Airth, Western University

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like timing was everything? For many migrating birds and species, timing is everything. But recent increases in annual global temperatures over the past decades are now showing the effects of temperature change on animal migration patterns (1,6). Birds migrate because they must move from areas of lower, decreasing resources to areas of higher, increasing resources to increase their chances for survival and reproduction. Many bird species instinctually do this in response to the timing of cyclic changes in seasonal phenomena. Information and data related to seasonal events is important to understand, and he study of it is known as phenology (8). Bird migration is heavily influenced by environmental factors like temperature, hours of daylight, and wind speeds (2,6). Climate change affects wildlife in many ways, but changes in phenology and the negative impacts associated with it is one that is often overlooked by most people, including wildlife enthusiasts.  

Currently, the most harmful effect of phenology change is desynchronization between reproduction and food resources for migrating birds. Typically, migratory birds use hours of daylight, or photoperiods at their wintering site as their phenological cue to determine when to depart their wintering site. At the breeding site, temperature is used as the phenological cue for plant growth and subsequent insect food supply. The photoperiods of the wintering site should synchronize in a way that migrating birds arrive at their breeding site with enough time and resources to successfully breed and feed their young. In some species, the birds arrive and breed too late to keep up with the timing of the availability of their food supply (2,6). We now understand this desynchronization can be rooted to spring indices and first leaf presence of the year (4).

 Compared to the long-term average, 2022 reports of first leaf presence were reported anywhere from 7 days earlier to 9 days later in the southeastern US, and up to 22 days earlier in the western US (4). Arizona experienced ranges of up to 18 days outside of the long-term average leaf out period (4). Plants provide the food source for the insects that the birds eat, but how can birds know when the plants will grow to subsequently eat the food source, especially if these dates can range from days up to weeks? Making the wrong decision could mean life or death for these animals, and this is the problem migratory birds are trying to adapt to. Is there anything we as humans can do to help? Yes, absolutely! The best way to help resynchronize migratory animal phenology is by data collecting. A program through the United States Geological Survey (USGS) called ‘Nature’s Notebook’ is one way to collect data. ‘Nature’s Notebook’ a great way that people of the community can use phenology to observe and track seasonal changes in plants and animals. Anyone can become a Citizen scientist and utilize the features of the notebook. You are even able to choose specific locations and species you want to track! (3).

Changes in animal and plant phenology are among the most sensitive biological indictors of local, regional, and global health and change (4). The more data we can collect on local levels, the more information there will be to make the best decisions and conservation efforts to resynchronize the phenological events and patterns in migrating birds. Data collected through this network is used for many different purposes including invasive species removal projects, improved tree leaf-out models, and indicators for important species events (4). Join a featured campaign on ‘Nature’s Notebook’, or create your own local network today to contribute! 

Works Cited

 1. Climate Change Response: Bird Migrations | Climate and Global Change Center | University of Pittsburgh. Www.climatecenter.pitt.edu. Retrieved February 18, 2022, from https://www.climatecenter.pitt.edu/news/climate-change-response-bird-migrations

 2. Effects of Climate Change on Terrestrial Birds of North America | Climate Change Resource Center. Www.fs.usda.gov. https://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/topics/effects-climate-change-terrestrial-birds-north-america

3. Nature’s Notebook | USA National Phenology Network. (2019). Usanpn.org. https://www.usanpn.org/natures_notebook

4. Phenology Visualization Tool | USA National Phenology Network. (n.d.). Www.usanpn.org. https://www.usanpn.org/data/visualizations

5. Projects - Climate Adaptation Science Centers. Cascprojects.org. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://cascprojects.org/#/project/5050cb0ee4b0be20bb30eac0/4f833d39e4b0e84f608680cd

6. Rushing, C. S., Royle, J. A., Ziolkowski, D. J., & Pardieck, K. L. (2020). Migratory behavior and winter geography drive differential range shifts of eastern birds in response to recent climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(23), 12897–12903. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2000299117

7. When Timing is Everything: Migratory Bird Phenology in a Changing Climate | U.S. Geological Survey. Www.usgs.gov. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.usgs.gov/news/when-timing-everything-migratory-bird-phenology-changing-climate

8. Why Phenology? | USA National Phenology Network. Www.usanpn.org. https://www.usanpn.org/about/why-phenology

9. You, yes, you! Consider helping take the pulse of our planet | U.S. Geological Survey. Www.usgs.gov. https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/you-yes-you-consider-helping-take-pulse-our-planet

Creative Corner

Submitted by Sylvette Diaz, University of Florida