FOUR PAWS U.S. Director, U.S. experts Raj Patel, Paul Waldau to Attend First Annual International Animal Welfare Summit
Summit Goal: Raise Global Awareness of the Importance of Animal Welfare
BOSTON – March 30, 2018. At a time when the global issue of big-game trophy hunting is being debated after several recent changes to the Trump Administration’s policy on the issue, Four Paws, an international animal welfare non-profit organization, is holding its first annual International Animal Welfare Summit set for April 24th in Vienna, Austria. Robert Ware, the U.S. Director of Four Paws, is participating in the summit as well as a roster of experts in animal welfare issues, including nutrition, agriculture, policy and politics.
The aim of the Summit is to raise awareness of the importance of animal welfare in a global context, to provide up-to-date research and to stimulate discussion.
In addition to Ware, two other U.S.-based experts are scheduled to participate in the Summit: Raj Patel, an author and activist and; Paul Waldau, a professor at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, where he heads the graduate program on anthrozoology, which he founded.
The Summit is an interdisciplinary platform to discuss current and future animal welfare challenges, in a global setting. Experts from the economic, legal, political and scientific disciplines play will play a major role discussing the connections between their field and animal welfare.
Other Summit participants include:
China's most renowned contemporary artist Ai Weiwei
HRH Princess Alia Al Hussein, Activist, Jordan – Princess Alia Foundation (PAF)
Jörg Altemeier, Veterinary, Germany – www.toennies.de
Nicky Amos, Executive Director Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare, UK – www.bbfaw.com Tarique Arsiwalla, Vice President of IPFIFF, Netherlands – www.ipiff.org
Vidya Athreya, Ecologist, India – www.conservationindia.org
Guillaume Betton, Farmer, France – www.lesviandespaysannes.net
Hanna Denes, Sustainability Manager, Great Britain – www.textileexchange.org
Maggie Entenfellner, Journalist, Austria
Helene Karmasin, Motive Researcher, Austria
Jörg Luy, Veterinary, Philosopher, Germany
Marc Pierschel, Director and Author, Germany – www.marcpierschel.org
Pamela Ravasio, CSR & Sustainability Manager, Switzerland – www.europeanoutdoorgroup.com
Kurt Schmidinger, Geophysists and Food Scientist, Austria – www.futurefood.org
Phone Win, Physician, Myanmar
Matthias Wolfschmidt, Author and Veterinarian, Germany – www.foodwatch.org
Following opening remarks by Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis will launch the summit. The subsequent keynote entitled, ‘A planet for all?’, will be delivered by well-known author, activist and scientist Raj Patel.
The tension between animal welfare, sustainability and ethics on the one hand and purely business goals on the other will also be discussed.
FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organization for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need, and protects them. Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler and friends, the organization advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy, and understanding. FOUR PAWS’ sustainable campaigns and projects focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, farm animals and wild animals – such as bears, big cats, and orangutans – kept in inappropriate conditions as well as in disaster and conflict zones. With offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK, the USA and Vietnam, as well as sanctuaries for rescued animals in eleven countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid help and long-term solutions. www.fourpawsusa.org