This track will entertain presentations and posters on the broad topic of animal assisted interactions. In veterinary social work, animals assisted interactions is defined as any activity in which human beings are assisted by animals. This can be from “pet-keeping” for companionship, to animal assisted interventions such as animal assisted therapy and activities, to the assistance people receive by farming and using animals for food or other products. Programs of research, programmatic innovations accompanied by evaluation data, and theoretical perspective papers grounded in scholarly literature review are encouraged.
Topics could include but are not limited to:
•Animal assisted intervention protocols and populations
•Issues of animal welfare in animal assisted interventions
•A Social worker’s role in the life of a service animal
•Human well-being on the farm or in the abbatoir
•Human behavior and social issues in attaining compliance with animal handling practices