I am sadly dissapointed about the fact that Circus Captivity is listed among types of accepted types of practises. I can understand that in some few cases, captivity in zoos with research purposes may be somehow accepted but I don´t agree at all with captivity with recreational purposes.

Thank you!

Considering the amount of information I think too much material was attempted to be covered. Some of the lectures seemed to be rushed through. I am comparing this with another course I took, Dog Emotion and Cognition where the lecturer took a greater amount of time to cover the material. Perhaps it might be better to do separate courses on the welfare of different animals under different circumstances.

There was a comment by a guest speaker at the beginning of the course talking about the need for greater animal production to feed the increasing human population. However, this is not what many scientists are saying must happen. The only way the ever increasing human population can be fed is with a plant based diet that gets more nutrition from the land and has less impact on the environment. I know this has nothing to do with the course but the authors of the course allowed him to speak so I am insuring that other voices are heard and that increasing farm animals is not the answer to world hunger.

As I am a vegan vegetarian watching the section on Farm Animals was a bit traumatic but I felt necessary to get a better perspective on factory farming. I can never justify factory farming but nevertheless it is the present reality. However, measuring cortisol levels is not a true measure of what any animal endures during its short lifetime in factory farming. It is a measure of reaction to stress for a given period of time and not the lifetime of the animals.

I chose not to view the optional section on slaughter as the word defines itself. With human killing there are ways less painful and quicker but ultimately death is the result.

I don't say the above with any naivete. My family raised chickens, ducks, and rabbits, all of which were slaughtered and ended on the dinner table. I am also not new to animal behavior having done previous coursework and studied the behavior of mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey at Karisoke Research Center in 1974.

I need to submit one more thing and it is a link to a YouTube a lecture by Phillip Wollum at the World Vegan Summit. Animal welfare will only occur when the violence humans perpetrate ends.

https://youtu.be/AfBhanzng0w

I am a Veterinary student of HSTU in Bangladesh(Asia). It was an awesome journey to all with my new teachers! I am glad to get them. That was my first course in Coursera, As I have not enough money to purchase this course, I really thank the authority to make this valuable course for free. It really helps to the persons who are financially poor enough to buy this. I have learned a lot that can't be described in a few sentences. Hope I'll able to apply it in my practical life as well as in any needs. Best wishes to all of my respective teachers. I wish if I were work with you in the future!

A Really great course which is interesting, informative and well executed. The video lectures were top notch and the visuals always suited the narration. Great work by the team behind this course.

Me encantó el curso y su enfoque bien actualizado. Sin embargo el uso de plataformas interactivas extras para el curso no me funcionaron en ninguna de las semanas del mismo. Pero a pesar de eso, y sabiendo de los temas a tratar en el curso, estoy muy satisfecha en cuanto a la enseñanza de esta área de la ciencia animal que viene aumentando su importancia a lo largo de todo el mundo en los últimos años. En mi rubro este certificado será de mucha utilidad y ojala sea una forma de vincular mi carrera en estudios futuros en una excelente institución como lo es la respetable Universidad de Edimburgo. Muchas Gracias

The material was not as engaging as I would have liked. It would have been better if there were graphs in slide form that I could easily drag and drop to save alongside my notes in Word. The quizzes didn't always tell you why your answer was wrong/which answer was correct. There was one speaker, who thankfully only appeared in one video with a heavy Scottish (I believe) accent that I was completely unable to understand. I did learn a few things about how animals are housed and treated in the farming industry, something which I'm fairly knowledgeable about already, such as the exact measurements of the confines across the globe and which countries produce the most product, but I otherwise already knew all of the information. Some videos, especially at the beginning of the course were extremely repetitive, and therefore I lost interest and became frustrated very early on with this course, which has impacted my overall rating and view of the course. If I had felt engaged during these videos, it wouldn't have mattered that I didn't learn a lot of new information, because it still would have held my interest. I'm glad I stuck with it and finished the course.

This course is amazing !! You will learn the "foundations" of animal welfare and behavior which is very important to know (for everybody, not just the ones who want to work with animals!! It's a matter of humanity...)

Teachers are very enthusiasts, very motivating and available for you when you need it, it's great.

It is a "high quality training "!

In addition, you can go to forums where you can speak with very interesting people and all the topics are fascinating and very very helpful.

I really want to thank all the teachers for their time and their devotion. This formation is great.

I would like to thank too for the forums, all the students of this formation and the teachers have turn forums into real additional courses that can provide you very helpful and interesting information.

I recommend!

Best,

Victoria

This course was very informative and interesting! I enjoyed the lectures as well as the instructors and also loved that it focused on many different kinds animal welfare issues. Definitely recommend!

Thank all for the great opportunity to learn about Animal Behaviour and welfare. This course helped me to understand many unknown facts about animal welfare and how to work for welfare of animals.

After taking this course I couldn’t eat animals anymore! I am proudly vegetarian looking forward to become vegan when i will be in a country where i can find vegan products easily! But i am trying to avoid animals’ products consumption as much as i can now.

This course is very important to me to understand the actual animal welfare problems and how to face them. I have learned a lot about dogs and cats. Being a cat breeder it is very encouraging to me.

Its a nicely designed course. It sheds light on many animal care practices and welfare. Very well instructions and quiz sessions are arranged. Many important learnings and takeaways from the course.

I learned a lot about animal behaviour and welfare. I am sure it will be a great part in my veterinary career

Really helped a lot to expand my knowledge and I can fix some of the mistakes I made to be a better pet owner

great course thanks

I missed information about behaviour in wild and domestic animals and also, some of the papers that you recomend are not for free, so some of us can't acces to that information.

Too many animal mistreatment clips were shown, also some gross misstatements of biological-scientific truths and widely held facts. Humans cannot change the genome of any living creature, DOGS are WOLVES and always will be. We have domesticated and bred for certain personality traits and characteristics. Done with your course.

It took time to earn however and it wasn't hard you could try you could fail a test once and try the second time however be warned if you fail you'll have to wa for 8 hours to do the test again here

Great portion of knowledge together with tutor's experience was provided in that course. I did learn things which I wasn't even aware regarding animal welfare. It is quite thought-provoking course.

extremely informative and helpful, very straightforward to understand

Desde el punto de vista de lo que el animal requiere!!!...

Great Course, I enjoy it.

Excellent course!

COURSE SHOULD PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WALFARE RELATED TOPICS

Data trumps all.

Whether its understanding behavioural aspects or welfare needs of animals- right from our pets, to livestock, to wild animals, and the ones used in the entertainment or trade industries, it all stems from picking up on things that scientists, zoologists, veterinarians, animals behaviourists and handlers have spent years, if not decades, studying and documenting.

As I near the completion of my first year of legal studies, this MOOC gave me a deep insight into the different research methodologies that have been utilised to better understand animals and influence legislation world over.

Knowing that NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad has started India's first Centre for Animal Law, that will create curriculum on animal welfare laws and issues in our country, leaves me hopeful for the future.

To all those who have an affinity for animals, I could not suggest a better MOOC than this. To those who have pets, this course may be the eye-opener you never knew you needed.