Texas A&M Animal Welfare Judging Team claims national championship
Three Texas A&M teams place in top five at Animal Welfare Assessment Contest
For the second time, a Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Animal Welfare Judging Team swept their division to become national champions at the fall Animal Welfare Assessment Contest Nov. 22-24 in River Falls, Wisconsin.
The contest, sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Association, is the only intercollegiate welfare judging contest held for universities worldwide. As a competitive team in the Department of Animal Science, the Animal Welfare Judging Team won the national championship in 2022 and has now repeated its performance in the undergraduate team division.
More than 270 participants from 25 universities and two countries participated in the judging contest, and every undergraduate Texas A&M team member placed, said Courtney Daigle, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Animal Science and coach of the team.
“The department is proud of the continued success of the animal welfare judging team, and we congratulate Dr. Daigle and the team on winning the national title,” said Clay Mathis, Ph.D., professor and head of the Department of Animal Science. “This achievement reflects the unwavering standard of excellence, teamwork and dedication among our animal welfare judging students and coaches.”
Leading the effort
The leadership of Texas A&M is being recognized not only for its performance at the contest level but also for its selection to host the contest in 2025 and 2026.
The Animal Welfare Assessment Contest is designed to enhance understanding and awareness of welfare issues affecting animals used for human purposes. The contest teaches ethical reasoning, encourages objective animal welfare assessment based on scientific theory and data, promotes critical thinking and improves communication skills.
This year, in addition to the teams participating in the contest, Texas A&M graduate student Guadalupe Ceja, Alice, served as an assistant coach to the undergraduate teams, and Glenn Meyer, Ohiowa, Nebraska, gave a keynote speech during the opening ceremony in memory of Angela Baysinger, DVM, from Merck Animal Health.
Top placing teams, individuals
Each university is allowed to take a maximum of 15 students, with three to five students per team. The 11 undergraduate students were split into three Texas A&M teams for the competition. All three teams placed in the top five in the Undergraduate Junior Division.
This year the contest covered: lactating dairy cows live assessment, laboratory frogs, African penguins in a zoo and commercial dog breeding.
The team placings and team members were:
First Place Overall: Texas A&M Team Hullabaloo – McKinley Slover, Lubbock; Dylan Archer, San Antonio; Kirsten Tjelmeland, Austin; and James Wheeler, Austin.
Third Place Overall: Texas A&M Team Howdy – Anna Jimenez-Matos, Haslet; Kaitlyn Vo, Pflugerville; Emmerie Smith, Allen; and Hayden Dyess, Rusk.
Fourth Place Overall: Texas A&M Team Whoop – Hayley Scott, Evadale; Kaitlyn Webb, Houston; and Hayley Ponce, Dallas.
Placing in the top five of the Overall Individual were: third, James Wheeler; and fifth, McKinley Slover. Support for the 2024 Team was provided through the Universities Federation of Animal Welfare, the Animal Welfare and Behavior Club, and the T.R. Greathouse Endowment.
Building on the experience
Most students on the Texas A&M judging team are animal science majors, however, one is majoring in psychology, and another is majoring in ecology and conservation biology. Daigle offers an undergraduate course in animal welfare judging, ANSC 289, but team members are not required to be enrolled in the class to participate in the contest.
The contest presents students with hypothetical, realistic computer-viewed scenarios that outline animal performance, health, physiological and behavioral data. Students evaluate these scenarios individually to determine which facility has a higher level of welfare and present their rationale orally to judges who have expertise in animal welfare science and knowledge of the specific species.
In preparation for the event, the students interacted with experts from the National Aviary in Pittsburgh; Moody Gardens Aquariums, Galveston; ELANCO Animal Health, Columbus, Ohio; The Francis Crick Institute, London, England; Southern Golden Breeders, College Station; Canine Companions for Independence, Davis, California; the Texas A&M Department of Animal Science; and Liere Dairy, Franklin.
“This was a phenomenal group of students to work with,” Daigle said. “They were open-minded, asked questions, were willing to take risks and have fun. Most of the students had never competed previously, yet they all brought different strengths to the teams. Part of a winning strategy is to have multiple viewpoints on the same team.”
Daigle has coached the Texas A&M animal welfare judging team since its inception in 2017. After their inaugural showing, the team has consistently placed in the yearly competition.
