Program Overview
Over winter break of 2018 I traveled to Ireland with the Human and Animal Interactions program through the Department of Animal Sciences. This was a 10 day program with approximately 45 students. We traveled throughout the Republic of Ireland to a variety of locations such as Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork, Shannon, and Galway. You can click here to view our itinerary from the program.
Pre-Departure Reflection
Leading up to this trip I was anxious to travel again, you could say the travel bug hit me. It had been over five years since I had previously traveled to Europe and I was looking forward to exploring a new country in Western Europe. I was not nervous because it was a short program of study. The two things I was most looking forward to learning about were production agriculture in Ireland and how Christmas was celebrated in Ireland since we were traveling during the holiday season.
While Abroad Reflection
Folklore and fairy tales are a large part of Irish history and culture. To this day stories are still past down from generation to generation, fairy trees and circles are revered as entrances from other worlds, and holly brush is hung to ward off ringworm in barns. We were told tales of harm that had come to people who removed fairy bushes. I had no idea that these stories were still relevant today. I really enjoyed learning about how they are still an important part of everyday life for the Irish.
After Return Reflection
One of the most interesting parts of the trip that I reflected on upon returning home was welfare in Ireland. In 1635 Ireland’s first animal welfare law was brought into effect and it regarded cattle. Although animal welfare progressed slowly throughout the 1800’s and 1900’s, Ireland has had a longer history with livestock welfare. In the 2000’s a slug of new animal welfare laws has hit the EU and they have seen new legislation especially regarding swine forbidding castration, tail docking, and gestation crates (in favor of group housing). I found it shocking that they operated off of animal welfare policy of the early 1900’s until 2013. The new Animal Health And Welfare act of 2013 covers most animal species, is a foundation that other regulations are built on, has a broad scope, and recognizes codes of practice. It also contains a component that regards the welfare and competency of the animal owner. On the other hand, there is a very limited amount of concern for companion animal welfare throughout Ireland’s history and it is just recently that there has been a growing concern for this. However, most of this push is coming from the UK. This is nearly the reverse of the United States which has a long history with companion animal welfare concern and until recently a very limited concern for production animal welfare. Regardless it was interesting to see welfare laws and trends that we may soon see in the United States.