The video below is research I recently presented at Humanely Ending the Life of Animals symposium. My colleagues Drs. @luciamendola, Dan Weary and I examined the attitudes of lab animal professionals and researchers towards CO2 euthanasia for rodents, and described the barriers to its refinement.
University of British Columbia Public Scholar
Meaningful dialogue with mainstream society about the limits and context in which animal use can occur requires some degree of openness regarding the details of this use, including which animals are used, how they are cared for, and what quality of life they are likely to experience. More information on my research…
I Miss Your Blogs
Melina Gillies is a friend that greatly encouraged me to embark upon a literary exploration of self understanding which culminated in my blogs. It was my primary therapeutic outlet exposing my honest self. At times funny, exciting and even down right dark while writing my truth. Each piece was exactly what I needed to express in those moments. She wrote to me this week and said only, “I miss your blogs.” It has been nearly 10 weeks since I published my last real reflection. After nine months of intimate weekly glimpses into my thoughts, some of my readers felt it was a harsh break-up.
Continue reading “I Miss Your Blogs”
Dogs and Kids Don’t Always Mix
Do you have a dog? What about kids? Professional advise from a colleague regarding safe interactions.
https://www.scarymommy.com/why-parents-need-supervise-dogs-and-kids/
Nature Nature Everywhere
Picture from the cross Canada trip. No context…
Sunny Future
Yup, this sums it up!
Empty Home
Today is an odd day. I’m drinking my morning coffee and sitting in my favourite chair. Before me, I stare at a pile of furniture stacked in my living room. Soon it will disappear forever. Relieving oneself of most of your possessions is a interesting feeling. It is liberating but at the same time I feel vulnerable and exposed. Do these possessions insulate us and reinforce the stability of our daily routines? I think they do. They do comfort us. However, ready or not, my insulation is being shed. Continue reading “Empty Home”
Ungrounded
It is an odd feeling to be in between. Last week concluded my tenure as a technician at the University of Guelph. For nearly 20 years I advocated and provided the best life possible for the animals in my care. It defined a significant part of my life and will forever provide a unique perspective that will perpetually guide my decisions. But now, that role has concluded. Ahead is a new path with a journey that has an end that is loosely evident. Yet steps on that path have not begun. I am in between, having left the familiar but not yet departed towards the new – ungrounded. Continue reading “Ungrounded”
I Feel This
My Piano Man
Most days I have no idea what I’m doing. From the outside it appears that I make success from chaos and hold my life together with optimism by embracing the unknown with acceptance. Today I feel the uncertainty pulling me apart. Continue reading “My Piano Man”
