The Department of Animal Behaviour and Welfare

The Department of Animal Behaviour and Welfare (DCBEA), is a department whose objective is the study of animal ethology and welfare with the aim of improving it. The understanding and knowledge of the ethology of each species is essential to be able to improve their well-being, this is why these two disciplines are closely linked and therefore grouped together in this department.

The strength of the DCBEA is to be able to count on expert researchers, but also on training courses on animal behaviour and/or welfare. These researchers are all interested in different species, whether they are domestic, companion, assistance, sport or breeding animals.
These researchers have a common goal: the improvement of the quality of life of animals. This is achieved by : Improving the human-animal relationship, performance in animal husbandry, public health, etc...

Within this department, you will find :

- Naïma Kasbaoui, who is interested in the well-being of cats, but also in that of dogs. She works notably on projects related to semiochemistry, such as currently on the modulation of cat eliminations.
- Tiago Mendonça is interested in sport animals and especially in sport horses, and particularly at the moment on the different training methods of sport horses and their influence on well-being. However, he also works on other species.
- Fanny Menuge: this junior researcher is studying service animals. She is currently interested in the bond of attachment between the service dog and the foster family, and how this can influence the performance and well-being of the dog.
- Míriam Marcet-Rius, supervises the research projects of the entire department, and conducts her own research on the welfare of livestock. Recently, she has been working on the physiology, behaviour and welfare of pigs, as well as on semiochemistry as a method to improve the quality of life of these animals.