‘Storytelling with Dogs’ explores what it means to feel at home
Group share animal-themed stories, poetry and anecdotes in free community event.
Staff and students from Edinburgh College of Art and the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, as well as members of the public, gathered at the end of April for a community event in central Edinburgh.
‘Storytelling with Dogs’ was part of an interdisciplinary project exploring what it means to be ‘at home’ and ‘homeless’ in the city. Outcomes will inform the work of All4Paws, a service offering veterinary care to the animals of homeless and vulnerably housed people in Edinburgh.
The event brought 20 people together to share animal-themed stories, poetry and anecdotes. Writer and art critic Tom Jeffreys led a discussion on a variety of fiction, non-fiction, myths, and poetry featuring dogs. Those attending shared their favourite short stories and poems, including pieces they had written themselves.
Animal Clinic Project
The event was the second in the series ‘Animal Clinic’, funded by Edinburgh College of Art and designed to explore the human-animal urban experience. The first event was an Urban Nature Walkshop led by wildlife tracker Dan Puplett. An evening meander through south Edinburgh sought out the often unusual places animals and plants call home.
The final event will be an Art-Science Salon for invited researchers and art practitioners, to be held in June at Edinburgh College of Art and in the new Dick Vet in the Community premises in Newington. The Salon will combine presentations from working artists with interdisciplinary conversation.
Urban nature can be a great de-stressor and the arts allow engagement with values, feelings and subjective experience. Using both, we explored what it meant to be ‘at home in the city’, whether you are an animal or a human.
The Research and Knowledge Exchange funding, designed to seed-fund innovative and collaborative projects, offered a great opportunity to gather people across the university and beyond, to consider how human designed spaces can be adapted and utilised by other species.
Related Links
The Dick Vet in the Community webpages
Edinburgh Local - Working to end Homelessness
Helping the local Community
All4Paws: Vet checks for homeless people's pets
About the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies
The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies is a one-of-a-kind centre of excellence in clinical activity, teaching and research. Our purpose-built campus, set against the backdrop of the beautiful Pentland Hills Regional Park, is home to more than eight hundred staff and almost fourteen hundred students, all of whom contribute to our exceptional community ethos.
The School comprises:
The Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security
The Hospital for Small Animals
The Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education
We represent the largest concentration of animal science-related expertise in Europe, impacting local, regional, national and international communities in terms of economic growth, the provision of clinical services and the advancement of scientific knowledge.