The Ontario Veterinary College made headlines in recent weeks with coverage of a conference the human-animal bond and the latest research on heart medication.

An article in the Guelph Mercury explored the positive health benefits of pet ownership, as discussed by Dr. Marty Becker, keynote speaker at the Come, Sit, Learn: Celebrating the Human and Animal Bond conference, held May May 28 at U of G.

Biomedical sciences professor Tami Martino was featured in national and international media for her research revealing that timing matters when it comes to administering certain heart medication. In a study published May 17 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Martino's team found angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors – commonly given to patients with high blood pressure or after a heart attack or during heart failure – improve heart structure and function when given at sleep time. But during wake time, ACE inhibitors are no more effective than a placebo.

Results of the study were covered in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and National Post as well as CTV news.

You've probably heard that to get good behaviour from your dog or puppy, you need to establish yourself as the leader. That doesn't mean being forceful and stern, says veterinarian Susan Simmons.

"That's being a tyrant. Good leadership is like being a good parent. You should be fair, consistent, meeting needs and providing safety. That gives you the foundation to teach self-control, manners and deference," she explains.

She'll be sharing ways to improve the behaviour of dogs and cats at the May 28 Come, Sit, Learn event at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC). Simmons is an OVC graduate who works at the Heartland Pet Hospital in Mississauga, Ont. Her talk, "It's Not the Impossible Dream: The Well-Behaved Pet," will focus on understanding the body language and needs of our companion animals, and how to make the relationship more positive.

She's one of three speakers presenting in the morning and will be followed in the afternoon by well-known veterinarian Marty Becker, who appears regularly on Good Morning America and The Dr. Oz Show, as well as a series of shorter sessions.

Simmons says that animal behaviour has always been her passion. "I think that by helping people understand their animals, so that the animals thrive and are well-behaved, the animal-human bond is strengthened and people are more committed to providing good care." For more, read the article in At Guelph.

A University of Guelph professor has been named as the new Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC) Chair in Poultry Welfare.

Tina Widowski, a professor in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science and director of the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, is the recipient of the research chair supported by a gift from the EFC worth $110,000 a year for seven years. In her new role, Widowski will collaborate with researchers on laying hen welfare and egg production, including enriched and aviary systems.

For more, see the news release on the Ontario Agricultural College website. The story is also featured in the Globe and Mail.

When doctors give heart drugs to patients, the time of day can make a big difference, according to new research by University of Guelph scientists.

Many doctors prefer to give heart drugs to patients in the morning. But the study revealed that angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors -- commonly given to patients with high blood pressure or after a heart attack or during heart failure -- improve heart structure and function when given at sleep time. When given during wake time, ACE inhibitors are no more effective than a placebo, the study found.

The research was conducted on mice with high blood pressure.

Department of Biomedical Sciences Prof. Tami Martino and Prof. Jeremy Simpson, Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, conducted the study with Nazneen Tata in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Sole at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and the Heart and Stroke Richard Lewar Centre of Excellence in Toronto.

The study will appear May 17 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

For more, read the U of G news release.

Police arrested a would-be bicycle thief Wednesday morning thanks to a pair of quick thinking OVC faculty members.

It's believed the man may have cut the locks off at least three bikes this morning. Anyone whose bicycle is missing from the racks around OVC, or whose bike lock may have been tampered with, is asked to contact U of G Campus Community Police at Ext 52245.

The incident began around 9:40 a.m. as Pathobiology Prof. Andrew Peregrine walked across the courtyard between the Lifetime Learning Centre and the Pathobiology / AHL building. There he spotted a man who appeared to be trying to cut the lock off a bike in full view of several bystanders.

Wary but not convinced anything was amiss, Peregrine continued to his office in the Pathobiology building. Once inside, he went to see Prof. Dorothee Bienzle, whose third-floor office overlooks the courtyard. He pointed out the man below and asked if she thought he looked suspicious.

"Yes, because he's stealing my bike," a surprised Bienzle told him.

The pair hurried outside where they found the man still trying to cut the lock. When confronted, the man initially claimed the bike belonged to him. When Bienzle replied that the bike was in fact hers, he left, first heading toward the main OVC building and then across the lawn to Gordon Street.

As Bienzle talked to police on her cellphone, she and Peregrine followed the man south along Gordon Street, behind the Food Science building and back toward the Central Animal Facility on McGilvray Street. That's when police arrived and arrested the suspect as he tried to ride away on another bike.

The man has been charged with several offences including theft, possession of stolen property, breach of probation, and possession of burglary tools, said a campus police spokesperson.

An OVC professor was among several members of the University community who were honoured May 5 at the 2011 YMCA-YWCA of Guelph's Women of Distinction Awards.

Dr. Pat Shewen, a professor in the Department of Pathobiology, was recognized for lifetime achievement in the Science, Technology and Research category.

University of Guelph students, faculty and alumni made up more than half of the 29 nominees for the awards. Winners were announced at the River Run Centre during a gala fundraiser for the Teenage Parents Program.

An OVC graduate, Shewen joined the faculty in 1982. She became assistant dean of research in 1995 and served as founding chair of the new Department of Pathobiology from 1997 to 2002. Along with professor emeritus Bruce Wilkie, she helped develop an effective vaccine for bovine pneumonic pasteurellosis. The disease, also known as shipping fever, is a major cause of sickness, death and economic losses in the cattle industry.

For more on the Women of Distinction awards, see the U of G news release.

"Lock up your bike? Lock up your brain." That's the message of a grad student's guerrilla-marketing campaign about bike helmet safety that caught the eye of population medicine professor Karen Morrison this spring.

"I wanted to promote helmet use among young people," says Sarah Wilmer, who developed the campaign for a communication and leadership course taught by Morrison this past semester in the master of public health program.

For more, see the story in At Guelph.