What’s new?
We have a brand new website! Pets Can Do has had an update, allowing us to provide you with more information on the exciting work that our Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare team do at the University. We will be able to keep you more up to date with current and past projects, and allow you to feel more involved.
Most importantly, we’ve added new species to our database – you can now sign up your cats, reptiles and horses to be involved in our projects. Don’t worry, we would never ask you to bring your reptile or horse into the University – these projects will be conducted through online surveys or home-based videos.
If you were previously signed up and wish to keep your dog on our database, you will need to sign up again here. You can also choose to add new pets if you wish to.
Why do I need to sign up again?
We have updated our database to incorporate current GDPR requirements and ethics procedures approved by the University of Lincoln Ethics Committee and have updated our sign-up questions to include more relevant information about your pets. The process is still quick and shouldn’t take any longer than 5 minutes per pet. We also have an obligation to check that you are still happy with your details being held on our database in line with our data protection guidelines, so signing up again gives you the opportunity to provide your consent, and provide us with up-to-date details.
What happens to my old data if I don’t sign up again?
If you were on our original database, you will receive an email asking if you would like to sign up again. If you choose not to or we don’t hear from you within a month, we will be removing all identifiable data from our old database. This means all of your personal details – name, contact details, address – will be deleted. The details of your pet will be archived anonymously, to allow researchers access to the data if they need it throughout the course of their studies. This means if you choose not to sign up again, we will no longer contact you about potential projects for you and your pet.
How do I sign up?
Please visit our new sign-up page here. You will need to read through the Privacy Notice and Participant Information Sheet before completing the sign–up form.
I don’t want my dog to take part anymore – what do I do?
If you were previously signed up and no longer wish for your dog to be on our database, you don’t need to do anything. One month after you receive our email, your details will be removed from our old database and they will not be transferred to the new database. You will no longer be contacted by Pets Can Do.
Can I still sign up if I wasn’t part of the previous database?
Absolutely! We are always ready to welcome new pets to our database.
I have another question – where can I find the answer?
You can visit our FAQs page or contact us.
Lastly, a thank you!
A huge thank you to participants old and new! We really appreciate your support of our Pets Can Do database – our students and researchers couldn’t do their work without you. We look forward to working with you and your pets to further our understanding of animal behaviour, welfare and cognition!