Vet 2011: Moving forward with animal welfare

Vet 2011, the International Year of the Veterinarian, has been a remarkable year, celebrating the birth 250 years ago of formal veterinary education and training, as well as the development of veterinary science as a discipline in its own right. The past 12 months have been marked by various veterinary activities and events held around the world, culminating in the recent World Veterinary Congress in Cape Town, South Africa in October. Coincidentally, the global elimination of rinderpest was announced this year (1): the cattle plague that was the original impetus for the development of the veterinary school in Lyons, France, back in 1761. Although never seen in North America, this disease has attacked farmed and wild cattle in Asia, Europe, and Africa for over 1000 years, resulting in significant animal suffering and death, as well as human famine. A vaccine for rinderpest was developed by Dr. Walter Plowman (2), a British veterinary scientist, and the elimination of the disease is widely considered to be the greatest veterinary achievement since the founding of the profession.

Another very significant achievement during the past 250 years, although not always led by veterinarians, has been the development of the science and practice of animal welfare. Progress in this field has been particularly rapid since the end of World War II, coinciding with the shift of western populations from an equine-dependent agricultural-based economy to a modern industrial, urban-based one. Veterinarians, although widely viewed by the public and themselves as the animal’s advocate, have implicitly accepted improvement and enhancement of animal health, and by association, animal welfare, as a goal of practice, but have not always explicitly sought opportunities to enhance animal well-being. This is perhaps not surprising since our duties to the animals we care for may often be in conflict with the desires of our clients and employers, or the realities of financial solvency. For veterinarians to become leaders in the field of animal welfare, we must recognize ongoing societal changes in how animals are valued and actively engage in discussions regarding animal use and care by society. Because of our strong comparative medicine training and recognition of inherent value of animals as sentient living beings, veterinarians are uniquely placed to discuss and promote humane and ethically acceptable care and use of animals in ways that still benefit society at large. This has been recognized to some extent within the CVMA by the formation of its CVMA’s Animal Welfare Committee in 1968, which works to develop statements about best practices for the veterinary care and treatment of animals in different practice sectors, in consultation with the CVMA membership and various animal producer and user groups.

Internationally, at the time of the 250th anniversary of veterinary medicine, there is strong interest in strengthening veterinary education and training in animal welfare. A number of initiatives are occurring within North America and Europe, such as the AVMA’s Model Animal Welfare Curriculum Project, which is attempting to define a program of more consistent veterinary student training in this field. Similar efforts are ongoing within the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE). Globally, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Veterinary Association are also attempting to promote minimum considerations for animal well-being, for example, through the development of national and international centers of animal welfare collaborations. The harmonized goal of all of these projects is for veterinarians to work together with animal scientists, regulators, and others in various sectors and communities to enhance animal welfare globally. We cannot ignore this growing imperative to influence veterinary practice and animal treatment worldwide. Collectively, what we each do at a local and regional level to promote animal welfare does impact acceptable practices within the larger international veterinary community.

Beyond Vet 2011 and looking to the future it is clear that veterinarians must individually become more involved with animal welfare issues — out of moral necessity, to ensure long-term career satisfaction by resolving some of our deep-seated conflicts between animal needs and client demands, and to ensure the long-term relevance of our profession. If veterinarians do not step up to take on this role, our society and governments will make these decisions for us and veterinarians will lose professional autonomy and societal respect. There are still many veterinary issues that directly impact animal welfare in Canada that require close examination and discussion, such as addressing the ethics of cosmetic surgeries in companion animals and horses, providing better pain management for sick animals and for food animals undergoing invasive procedures, issues surrounding private exotic animal ownership, defining best practices for humane transportation of food animals, implementation of animal welfare assessments at the farm level to ensure minimum standards of animal welfare, and exploring optimal management practices for wild animals that encroach on human populations, to name a few. As for any improvement in animal treatment and care, changes in these practices will come with a cost. This is something that we need to be prepared to discuss and justify with our clients, the public, and our governments. As we look forward to the next 250 years of veterinary medicine, I challenge you each to reflect on your engagement with animal welfare issues that occur in your daily practice, and to consider opportunities that you and other veterinarians can specifically promote and implement to ensure a good life for all animals that are used in various ways by society.