Veterinary Medical Ethics

Ethical question of the month — January 2022

You are the owner of a multi-veterinarian companion animal practice. All your staff have firsthand experience with the deaths of brachiocephalic dogs due to respiratory failure. Certain deaths were especially traumatic because the dog was either happy when it entered the hospital, but decompensated, despite everyone’s best efforts, during the day or had left the hospital in good condition and died at an emergency facility overnight. The entire hospital staff have had multiple discussions about the possibility of no longer performing general anesthesia on brachycephalic dogs and have decided on a very strict policy of making owners aware of the risks whenever these dogs are admitted to the hospital.

The hospital advises clients to avoid these breeds when asked and warns the owners of new brachiocephalic puppies of potential future risks as well as advising corrective surgery when appropriate. After a long search, you hire a much-needed additional veterinarian. A month later you stumble across the fact that your new veterinarian is an English bulldog breeder when they mention that the breed association would like to see the cost of corrective surgery decreased so that more puppy owners would take advantage of it. What do you do?

Ethicist’s commentary on respiratory issues of brachycephalic dog breeds

We find it laudable that the veterinary practice in question is taking responsibility for trying to prevent the suffering and early deaths of bulldogs and other brachycephalic dog breeds due to the complex of respiratory issues caused by selective breeding for an increasingly short muzzle. In addition to Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS), these breeds face several other problems caused by the way they have been bred, including a high prevalence of eye problems, dystocia, and various neurological disorders.

Established breeders sometimes play down these problems, and research by one of us (P.S.) documents that many owners are attracted to these dogs and don’t seem to care very much about the potential health problems. In this situation, it’s easy for veterinarians in small animal practice to view the issue as a business opportunity and to become complicit in normalizing the breeding of animals at substantial risk of a severe handicap likely to cause suffering. Veterinarians who stand up against this, like the veterinarians in the clinic in question, run the risk of adverse publicity from those with a vested interest in the continued breeding of bulldogs and other brachycephalic dog breeds.

Given this context, it’s not surprising that the owner of the veterinary hospital is concerned that the newly hired veterinarian is a bulldog breeder with links with a breed association. However, there is, we assume, no evidence that the veterinarian hired has lied or tried to cover up his or her breeding practices or was even made aware of the clinic’s prevailing policy around this issue.

Given this, we think the first response should be to explain the clinic’s policy, and the reasons for the policy, to the new veterinarian. It would then also be reasonable to request that he or she honors this policy at work. Of course, this isn’t the perfect solution; there still may be reputational dangers, for instance if the veterinarian advertises bulldogs for sale and this becomes known to clients at the clinic. And some colleagues may be reluctant to work with a veterinarian who, they believe, is promoting practices that cause animal suffering. However, as long as the veterinarian abides by the policy of the clinic, we do not see grounds to terminate employment. We do, however, recommend that the clinic owner uses this event as a lesson to reconsider hiring practices. If veterinarians working for the hospital are expected to share a set of core values, these values need to be clearly communicated during the hiring process.

Drs. Clare Palmer, Peter Sandøe, and Dan Weary

Ethical question of the month — April 2022

A colleague refers an 11-year-old German shepherd dog to you for a cardiac ultrasound examination. The dog has a history of ascites and elevated resting respiratory rate. The dog’s owner is a vegan and has insisted on feeding a homemade plant-based diet, despite the concerns of the referring regular veterinarian regarding dietary balance. Your diagnosis is Diet Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Given the dog is entirely reliant on the owner for nutrition, should you contact the appropriate animal protection agency for neglect?

Responses to the case presented are welcome. Please limit your reply to approximately 50 words and forward along with your name and address to: Ethical Choices, c/o Dr. Bettina Bobsien, 4353 Yellowpoint Road, Ladysmith, British Columbia V9G 1G5; email: bettinadvm@gmail.com

Suggested ethical questions of the month are also welcome! All ethical questions or scenarios in the ethics column are based on actual events, which are changed, including names, locations, species, etc., to protect the confidentiality of the parties involved.