Veterinarians are widely considered to be experts on
animal welfare. However, our survey of the positions of
five of the world’s leading veterinary associations on
five important animal use practices revealed that their
positions frequently lagged behind those of the general
public. These practices were the close confinement of
laying hens in ‘battery cages,’ of pregnant sows in
gestation crates, of veal calves in small crates, the
cosmetic tail-docking of dogs, and the use of animals in
scientific research and education.
To further examine the attitudes of veterinarians towards
animal welfare, we ascertained the positions of the
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) on a broad
range of practices commonly considered to result in poor
welfare. With a veterinary membership in excess of 72,000
by 2005—the largest of any veterinary association—and
claiming to act as “a collective voice for its membership
and for the profession,” the AVMA is ideally suited to
this purpose. While the AVMA did not support all
practices resulting in poor welfare, it did support a
substantial number of them, in some cases contrary to
strong scientific evidence.
Such poor positions of veterinarians on animal welfare
issues are largely attributable to deficiencies in
veterinary education. Although humane alternatives are
being introduced, harmful animal use in surgical and
preclinical training remains common in veterinary courses
worldwide, and although animal welfare and bioethics
courses are also being introduced, these remain minimal
in most veterinary curricula. Additional causes may
include deficiencies in the selection of veterinary
students, and misrepresentation of the opinions of
veterinarians by their professional associations.
Solutions could include consideration of animal welfare
awareness and critical reasoning ability during the
selection of veterinary students, increased bioethics and
critical reasoning training during veterinary education,
continuing education credits for veterinarians who
participate in such post-graduate training, the
replacement of remaining harmful animal use in veterinary
education with humane alternatives, and the encouragement
of more active involvement of veterinarians in their
professional associations.