This article is part of the supplement: The role of the veterinarian in animal welfare. Animal welfare: too much or too little? The 21st Symposium of the Nordic Committee for Veterinary Scientific Cooperation (NKVet)

Oral presentation

The role of the companion animal veterinary surgeon in behavioural husbandry

Kendal Shepherd

16 Church Street, Finedon, Wellingborough, Northants, NN9 5NA, UK

author email corresponding author email

from The role of the veterinarian in animal welfare. Animal welfare: too much or too little? The 21st Symposium of the Nordic Committee for Veterinary Scientific Cooperation (NKVet)
Værløse, Denmark. 24–25 September 2007

Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 2008, 50(Suppl 1):S12doi:10.1186/1751-0147-50-S1-S12

Published:	19 August 2008

First paragraph (this article has no abstract)

An American Veterinary Medical Association mission statement regarding the human-animal bond reads, "The veterinary surgeon's role in the human-animal bond is to maximise the potential of this relationship between people and animals." To fulfil this aim and implicit obligations, as well as enhancing the welfare of both human and animal companion, it is impossible to ignore the emotional and behavioural aspects of this relationship in favour of purely physiological illness and disease. Rather than only addressing defects in the dog-human relationship which have already occurred – the client complains about destruction in the home, urinating indoors or being snappy towards the children for example – the onus is now on all veterinary surgeons to be rather more pro-active in their approach. It must be appreciated that a relationship does not exist merely between a particular pet and members of their family, but also between that animal and all the humans it may happen to come into contact with elsewhere, including those inhabiting veterinary surgeries. The dog which becomes progressively harder to handle in the surgery over time, although frequently labelled as 'difficult', 'aggressive' or simply 'vicious', is in reality simply one whose behavioural needs and emotional welfare have been inadvertently damaged in the process of maintaining physical health or attending to physical disease. On the other hand, a dog who is genuinely pleased to enter a veterinary surgery, and whose behaviour and emotions have been nurtured in the same way as its physical needs, is a tribute to the attending veterinary surgeon as well as its owner.