- Email: [email protected]
Canine welfare: We know everything, don’t we?
The Veterinary Journal 192 (2012) 257
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
The Veterinary Journal journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tvjl
Guest Editorial
Canine welfare: We know everything, don’t we? By definition veterinarians diagnose, treat and prevent disease in animals. We provide a service to animal owners by focussing on this component of animal science. However, we have recently become more specialised on a species basis and now offer a wider range of services that cover the other animal sciences. Veterinary practices now retail animal foodstuffs, engage in behaviour therapy and advise on genetics. We are also concerned about and we treat pain and fear. This broad-based approach is fundamentally the practice of animal welfare, rather than veterinary medicine. In farm animal practice, this is becoming even more evident as veterinarians provide advice regarding animal welfare regulation and legislation to their clients, and may be directly involved in monitoring the welfare of livestock and poultry. Our science-based knowledge about the welfare of dogs and how they are managed is much less developed than that of poultry and farm animals. This weakness is identified by James Yeates in his review article published in this issue of The Veterinary Journal (Yeates, 2012). This deficiency is to be expected given the wide range of circumstances in which dogs are found. They are owned by people with different abilities, attitudes, expectations and opportunities (in contrast with farm animals, which are managed in a more uniform fashion). Much of the data on dog management are from surveys of veterinary clients (Stafford, 2006) or web based surveys. Both are relatively poor sources of information about how the majority of dogs live. It is also difficult to generate data from observational studies (Kobelt et al., 2003). Moreover, as Yeates (2012) attests, we are yet to understand what dogs actually need and how this differs depending on breed, experience and individual circumstances. A question such as how much exercise a dog requires is difficult to answer scientifically but perforce we have to make such judgements. Yeates (2012) also debates the concept of normal dog behaviour. Species-specific generalisations about behaviour (‘social’, ‘scavenger’, ‘hunter’, ‘promiscuous’) and needs (exercise, social interaction) are of little value for individual dogs, but in veterinary practice we usually deal with individual dogs. In canine veterinary practice, the inclusion of well-trained veterinary nurses and technicians has allowed for a wider range of opportunities. The development of owner education programmes, usually involving puppies, has enabled veterinary practices to teach pet owners about canine training and management. These programmes also positioned the veterinary profession as the source of information regarding behaviour problems, nutrition, genetics and health, i.e. the source of all types of information regarding canine welfare. Pups that spend time at a veterinary practice, at ‘puppy’ school, seem to like visiting the clinic thereafter
1090-0233/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2012.02.007
and fear of veterinary staff should be reduced. However, this connection has not yet been explored in the welfare research literature. The veterinary profession deals primarily with clients and their animals. In the last two decades the growth in our range of activities, our awareness of animal abuse, our drive to alleviate pain and our willingness to critically examine our own practices has grown, as has the profession’s awareness and interest in canine welfare. Research into canine welfare, in the sense of how dogs are managed and what they are most motivated to do, has lagged behind that of farm livestock. Yeates (2010) had done us a service by bringing this to our attention, but further work is needed to address the deficit of evidence-based research in the area. The welfare of an animal depends on what it experiences and while we cannot be sure of what a dog experiences, veterinarians are just starting to view their knowledge of canine health, nutrition, genetics, physical comfort, behaviour and mental states through the lens of animal welfare. Our capacity to advise clients on the optimal management of their pet dogs will grow as we become more able to identify the behavioural needs of individual dogs. However, opportunities for the growth of veterinary practices into welfare-focussed businesses may have already been maximised, at least for the moment, by our present state of knowledge. Kevin Stafford Professor of Applied Ethology and Animal Welfare, Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, 4472, New Zealand E-mail address: [email protected]
References Kobelt, A.J., Hemsworth, P.H., Barnett, J.J., Coleman, G.J., 2003. A survey of dog ownership in suburban Australia – Conditions and behaviour problems. Journal of Applied Animal Science 82, 137–148. Stafford, K., 2006. The Welfare of Dogs. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Yeates, J.W., 2012. Maximising canine welfare in veterinary practice and research: A review. The Veterinary Journal 192, 272–278.
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
The Veterinary Journal journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tvjl
Guest Editorial
Canine welfare: We know everything, don’t we? By definition veterinarians diagnose, treat and prevent disease in animals. We provide a service to animal owners by focussing on this component of animal science. However, we have recently become more specialised on a species basis and now offer a wider range of services that cover the other animal sciences. Veterinary practices now retail animal foodstuffs, engage in behaviour therapy and advise on genetics. We are also concerned about and we treat pain and fear. This broad-based approach is fundamentally the practice of animal welfare, rather than veterinary medicine. In farm animal practice, this is becoming even more evident as veterinarians provide advice regarding animal welfare regulation and legislation to their clients, and may be directly involved in monitoring the welfare of livestock and poultry. Our science-based knowledge about the welfare of dogs and how they are managed is much less developed than that of poultry and farm animals. This weakness is identified by James Yeates in his review article published in this issue of The Veterinary Journal (Yeates, 2012). This deficiency is to be expected given the wide range of circumstances in which dogs are found. They are owned by people with different abilities, attitudes, expectations and opportunities (in contrast with farm animals, which are managed in a more uniform fashion). Much of the data on dog management are from surveys of veterinary clients (Stafford, 2006) or web based surveys. Both are relatively poor sources of information about how the majority of dogs live. It is also difficult to generate data from observational studies (Kobelt et al., 2003). Moreover, as Yeates (2012) attests, we are yet to understand what dogs actually need and how this differs depending on breed, experience and individual circumstances. A question such as how much exercise a dog requires is difficult to answer scientifically but perforce we have to make such judgements. Yeates (2012) also debates the concept of normal dog behaviour. Species-specific generalisations about behaviour (‘social’, ‘scavenger’, ‘hunter’, ‘promiscuous’) and needs (exercise, social interaction) are of little value for individual dogs, but in veterinary practice we usually deal with individual dogs. In canine veterinary practice, the inclusion of well-trained veterinary nurses and technicians has allowed for a wider range of opportunities. The development of owner education programmes, usually involving puppies, has enabled veterinary practices to teach pet owners about canine training and management. These programmes also positioned the veterinary profession as the source of information regarding behaviour problems, nutrition, genetics and health, i.e. the source of all types of information regarding canine welfare. Pups that spend time at a veterinary practice, at ‘puppy’ school, seem to like visiting the clinic thereafter
1090-0233/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2012.02.007
and fear of veterinary staff should be reduced. However, this connection has not yet been explored in the welfare research literature. The veterinary profession deals primarily with clients and their animals. In the last two decades the growth in our range of activities, our awareness of animal abuse, our drive to alleviate pain and our willingness to critically examine our own practices has grown, as has the profession’s awareness and interest in canine welfare. Research into canine welfare, in the sense of how dogs are managed and what they are most motivated to do, has lagged behind that of farm livestock. Yeates (2010) had done us a service by bringing this to our attention, but further work is needed to address the deficit of evidence-based research in the area. The welfare of an animal depends on what it experiences and while we cannot be sure of what a dog experiences, veterinarians are just starting to view their knowledge of canine health, nutrition, genetics, physical comfort, behaviour and mental states through the lens of animal welfare. Our capacity to advise clients on the optimal management of their pet dogs will grow as we become more able to identify the behavioural needs of individual dogs. However, opportunities for the growth of veterinary practices into welfare-focussed businesses may have already been maximised, at least for the moment, by our present state of knowledge. Kevin Stafford Professor of Applied Ethology and Animal Welfare, Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, 4472, New Zealand E-mail address: [email protected]
References Kobelt, A.J., Hemsworth, P.H., Barnett, J.J., Coleman, G.J., 2003. A survey of dog ownership in suburban Australia – Conditions and behaviour problems. Journal of Applied Animal Science 82, 137–148. Stafford, K., 2006. The Welfare of Dogs. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Yeates, J.W., 2012. Maximising canine welfare in veterinary practice and research: A review. The Veterinary Journal 192, 272–278.