![]() ![]() These changes in knowledge and expectations have led to greater expectations of veterinarians to safeguard and enhance animal welfare in broader ways. In addition, there is a growing expectation that, to provide animals with good welfare, we must ensure that they have a wide variety of positive experiences, rather than simply eliminating negative experiences. Health and nutrition, the historical focuses of veterinary training, represent only two of the domains that are considered in a holistic appreciation of an animal’s welfare state. The result is that animal welfare is now characterised more broadly and includes consideration of the mental experiences of animals, that is, how they experience their situation and life. This evolution of animal welfare as a scientific discipline in its own right has resulted from advances in veterinary, medical, behavioural, psychological, neurological, cognitive, and animal sciences. While veterinarians are ideally placed to safeguard animal welfare, understanding of animal welfare, the ways of scientifically assessing welfare states, and expectations for animals’ welfare have changed significantly over the last five or six decades. There is an expectation that veterinarians will act professionally and use their skills for the benefit of both animals and people. In a broader sense, veterinarians, as professionals are held to account by the wider public. ![]() This duty extends to their clients, as the owners of the animals they care for. In addition to these obligations, veterinarians have a ‘duty of care’ to the animals under their care. The result of these increasingly common explicit references is that veterinarians are now often regarded as experts in animal welfare in many contexts and have special legal and professional obligations. Added to this, the New Zealand Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinarians expressly mentions that “ Veterinarians have a special duty to protect animal welfare and alleviate animal suffering”. For example, part of the OIE’s approach to improving animal welfare globally is to provide guidance “ …to Member Countries in order to strengthen their Veterinary Services to enhance their capacity to implement animal welfare standards”. This view of veterinarians as the predominant animal welfare experts appears to stem from their training in veterinary medicine, as well as professional expectations outlined in national and international strategies and laws (e.g., ), and by veterinary regulatory bodies e.g. By virtue of their role as animal health experts, veterinarians have also implicitly been conferred primary expertise in safeguarding animal welfare more generally. ![]()
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