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Vets Should Be Taught Resiliency In School, Study Shows

The well-being of veterinarians has been brought to the forefront lately as practicing vets leave the profession in large numbers, citing mental health as one of their top concerns. Veterinarians and vet students have been reported to be at an increased risk of burnout, depression, and suicide when compared to other occupations. Vets say the main difficulties they face include long hours, heavy workloads, job demands, lack of work-life balance, challenging clients and unattainable client expectations, among other issues.

Dr. Marta Brscis and her research team report that younger and female veterinarians are at greater risk of job dissatisfaction, mental health issues, and suicidal thoughts. The scientists used text mining and topic modelling analysis on 211 scientific papers and abstracts that have studied the issues facing vet students between 1985 and 2019. They report that their approach can be used to comprehend in-depth phenomena involving vets and vet students.

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The team said their work uncovered several changes that should be considered in the admission process, while students are in vet school and after graduation to reduce well-being risks. These include including coursework that includes psychology models to prepare students to deal with animal death and pet owner grief, as well as information on how to handle moral stressors and ethical dilemmas. Learning to work in a team, how to communicate effectively and how to promote a work-life balance are also important action items.

The scientists also suggest investigating student's level of empathy with animals before admission to vet school and perhaps prolonging their training, though vet school involves an already-difficult curriculum. Continuing education training might involve updating working veterinarians on different ways to look at their mental health.

Read the study here.

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United States House Passes Funding Package With Multitude Of Pro-Animal Provisions

The Humane Society Legislative Fund commends the U.S. House of Representatives for passing an appropriations package that features numerous animal protection provisions, including directives for better enforcement of laws that target horse soring and other animal cruelty, expanded shelter options for domestic violence survivors with pets, and measures to prevent horse slaughter on U.S. soil, enhance U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratories' compliance with animal welfare standards, and encourage the transition of egg farmers to cage-free operations.

Other animal welfare provisions approved include funding increases to implement a humane, long-term management regime for wild horses and burros on federal land, combat wildlife trafficking, protect endangered and threatened species, and address the dangers of live wildlife markets and zoonotic disease spillover, along with directives to reduce animal testing and to promote federal building designs and materials that reduce bird mortality from collisions.

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“These extraordinary gains are a testament to the power of the purse, and the clearest possible indication that animal protection enjoys strong support from the majority of House members,” said Sara Amundson, president of Humane Society Legislative Fund. “We'll move right into gear to press the Senate to follow suit, because these are all important measures that deserve to be enacted.”

The bill also prohibits funds from being used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to issue permits for the import of a sport-hunted trophy of an elephant or lion taken in Tanzania, Zambia or Zimbabwe – three countries where the species populations are in severe decline. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., led a letter seeking this prohibition signed by a bipartisan set of 33 representatives. An amendment to strike this important provision was defeated.

Additional amendments approved by a vote of 371 to 55 authorize the transfer of $2 million to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study the plight of the West Indian manatee in Florida and potential remedies, championed by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and direct the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to use $5 million for equine assisted therapy within the VA's Adaptive Sports Program, which was advanced by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky.

The measures are part of H.R. 4502, “Minibus #1”, which passed by a vote of 219 to 208. This package of seven appropriations bills funds several federal departments including Agriculture, Interior, and Health and Human Services, and contains many pro-animal provisions approved by earlier committee action, highlighted here and here.

House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., proved a strong champion of animal provisions in his bill, many of which were requested by a bipartisan set of 204 Representatives and 43 Senators led in the House by Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Christopher Smith, R-N.J. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., led a committee amendment to limit higher-speed slaughter lines.

“The way we treat animals reflects the values we hold. I'm thrilled to see so many of our bipartisan animal welfare provisions reflected in the appropriation bills moving forward in Congress,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, co-chair of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus. “From supporting cage-free egg laying facilities to strengthening the humane handling requirements for poultry plants to stopping horse soring, we are taking critical steps to ensure better treatment of wild and domestic animals.”

By a vote of 217 to 212, the House also passed a separate appropriations bill, H.R. 4373, funding the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, and other agencies that adds tens of millions of dollars and key provisions to tackle the combined threats to human health and animal welfare worldwide from wildlife trafficking and live wildlife markets that are associated with zoonotic disease transmission. During debate on that bill, the House approved a good amendment on combatting the trafficking of endangered species, which was offered by Rep. Jackson Lee, D-Texas.

Virtual Conference Focused On Disasters And Animals

The inaugural Global Animal Disaster Management Conference (GADMC) will be held on Feb. 15 through 24. It will bring together 50 experts from 16 countries together virtually to discuss considerations specific to animals during natural disasters.

Organized by Animal Evac New Zealand (https://www.animalevac.nz/), the free conference will include panels with leading animal emergency and disaster researchers, as well as with practitioners and academics. There will be both live and recorded webinars; recordings of the presentations will be available on the conference webpage by mid-2021. An audio-only, call-in option is also available.

The conference is geared toward emergency personnel, veterinary and wildlife professionals, farmers, those involved in rescue, and policy and law makers.

Equine-specific presenters include:

Dr. Leslie Irvine is a sociology professor and Director of the Animals and Society Certificate Program at the University of Colorado-Boulder. She has done extensive research on equine evacuation and Hurricane Katrina formed the basis for her book, Filling the Ark: Animal Welfare in Disasters.
Rebecca Husted, owner of Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue, offers training in large animal emergency rescue across the United States and abroad. She will provide a technical review of case studies of Large Animal Rescue on Feb. 16.
Dr. Susan Raymond and Victor MacPherson from Equine Guelph will present on Large Animal Rescue and Livestock Emergency Response Training and Best Practices on Feb. 24.

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