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Animals
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Veterinary Ethics
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Veterinary Ethics

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Ethics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 38906

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sonja Hartnack

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Section of Epidemiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Interests: diagnostic test evaluation; bayesian methods; machine learning techniques; professional veterinary medical ethics; animal disease control; mixed methods
Dr. Franck Meijboom

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Ethics Institute and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Interests: bioethics; animal ethics; food ethics; trust; ethics of animal welfare

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Veterinary medical ethics have gained attention recently but their development is still ongoing. For instance, not all veterinary curricula contain ethics and new topics and challenges have entered the field. Veterinary ethics began with pioneers like Tannenbaum, who described the triad in veterinary medicine—patient, patient owner, and veterinarian—as being the source of potential ethical conflicts. Subsequently, Rollin coined the term “moral stress” as a type of stress experienced by veterinarians when facing ethical dilemmas and drew attention to the important link with society and public concerns. It seems that we have now entered the third stage of veterinary ethicists. One the one hand, this has become a mainstream discipline with increased publications, books, and lectures as well as training opportunities. On the other hand, many new topics and themes have entered this field. Rather than the more traditional focus on clinical ethics or ethical issues of animal experimentation, veterinary ethics is now also confronted with the ethics related to trade-related animal disease control, public, or One Health issues or new breeding technologies. These issues are further complicated by globalization and migration. As a consequence, knowledge on attitudes towards animals in different parts of the world is also relevant in ethical deliberations. At the same time, in society, the so-called “animal turn” took place, whereby animals and their societal roles and needs are discussed by different disciplines. This all leads to highly complex issues for (individual) veterinarians who, in daily practice, rarely have the chance to reflect on these societal changes and do not often have the opportunity to raise their voice.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present the different facets and developments in veterinary medical ethics, including topics such as clinical ethics, public health, global health, and One Health ethics. Particular focuses are the teaching of ethics and didactics as well as moral competence and development. We intend to look to the future when veterinarians will also be asked to respond to climate change issues and their impact on animal production, but also take the carbon footprints of pets into consideration.

PD Dr. Sonja Hartnack, Dipl. ECVPH


Dr. Franck Meijboom
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • professional veterinary ethics
  • moral distress
  • ethical tools
  • decision-making
  • applied ethics
  • public health ethics
  • global health ethics
  • One Health ethics
  • ethics teaching and didactics
  • moral reasoning

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 301 KiB  
Article
Recalibrating Veterinary Medicine through Animal Welfare Science and Ethics for the 2020s
by Andreia De Paula Vieira and Raymond Anthony
Animals 2020, 10(4), 654; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10040654 - 9 Apr 2020
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 7996
Abstract
What should leading discourses and innovation regarding animal welfare look like for the veterinary profession in the 2020s? This essay considers four main challenges into which veterinarians are increasingly being drawn, as they respond to increasing public expectation for them to be scientific [...] Read more.
What should leading discourses and innovation regarding animal welfare look like for the veterinary profession in the 2020s? This essay considers four main challenges into which veterinarians are increasingly being drawn, as they respond to increasing public expectation for them to be scientific and moral authorities in animal welfare in addition to their traditional role as trusted health experts. They include: (1) to go beyond traditional conceptions of health by adopting a holistic view that also considers animal welfare, not only disease treatment; (2) to reimagine their professional duties when it comes to disease prevention at the intersection of animal-human-ecosystem health; (3) to develop core competencies/proficiency in animal welfare science and ethics in order to navigate discourses concerning competing priorities and socio-political ideologies and to provide professional leadership in animal welfare; (4) to provide feedback on novel networked devices, monitoring technologies and automated animal welfare solutions and their impact on animals’ welfare. To competently navigate the intricacies of the socio-political and connected world as trusted authorities and conduits for innovation in and through animal welfare, veterinarians and veterinary students are encouraged to: (a) develop core competencies in veterinary ethics, animal welfare science and deliberative capacities that are well-informed by current multidisciplinary frameworks, such as One Health; (b) engage interested parties in more effective collaboration and ethical decision-making in order to address animal welfare related concerns within their immediate sphere of influence (e.g., in a given community); and (c) participate in the process of engineering and technological design that incorporates animals’ welfare data (such as their preferences) for real-time animal monitoring through adding animal scientific and values-aware evidence in information technology systems. In order to tackle these challenges, four pillars are suggested to help guide veterinarians and the veterinary profession. They are: Collaboration, Critical Engagement, Centeredness on Research, and Continuous Self-Critique. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Veterinary Ethics)
14 pages, 424 KiB  
Article
Philosophy of a “Good Death” in Small Animals and Consequences for Euthanasia in Animal Law and Veterinary Practice
by Kirsten Persson, Felicitas Selter, Gerald Neitzke and Peter Kunzmann
Animals 2020, 10(1), 124; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10010124 - 13 Jan 2020
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 16418
Abstract
Moral stress is a major concern in veterinary practice. Often, it is associated with the challenges in end-of-life situations. Euthanasia, however, is also meant to bring relief to animal patients and their owners. The reasons for the moral strain euthanizing animals causes to [...] Read more.
Moral stress is a major concern in veterinary practice. Often, it is associated with the challenges in end-of-life situations. Euthanasia, however, is also meant to bring relief to animal patients and their owners. The reasons for the moral strain euthanizing animals causes to professional veterinarians need to be further clarified. This article investigates “euthanasia” from a philosophical, legal, and practical perspective. After introducing relevant aspects of euthanasia in small animal practice, the term is analyzed from an ethical point of view. That includes both a broad and a narrow definition of “euthanasia” and underlying assumptions regarding different accounts of animal death and well-being. Then, legal and soft regulations are discussed with regard to the theoretical aspects and practical challenges, also including questions of personal morality. It is argued that the importance of ethical definitions and assumptions concerning euthanasia and their intertwinement with both law and practical challenges should not be neglected. The conclusion is that veterinarians should clarify the reasons for their potential discomfort and that they should be supported by improved decision-making tools, by implementation of theoretical and practical ethics in veterinary education, and by updated animal welfare legislation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Veterinary Ethics)
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Review

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10 pages, 199 KiB  
Review
The Dignity of Kangal Fish in the Context of the Swiss Animal Protection Act
by Katharina Friedli and Heinrich Binder
Animals 2020, 10(4), 561; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10040561 - 27 Mar 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2248
Abstract
Since 2008, the Swiss Animal Protection Act (AniPA) protects not only the welfare but also the dignity of the animal. Weighing of interests plays a crucial role in the implementation of the dignity concept. This article outlines the concept of the dignity of [...] Read more.
Since 2008, the Swiss Animal Protection Act (AniPA) protects not only the welfare but also the dignity of the animal. Weighing of interests plays a crucial role in the implementation of the dignity concept. This article outlines the concept of the dignity of animals and explains the method of weighing of interests in the context of the AniPA. The ‘Dignity of the Animal’ study group (DSG) of the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) has disputed the implementation of this novel concept in animal welfare and has developed a model procedure to ensure that weighing of interests in the context of the AniPA is carried out correctly and in a standardized way. Weighing of interests is performed in seven steps: 1. Describing the aim; 2. presentation of the facts; 3. assessing suitability; 4. assessing necessity; 5. identifying and assessing strain; 6. identifying and assessing interests; and 7. comparing strain vs. interests. The application of the model is shown with the example of kangal fish used for therapeutic or recreational purposes. It shows how the outcome of the weighing of interests will differ for the same setup depending on the nature of interests involved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Veterinary Ethics)
13 pages, 235 KiB  
Review
Clinical Practice Guidelines: An Opinion of the Legal Implication to Veterinary Medicine
by Michela Pugliese, Eva Voslarova, Vito Biondi and Annamaria Passantino
Animals 2019, 9(8), 577; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9080577 - 19 Aug 2019
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6196
Abstract
The strengthening of the bond between humans and animals has changed the landscape of the veterinary profession. This has, in turn, led the legal system to assess damages in veterinary malpractice and liability cases more carefully, paying attention to the possibility of using [...] Read more.
The strengthening of the bond between humans and animals has changed the landscape of the veterinary profession. This has, in turn, led the legal system to assess damages in veterinary malpractice and liability cases more carefully, paying attention to the possibility of using clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) to prove whether the defendant veterinarian contravened or not the standard of care. In this era of evidence-based veterinary medicine, CPGs are becoming an integral part of many aspects of veterinary practice, even if CPGs do not have the force of law and are situated halfway between ethical rules and legal requirements. Although guidelines have been used for several years, there seems to be a general lack of recognition of the medical and legal ramifications of CPGs for veterinarians. This creates ambiguity and inconsistency in the care that veterinary practitioners provide, compromises the care animals receive, and prevents the courts from assessing veterinarian competence in a systematic and rational way. On the basis of these considerations, this article discusses the legal implications of CPGs in veterinary medicine for dogs and cats and explores how the law may treat CPGs in the future. Redefining the CPGs should be a priority for veterinary profession. NOTE: The authors chose to use the terms “companion animal,” “pet,” and “small animal” interchangeably throughout this article, as all three are commonly in use and refer to the same animals (dogs and cats). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Veterinary Ethics)

Other

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11 pages, 231 KiB  
Commentary
One Health: How Interdependence Enriches Veterinary Ethics Education
by Joachim Nieuwland and Franck L. B. Meijboom
Animals 2020, 10(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10010013 - 19 Dec 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4690
Abstract
What does One Health imply for veterinary ethics education? In order to answer this question, we will first have to establish what One Health itself involves. The meaning and scope of One Health, however, cannot be established without reference to its values—whose health [...] Read more.
What does One Health imply for veterinary ethics education? In order to answer this question, we will first have to establish what One Health itself involves. The meaning and scope of One Health, however, cannot be established without reference to its values—whose health matters? Veterinary ethics education is well equipped to facilitate such an open-ended inquiry into multispecies health. One Health also widens the scope of veterinary ethics by making salient, among other fields, environmental ethics, global health justice, and non-Western approaches to ethics. Finally, One Health requires students to engage with interdependence. Discussing three levels of interdependence, we argue that veterinary ethics stands to benefit from a more contemplative pedagogy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Veterinary Ethics)
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