Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Veterinary ethics and preventing production diseases in pets
By Rollin, Bernard E·Published in Animal health research reviews·2009·Colorado State University, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Veterinary ethics and production diseases.
Plain-English summary
This study discusses the importance of animal welfare in veterinary medicine, emphasizing five key freedoms that animals should have. These include being free from hunger and thirst, discomfort, pain or illness, the ability to behave normally, and freedom from fear and distress. The authors argue that veterinarians should actively speak out against production diseases, which are health issues that arise from how animals are raised and can often be prevented with better practices. The overall message is that improving animal welfare requires changes in how we produce food animals.
Abstract
An animal's welfare should be governed by five freedoms, namely, freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury or disease, freedom to express normal behavior and freedom from fear and distress. If the essence of veterinary medicine is to act like a physician for animals then the profession must be vocal in opposition to production diseases, which can be prevented by changing the system of production.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20003648/