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Perceived role of the veterinarian in promoting dairy cattle welfare.

Perceived role of the veterinarian in promoting dairy cattle welfare.

Authors :
Brunt MW
Haley DB
LeBlanc SJ
Kelton DF
Source :
Frontiers in veterinary science [Front Vet Sci] 2023 Dec 18; Vol. 10, pp. 1325087. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Dec 18 (Print Publication: 2023).
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Improving the lives of animals in agricultural systems has primarily focused on minimizing negative experiences. Research is needed on the promotion of positive experiences (pleasure, enjoyment, play, choice, happiness) for animals and the role of veterinarians in their promotion. Our aims were to describe how Canadian bovine veterinarians and veterinary students perceive the role of a veterinarian in positive vs. negative experiences for dairy cows and to analyze the rationale provided to explain their answers. Canadian veterinary practitioners ( n  = 78) and veterinary students ( n  = 148) responded to an online cross-sectional survey and were asked, on a 7-point scale, how important the role of a veterinarian is to promote practices that influence the experience of dairy cows. We used qualitative description to analyse participants' open-ended text responses. Practices to minimize negative experiences were most important (mean ± SE; 6.8 ± 0.03), a balance of positive and negative experiences was less important (6.4 ± 0.05), and encouragement of positive experiences scored lowest (6.0 ± 0.06), although all scored highly. Four themes were identified to explain participants' reasoning regarding their perceived role of a veterinarian in the promotion of dairy cattle welfare, centered on: the animal, the producer, the veterinarian, and society. Participants indicated that promoting positive experiences was less important than decreasing negative experiences (5.9 ± 0.09). There were four themes identified to explain participants' reasoning regarding the relative importance of promotion of positive experiences versus decreasing negative experiences which centered on: frameworks to compare positive and negative experiences, impacts on the animal, the participant's view of their role, and the practicality of implementation. These results indicate modest differences in valuing avoidance of negative vs. promotion of positive welfare. There were no differences in the quantitative analyses between veterinarians and veterinary students. We conclude that veterinarians are favorably disposed to positive aspects of welfare for dairy cows but may be more focussed on avoidance of negative aspects of welfare.<br />Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.<br /> (Copyright © 2023 Brunt, Haley, LeBlanc and Kelton.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2297-1769
Volume :
10
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Frontiers in veterinary science
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
38164396
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1325087