In May the Federation of Asian Small Animal Veterinary Associations (FASAVA) held it’s regional conference in Beijing.
The conference
attracts thousands of vets from all over the Australasia region, and Heather
Bacon of the JMICAWE was delighted to attend to deliver presentations on
‘animal welfare in the veterinary clinic’ and ‘surgical and analgesic management
of the small animal patient’. Vicki Elliot of the Animals Asia Foundation also
collaborated with Hayley Walters of the JMICAWE to deliver a presentation on
Animal behaviour in the veterinary clinic, and the project was supported by Animals
Asia.
The inclusion of the animal welfare stream, in addition to
sessions on clinical animal behaviour delivered by Dr Kirsti Seksel,
demonstrates the increasing importance of animal behaviour and welfare across
the region.
The visit also provided an opportunity for Heather to visit
the China Agricultural University to exchange information on ‘outcome-based
curriculum development’ and ‘advances in veterinary teaching’ with a group of
enthusiastic lecturers.
“The growing interest
in animal behaviour and welfare across the Asia region is representative of the
importance of these subjects within the veterinary curriculum”, said Heather
“it is essential that veterinarians are skilled in these subjects as many of
the clinical challenges we face have aetiologies that include behavioural or
welfare problems”
