Animal behaviour and welfare a focus for vets in Beijing

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”