Main D C J, Appleby M C, Wilkins D B, Paul E S
Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK.
Rev Sci Tech. 2009 Aug;28(2):611-6. doi: 10.20506/rst.28.2.1900.
The primary responsibility of veterinarians is to the animals in their care, so veterinary students need to be aware of important issues and factual information relevantto animal welfare. Veterinarians have tended to concentrate on physical aspects of welfare, but also need to take account of mental aspects (including pain) and naturalness. A crucial first step in animal welfare education is to encourage students to examine the interactions between welfare science, ethics and policy. Scientific measures of welfare include physiological, immunological, behavioural, disease and productivity. Welfare ethics includes consideration of different ethical theories and of professional ethics. Understanding of policy involves awareness of legislation, codes of practice and farm assurance programmes. As well as utilising their education in their clinical practice, veterinarians may expectto have an important role in influencing policy and standards in the wider world. It is recommended that animal welfare should be taught as a clearly defined academic subject within the curriculum.
兽医的首要职责是照顾他们所护理的动物，因此兽医专业的学生需要了解与动物福利相关的重要问题和事实信息。兽医往往专注于福利的身体方面，但也需要考虑精神方面（包括疼痛）和自然状态。动物福利教育的关键第一步是鼓励学生审视福利科学、伦理和政策之间的相互作用。福利的科学衡量标准包括生理、免疫、行为、疾病和生产力等方面。福利伦理包括对不同伦理理论和职业道德的考量。对政策的理解涉及对立法、实践准则和农场保证计划的认识。除了在临床实践中运用所学知识外，兽医可能期望在影响更广泛领域的政策和标准方面发挥重要作用。建议将动物福利作为课程中一门明确界定的学术科目来教授。
