Comparison of the general moral reasoning of small animal veterinarians vs large animal veterinarians.

This project was developed to gather data on the general moral reasoning of practicing veterinarians and to compare the responses of small animal veterinarians vs large animal veterinarians and of male veterinarians vs female veterinarians. Using the Defining Issues Test for assessing moral reasoning, it was found that there is no significant difference between the levels of moral reasoning of small animal and large animal veterinarians. However, a slightly significant (P = 0.045) difference was found between the levels of moral reasoning of male and female veterinarians. Explanations of these findings are given. This report provides baseline data on the moral reasoning of veterinarians, which can serve as a foundation and stimulus for comparison in other studies.