Lambrou Natassia H, Winder Charlotte B, Spence Kelsey L
Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Front Vet Sci. 2024 Dec 11;11:1448216. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1448216. eCollection 2024.
Access to veterinary services is integral for animals of all species. These services play a crucial role in maintaining their health and welfare and maintaining a healthy, safe, and sustainable food system. Research has consistently shown that rural communities face challenges accessing veterinary services, with livestock producers outlining several barriers including cost, inadequate infrastructure, and delays in receiving treatments. Research on bison producers' access to veterinary services is limited, prompting our investigation to address this gap in knowledge. This qualitative study aimed to describe Ontario bison producers' current access to veterinary services and identify how any barriers, as perceived by producers, might impact their herd health and management practices.
Ontario bison producers were invited to participate in virtual focus groups to share their perspectives on their access to veterinary services. Audio from the focus groups was recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Despite all participants indicating they had access to veterinary services, they also encountered obstacles and expressed concerns accessing and utilizing these services. Two overarching themes were identified: producers were concerned about the future stability and costs associated with bison farming, and they had a desire to improve bison-specific knowledge among veterinarians servicing their farms. Producers suggested several strategies to address these concerns, including improving collaborations with veterinary organizations, like the College of Veterinarians of Ontario, to increase veterinarians' exposure to bison, building stronger relationships between producers and their veterinarians, monetary incentives for established food animal veterinarians, and providing financial support to prospective food animal veterinarians.
The findings of this study demonstrate that although bison producers in our sample had access to veterinarians, they may not fully utilize the services or find their access entirely beneficial. Future research into the veterinarian perspective would allow for greater insights into these barriers, adding additional value and contributing to a more wholistic understanding of the topic.
获得兽医服务对所有物种的动物来说都是不可或缺的。这些服务在维持动物健康和福利以及维护健康、安全和可持续的食品系统方面发挥着至关重要的作用。研究一直表明，农村社区在获得兽医服务方面面临挑战，畜牧生产者列举了几个障碍，包括成本、基础设施不足以及治疗延迟。关于野牛生产者获得兽医服务的研究有限，这促使我们进行调查以填补这一知识空白。这项定性研究旨在描述安大略省野牛生产者目前获得兽医服务的情况，并确定生产者所认为的任何障碍可能如何影响他们的畜群健康和管理实践。
邀请安大略省的野牛生产者参加虚拟焦点小组，以分享他们在获得兽医服务方面的观点。焦点小组的音频被录制、逐字转录，并使用反思性主题分析进行分析。
尽管所有参与者都表示他们能够获得兽医服务，但他们在获取和利用这些服务时也遇到了障碍并表达了担忧。确定了两个总体主题：生产者担心与野牛养殖相关的未来稳定性和成本，并且他们希望提高为其农场服务的兽医对野牛的专业知识。生产者提出了几种应对这些担忧的策略，包括改善与兽医组织（如安大略省兽医协会）的合作，以增加兽医对野牛的了解，加强生产者与其兽医之间的关系，为现有食用动物兽医提供金钱激励，以及为未来的食用动物兽医提供财政支持。
本研究的结果表明，尽管我们样本中的野牛生产者能够接触到兽医，但他们可能并未充分利用这些服务，或者并未发现他们的接触完全有益。未来从兽医角度进行的研究将有助于更深入地了解这些障碍，增加额外价值，并有助于更全面地理解该主题。
