RESUMEN
The current study was designed to explore the importance that veterinary science educators in Australian and New Zealand universities assign to animal welfare and ethics (AWE) topics as Day One/Initial Competences for new graduates. An online questionnaire was deployed in parallel with an equivalent study of veterinary science students at these educators' schools. Responses were received from 142 educators (51% females n=72 and 49% males n=70), representing an overall participation rate of 25%. Questions were clustered according to seven areas of veterinary employment: general practice, production animals, companion animals, wild animals, aquatic animals, animals kept for scientific purposes, and animals used in sport and recreation. The most highly rated topics for each of these clusters were: professional ethics in general practice, euthanasia in companion animals, strategies to address painful husbandry procedures in production animals, veterinarians' duties to wild animals in animals in the wild, aquatic animal health and welfare issues in aquatic animals; competence in the 3Rs (replacement, refinement and reduction) in animals kept for scientific purposes, and responsibilities of ownership in sport and recreation. Female educators rated many of the topics as significantly more important than did their male counterparts. Educators teaching one or more ethics-related subjects were less likely to rate neutering and euthanasia as important as those not teaching these subjects. The educators' focus on practical issues clashes with a perceived need for veterinarians to actively embrace animal ethics. Overall, the perspectives of these educators should be carefully considered as they are likely to influence student attitudes.
RESUMEN
Historically, the veterinary profession has understood animal welfare primarily in terms of animal health and productivity, with less recognition of animals' feelings and mental state. Veterinary students' career preferences and attitudes to animal welfare have been the focus of several international studies. As part of a survey in Australia and New Zealand, this study reports on whether veterinary students prioritize animal welfare topics or professional conduct on the first day of practice and examines links between students' career preferences and their institution, gender, and year of study. The questionnaire was designed to explore the importance that students assign to topics in animal welfare and ethics. Of the 3,320 students invited to participate in the online survey, a total of 851 students participated, representing a response rate of 25.5%. Students' preferences increased for companion-animal practice and decreased for production-animal practice as they progressed through their studies. Females ranked the importance of animal welfare topics higher than males, but the perceived importance declined for both genders in their senior years. In line with previous studies, this report highlighted two concerns: (1) the importance assigned to animal welfare declined as students progressed through their studies, and (2) males placed less importance overall on animal welfare than females. Given that veterinarians have a strong social influence on animal issues, there is an opportunity, through enhanced education in animal welfare, to improve student concern for animal welfare and in turn improve animal care and policy making by future veterinarians.