Ethics in Farm animals: The role of the veterinarian in animal protection on the example of bovines

Abstract

In the present study, farm animal practitioners in Switzerland were questioned about their reported violations of the animal welfare law in cattle and their response to the detection of violations in the year 2017. The answers from 34 participants could be included in the evaluation. In 2017, 7.8% of the farms seen by participating practices were found to be in violation of the animal welfare law. It could be shown that the participating veterinarians reported only a small part (8.7%) of the detected offenses to the veterinary offices. In 91.7% of the cases, they responded to the violations and in only 8.3% of the cases they did not respond or they waited. Most often, they informed the livestock owners about the violation (66.1%) or advised them on the implementation of the animal welfare law (24.0%). The most common reason for the decision of reporting violations or not was the severity of the offense or animal suffering. There are many reasons why violations are not reported. The improvement of the situation after a reference, advice or threat of reporting to the veterinary office and the perception of the violation as minor are the most common ones. In addition, veterinarians see their role more in information and advice than in surveillance and repression.