Abstract
Simple SummaryEuthanasia is an essential management tool used on livestock operations to alleviate animal suffering. Despite the fact that caretakers who work closely with animals recognize the value of euthanasia, ending an animal’s life remains a difficult task. On swine operations, veterinarians often do not perform day-to-day euthanasia but as animal health and well-being experts, veterinarians should be integral in euthanasia protocol development, training, and execution. Although the importance of euthanasia training is recognized, there is still opportunity within the swine industry to ensure all employees are properly trained. It is evident that there is also a need to provide additional training to veterinarians as integral components of the veterinary school curriculum and continuing education programming. Logistical factors are noted as challenges to proper and timely euthanasia and need to be addressed. Additionally, as the impact that euthanasia can have on caretaker and veterinarian mental well-being becomes more recognized in the livestock industries, it is crucial to incorporate strategies for coping with the moral stress of having to perform euthanasia into training protocols, as currently this is not broadly addressed.Euthanasia is a critical component in swine production and veterinarians play an important role in euthanasia protocol development and training. This study aimed to understand veterinarian involvement in and perspectives on euthanasia on pig farms. An online survey was disseminated both at a pig welfare conference and online via a veterinarian e-newsletter. Twenty-five veterinarians participated in the survey. The majority of respondents indicated that caretakers are the individuals making euthanasia decisions and performing the task (n = 17, 68% and 22, 88%, respectively). The majority (22, 88%) of respondents indicated that most of the facilities with which they work have a written euthanasia protocol, and 72% (18) indicated that they assisted in protocol development. Only half of respondents (13, 52%) agreed that “all employees performing euthanasia have been trained adequately”, and 80% (20) identified an interest in delivering more training. Less than half the respondents indicated that strategies for coping with “personal stress” and “emotional wellness” (12, 48%) were included in euthanasia training. While the moral stress of performing euthanasia is recognized, there is opportunity for addressing mental well-being in euthanasia resources. Although preliminary, this study supports the need for further euthanasia training on-farm, involving veterinarians in the process.
Highlights
Euthanasia is a critical component of on-farm management used as a means to alleviate suffering of diseased or injured pigs that have little chance of recovery [1]
The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) electronic newsletter was distributed to 1585 subscribers
The preliminary results presented in this study suggest an opportunity for further involvement of swine veterinarians in on-farm training of animal caretakers
Summary
Euthanasia is a critical component of on-farm management used as a means to alleviate suffering of diseased or injured pigs that have little chance of recovery [1]. There are often psychological, emotional, and physical ailments which manifest themselves in caretakers and veterinarians that are tasked with euthanasia responsibilities [5,6]. Considerable research has been conducted, exploring the impacts of performing euthanasia on people who have chosen careers based on their affinity for caring for animals, such as veterinarians, animal shelter workers, livestock owners, and farm employees [7,8]. Reeve et al [8] found that employees performing euthanasia in animal shelters often develop feelings of misdirected anger that can lead to isolation or discontent. Individuals that work closely with animals, such as caretakers and veterinarians, form bonds with the animals they care for [11], making performing euthanasia a very difficult task that can have psychological repercussions on those individuals if not addressed [12,13]. Veterinarians’ main focus is to keep animals healthy, diagnose and treat disease, and promote good animal management, and when euthanasia is determined the best option for an animal, veterinarians may feel a sense of failure [3]
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