The role of veterinarians in equestrian sport: A comparative review of ethical issues surrounding human and equine sports medicine

Madeleine L.H Campbell

doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2013.05.021

Abstract

Veterinarians have a key role in providing medical care for sports horses during and between competitions, but the standard client:veterinarian relationship that exists in companion and production animal medicine is distorted by the involvement of third parties in sports medicine, resulting in distinct ethical dilemmas which warrant focused academic attention. By comparing the existing literature on human sports medicine, this article reviews the ethical dilemmas which face veterinarians treating equine athletes, and the role of regulators in contributing to or resolving those dilemmas.Major ethical dilemmas occur both between and during competitions. These include conflicts of responsibility, conflicts between the need for client confidentiality and the need to share information in order to maximise animal welfare, and the need for an evidence base for treatment. Although many of the ethical problems faced in human and equine sports medicine are similar, the duty conferred upon a veterinarian by the licensing authority to ensure the welfare of animals committed to his or her care requires different obligations to those of a human sports medicine doctor. Suggested improvements to current practice which would help to address ethical dilemmas in equine sports medicine include an enhanced system for recording equine injuries, the use of professional Codes of Conduct and Codes of Ethics to establish acceptable responses to common ethical problems, and insistence that treatment of equine athletes is evidence-based (so far as possible) rather than economics-driven.

Highlights

Public concern about the use of horses in sport is not new (Higgins, 1996), it has increased in recent years
Like human sports medicine doctors, veterinarians treating elite equine athletes face a potential conflict between their duty to safeguard the welfare of the athlete under their care, and their responsibility to the trainer/manager/owner of that athlete who are purchasing medical care and have an interest in keeping the athlete competing
In a survey of human sports medicine doctors (Anderson and Gerrard, 2005) the conflict between doctors’ autonomous right to treat the athlete with the aim of maximising recovery and the autonomous right of managers/trainers to decide on the most appropriate treatment for players in their employment was identified by half of the respondents as a major ethical dilemma

Summary

Introduction

Public concern about the use of horses in sport is not new (Higgins, 1996), it has increased in recent years. Like human sports medicine doctors, veterinarians treating elite equine athletes face a potential conflict between their duty to safeguard the welfare of the athlete under their care, and their responsibility to the trainer/manager/owner of that athlete (and, in the human case, the athlete himself) who are purchasing medical care and have an interest in keeping the athlete competing.

Results

Conclusion