Finally, on July 26th at 8pm on ABC1, Vet School, a TV documentary that follows 8 final vet students from my university will be aired!
Like the Vet School Facebook page to find out more!
Check out the trailer!
Answer:
Hi Anon,
Don’t think I will be :( I am already going away in January and have a week of farm prac left to do, so cant take anymore time off work!
Would have been really awesome to go though!
Liv x
Veterinarian Paul Davey had been looking forward to the new graduate vet, who was a friend of his brother, starting at his practice in 1996.
When the young vet killed himself the night before his first day, Dr Davey was devastated and vowed to stop others in the profession he loves falling victim to mental health problems and suicide.
I was fortunate enough to have this brilliant vet come and talk to us. A brilliant leader in the prevention of veterinary suicide.
Final exam is done and dusted! Don’t know what to do with all this new found freedom! Woo!
If you’ve got your finger on the pulse in Australia you’ve probably heard about how Coles (one of our big two supermarket chains) made the deciion to start selling bags to raise money and awareness for Animals Australia. Today they changed their position and decided to stop the sale of the bags. Which is where the above conversation begins.
Animals Australia is an animal welfare organisation that uses inflammatory angles and a heavy media presence to push its core value that animals should not be eaten. While they have done some good work in terms of obtaining footage of horrible condition, their distribution methods raise many concerns for those of us involved in the industry. Their actions in the past have crippled livelihoods and ultimately caused increased levels of animal suffering due to their lack of forethought and cooperation with industry (i.e. Live Export).
Amazing response there - props to the veterinary community!
It makes me immensely happy to see so many vet students backing Australian Farmers.
Answer:
Wouldn’t you think that AA would want a world where no animals are eaten or subjected to life that ends as a result of meat consumption? Of course animal welfare is foremost important and there is a large number of animals that are said to be suffering.
The sad thing is, it comes back to economics (yuck!). Without demand there is no supply. You see, there is a demand, and a high one at that, for meat and animal products. Farmers are trying to keep up with the demand at the same time as trying to do what is right. You will find that farmers are not the bad guys that AA can sometimes portray them to be. A lot of producers I have spoken to and know of want the very best for their animals.
1. You get a better quality product therefore a higher return
2. You have animals that are easier to work with
3. You have happy animals that are not stressed. When animals are stressed they tend not to eat or drink, they lose condition and are more susceptible to disease.
So the farmer gets a lot back for treating his animals with TLC.
The Australian Model Code of Practice of Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines is currently under review, things are changing!
The science of welfare is not a static thing and is constantly changing with new demands meaning we need to look for better options. This is the stage we are in now.
Reading Facebook forums on this matter has been quite interesting. There seems to be a lot of anger being directed to farmers and “how can they work in an industry that supports cruelty” etc etc.
I get that question often “how can you be a vet student, and love animals yet support live animal export?”
A reason as to why I wanted to be a vet was so I could be an active, respected voice in the live export scheme. Yes, it is all good jumping up and down and making a scene to get the medias attention, which I know is how you get the ball rolling to make change happen, BUT, I believe I can make a bigger difference being within the industry itself, to improve the welfare of animals.
Hope that helps explain things. Its a difficult topic to discuss without treading on peoples toes! It is also a hard one to type out on a computer! Much easier to discuss in person!
Liv
Answer:
Thank you for this! I totally 100% agree with you! What AA has done in conjunction with Coles is appalling! Thank god the plug has been pulled on those bloody bags! It was not a very thought out or smart move broadcasting an alliance with AA… Yes it is all good and well that Coles supports animal welfare, but to do it with such a group that is rallying against Australia farmers is not right, ESPECIALLY when it is the Aussie farmers producing the meat, fruit, vege, flour etc that stocks their shelves!!! Yes the industry is not perfect, but canning it all together is going to do more damage than good.
A lot of the students I am at uni with share this very same opinion! What about you? On a whole, do you think your uni supports Australian farmers and live export?
Thank you for the message!
Answer:
Hi Erin,
That would be really good and I am interested, if you come off anon or send me another message with your email address we can have a chat!
Thank you for showing interest in my little blog!
Liv
