Animal Welfare

Washington-- A USDA veterinarian is scheduled to testify today that illegal slaughterhouse practices are jeopardizing safety standards.

Richmond, Va. - Virginia lawmakers are takin gnote of the animal-welfare movement and have decided to create a new subcommittee to give greater attention to the state's welfare issues.

To protect our microchip scanners from contagions, we cover the scanners with laboratory sample bags or zippered quart-size plastic bags before scanning our patients.

West Hollywood -- Retail pet sales will become illegal in West Hollywood beginning March 19.

Arlington -- The more than 26,000 exotic animals seized from a Texas pet-trade facility in December will remain in the custody of rescue groups.

Kentucky -- Equine veterinarians in Kentucky have formed a new equine welfare group: the nonprofit Equine Health and Welfare Alliance Inc (EHWA).

A ban on cat and dog retail sales is very close to becoming official.

National report -- Wisconsin and New Hampshire lawmakers signed on to curtail unscrupulous commercial dog breeders -- a trend that racked up some 90 pieces of legislation in 33 states last year alone.

National report -- Animal welfare was predicted to be one of the hot spots of veterinary medicine in 2010, and state legislators already are proving the prediction to be true.

Columbus, Ohio -- The Ohio Veterinary Medical Association has urged caution against rushing to judgement about a possible ballot measure to debate animal welfare standards until more information about the state's livestock housing becomes available.

A Q&A with a veterinary college student featuring her take on the state of animal welfare and her peers' responses and hopes for the future.

Changes in state laws shut down commercial dog kennels in Pa.

A new campaign to redefine livestock housing in Ohio was announced Feb. 1.

Columbus, Ohio -- Membership of the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, created through a livestock welfare ballot initiative in November 2009, is expected to be in place by March, according to the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA).

Relief efforts are gearing up to aid animals impacted by the earthquakes in Haiti.

Schaumburg, Ill. -- The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Executive Board has approved changes recommended by its Animal Welfare Committee to policies on animal abuse and neglect reporting, as well as new guidelines for molting chickens, beak trimming and docking of lambs' tails.

Put yourself in others' shoes, paws, hooves or claws

Animal welfare leaders try to hash out a plan to reclaim their ground in the public arena

Seven cities scramble as new state law blocks them from regulation veterinary procedures in 2010

Davis, Calif. -- The University of California's veterinary dean Bennie I. Osburn, DVM, was recently honored by the California Cattlemen's Association.

Over the course of a year, DVM Newsmagazine published hundreds of news stories about the veterinary profession and trends influencing it. This list and photo gallery chronicles events influencing your profession in 2009.

United Kingdom -- One in four United Kingdom horse owners reported animal-welfare problems in horse housing, according to an online survey conducted by World Horse Welfare.

Stillwater, Okla. -- The president of Oklahoma State University terminated a federally funded research project that would have studied the effects of anthrax on live baboons at the school's Center for Veterinary Health Sciences.

East Lansing, Mich. - "Tides go two ways and can be dangerous," says Dr. David Morton, BVSc, PhD, MRCVS, professor emeritus in biomedical science and biomedical ethics at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Washington -- In response to a lawsuit filed by an animal welfare organization, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has postponed the removal of more than 2,700 wild horses and burros in northwestern Nevada.

A total of six Calif. cities have now made some move toward declaw bans.

This on-demand AVMA course by Dr. Daniel M. Weary illustrates three intersecting views about what constitutes satisfactory animal welfare. (1 CE credit)

This on-demand AVMA course by Dr. Daniel M. Weary reviews some of the recent research on pain assessment and detection in cattle. (1 CE credit)

National Report -- Six major equine organizations have endorsed a new equine welfare code, according to the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA).

California -- In attempt to get their ordinances approved before a new state law takes affect that will prevent cities from passing legislation that will interfere with state-regulated professions like veterinary medicine, at least five cities have passed or are about to pass laws banning cat declawing.