AVMA overhaul yields welfare division

SCHAUMBURG, ILL.-In a historic move, AVMA has upended long-standing means for debating welfare protocols and instead, instituted an entire division.

The Division of Animal Welfare's charge: "To monitor the science of animal welfare and assist AVMA in proactively addressing developing issues of animal welfare and rights groups."

Coming to a close are AVMA's Animal Welfare Forum and Animal Welfare Committee, which will be replaced by the division and the newly formed Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. Executive Board members approved the sweeping changes in favor of adding in-house welfare experts during its November meeting. The decisions illustrate AVMA efforts to protect the profession's animal-welfare authority status, officials say.

The group, long-criticized for its soft stances on controversial food animal production practices, seems to have taken action with the presidential appointment of Dr. Bonnie Beaver, who made news last July when she told AVMA delegates, "It's time to get our heads out of the sand." AVMA is a target for animal activists because its members often are too close to industry, she says.

That battle between food animal veterinarians seeking to protect science-based welfare protocols and those removed from agriculture with an emotionally charged welfare agenda is virtually impossible for AVMA to win, says Dr. Gail Golab, the group's assistant director of professional and public affairs and staff consultant to the former Animal Welfare Committee.

"Trying to find a consensus approach to welfare issues isn't easy," she says. "You can't make everyone happy, and now that's more true than ever in this profession. Certainly, there are a lot of stakeholders in this game."

2004 recap

Last year was rough for AVMA. Early in 2004, the group was publically condemned for not revoking Dr. Gregg Cutler's Animal Welfare Committee membership upon news the avian specialist allegedly ordered the euthanization thousands of hens via a commercial wood chipper.

By July, big-time activist groups, including the Association of Veterinarians For Animal Rights, placed a full-page ad in the New York Times bearing the headline, "Has anyone betrayed more animals than the American Veterinary Medical Association?"

Activists aren't alone in giving AVMA grief. Each time the group moves more in line with their agendas, as demonstrated when it adopted a surprise position in July against forced molting, AVMA takes heat from its food animal allies, whose leaders claim emotion is fueling change, not science.

Left behind

Seeking a balance, AVMA's new Animal Welfare Advisory Committee likely will review all future policies. Among its charges, the committee will counsel the Executive Board on welfare issues, monitor position statements, envision animal activities that might become problematic and make recommendations to address them.

Consultants must be "visionary thinkers who are not representing any specific allied organization or animal industry," AVMA says. That cuts out many possible food animal nominees, says Dr. Tom Burkgren, executive director of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians.

"Visionary thinkers? I am afraid that might be a code word for 'rights activists,' and those people are not representing any allied organization or food animal practitioner I know of," he says. "What we're afraid of is that this will eliminate anyone from food animal agriculture. It looks like by this language, AVMA is trying to shut us out."

That's not true, Golab says.

"I don't think our intention is at all to exclude species interests," she says. "There's just a real desire to rethink how AVMA is looking at animal-welfare issues. There's no reason why a representative of food-animal medicine could not obtain a place within our new advisory committee."

Division breakdown

Burkgren has less hope he'll see a food animal representative within the animal welfare division. According to Beaver's recommendation, its establishment creates five new staff positions, and at least two filled by veterinarians. Proposed staffing should provide a broad expanse of experience in veterinary-related animal welfare expertise and included a division director, administrative assistant, public relations position, research analyst and a research writer, AVMA documents state.

The research analyst and research writer represent the DVM-allocated slots. The division's budget is anticipated to reach no more than $346,000 in salaries a year.

"I think that by taking this on, our leadership is saying they're serious," Golab says. "I think this is how we can be the most effective with what we have."