“The available estimates indicate that Europe’s pet trade (cats, dogs, exotic) is the third most profitable illegal trade in the EU, after narcotics and weapons,”Tune in to hear Robyn Lowe in conversation with Rowena Packer and Zoe Belshaw to discuss their research findings into the shocking reality of puppy sale scams and illegal puppy smuggling, where animal health, behaviour and welfare is hugely compromised for financial profit.Rowena is a senior lecturer in companion animal behaviour at RVC and Zoe is a European and RCVS Recognised Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine. They discuss their research findings, particularly the increase in puppy sales throughout the pandemic and the change in methods of acquisition.Importing puppies is often illegal and unethical. Ongoing research has shown that there is an increasing trend in the number of puppies purchased with passports (i.e imported puppies), in 2021 at least 1 in 10 puppies were imported. In 2020, Dogs Trust found that 14% of all adverts reviewed were for imported puppies (29% in England), at least 18% of the imported puppies were confirmed by the seller as being under the minimum 15 weeks of age.It is something we in the veterinary profession, and prospective puppy owners, need to know more about, and we hope that this podcast provides some insight and tools to identify when this is likely to be going on, for example any puppy who has been imported under the age of 15 weeks will have been done so illegally.We also discuss the hugely damaging impact this has on the puppies, dams and sires from a behaviour, disease and welfare point of view. This issue is becoming more prevalent, and we have a responsibility to educate ourselves and our clients so that we can try and tackle this, ultimately by identifying puppy sellers who are part of the illegal puppy trade and boycotting these purchases.
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46:58
How can veterinary professionals harness AI to maximize patient health and welfare?
In this week’s forward-thinking podcast, we hear from Liz barton, Matt Dobbs and Ed Rochead in conversation with our very own Robyn Lowe on their views and experiences of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the veterinary profession. Liz Barton is Head of Communications at VetCT, Matt Dobbs is CEO of Agsenze and Ed Rochead is a mathematician employed by the government, currently commissioning research in AI, Cyber, AI and Data Science for the MOD. Together Liz and Matt bring expertise on implementing AI in both small and large animal medicine, and Ed brings fascinating insight into data science.During this podcast we discuss how AI can be of value within a veterinary context. This may include how it can aid note taking and history writing which may save time and reduce burnout; how it can deliver efficiency in diagnostics and help with the provision of precision agriculture, where in a herd setting tailored care for the individual can be achieved. But importantly we also consider the ethical implications of AI use in the long-term, and in cases such as selective breeding. We talk about the urgent responsibility on us as veterinary professionals to have robust and ethical debates around AI use and better understand how it may impact the health and welfare of the animals we serve.A key part of embracing AI in a positive way is to ensure veterinary professionals are trained to use it correctly. This includes making sure data is correct, consistent and contextualised and that data interpretation utilises core veterinary knowledge and skills to deliver safe, practicable and realistic advice and veterinary care. For more information, please see a written piece about Agritech by Robyn Lowe and Matt Dobbs.A paper on Artificial Intelligence in Veterinary Medicine by Liz Barton.
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41:30
How can the vet sector play a role in ethical puppy breeding
Have you noticed any signs of poor welfare breeding in your dog or rescue dog? If you have then you're not the only one who has fallen into these scams - and they're getting harder to spot. In today's podcast Robyn Lowe talks to Tim Kirby, founder of PetBond about his passion and drive to celebrate ethical breeders and work to improve puppy health and welfare as well as owner support using a preventative medicine approach. Tim describes his varied clinical working background and why he setup PetBond.We talk about how to support and educate potential new owners to help them avoid falling into the common scams of purchasing a puppy from sources that are unethical that may increase the risk of future physical and behavioural ill-health of the puppy.We discuss the importance of the veterinary profession working with and celebrating the breeders who are focused on both the health and welfare of the puppies, dam and sire and supporting the long-term health strategies for their breed. We talk about how working harmoniously and synergistically with them as a team, can better the outcomes of all the animals involved. PetBond provides a rigorous verification process, an ethical breeding policy, protection for buyers, a trusted network of veterinary clinic partnerships and accredited ethical breeders and trusted reviews. Throughout this podcast we discuss their initiatives, including pre-purchase consults, verification of ethical breeders and health testing.For more information regarding PetBond, visit their website:https://mypetbond.com/Or if you and your clinic are interested in signing up or asking more about it, see the sign up here: https://mypetbond.com/auth/vet-signup
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37:19
There are fates worse than death - should it always be 'quantity' of 'quality' in farm animals?
Join us for this week’s podcast in which Ami Sawran and Danny Chambers chat to Paul Wood, a farm vet and academic working at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) about his experiences of treating farm animals in commercial, rescue, sanctuary and pet scenarios. We ask, how possible is it to keep a farm animal alive to old age and with an adequate quality of life? This podcast brings a wealth of experience, from individuals passionate about animal welfare. We delve into the realities of giving commercial animals a non-commercial life. As farm animals can NEVER be signed out of the food chain, it makes the treatment options for old age diseases, such as arthritis, very limited. Faced with this reality, how possible is it to keep a large animal alive to old age and with a adequate quality of life? Furthermore, how do we assess that quality of life? Does an animal still eating truly mean it wants to continue living? What are the benchmarks for this? Do we in the farm veterinary community have the tools to manage these animals and these clients in a contextualized way? The episode also delves into common problems that some owners of these animals are not aware of. Did you know, you can’t make a Victoria sponge for your pet pig in your kitchen! This could seem ridiculous and trivial to an adoring owner, wanting the best for their pig. But the global health concerns of contaminated pork products being ingested by a pet pig could be huge, with cases of African Swine Fever originating in situations like these (the same rule applies to other species of farm animal too, such as your pet chickens)!This episode contains reference to livestock slaughter, and may be upsetting to some listeners, but the discussion is respectful and an incredibly important ethical dilemma many people are facing, talking about these concerns from first hand experience working as a farm or mixed vet.
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53:37
The Downstream Effects of Irrationality are Unpredictable.
Join us for this latest podcast, in which Robyn Lowe talks to Michael Marshall, on the topic of conspiracy theories, medical mistrust and how it relates to the veterinary sector and how we can best approach these situations in a compassionate and most effective way. Michael Marshall, known as Marsh, is editor at The Skeptic, project, director at the Good Thinking Society and host of the Be Reasonable podcast. He is fascinated by what drives people to believe in non-mainstream ideas.How do we do we support people and listen, when they hold ideologies that could be harmful? Marsh feels we need to understand and recognise what and how people are exposed to conspiracy or alternative views. What messages are they being given? What are the sales pitches and why is it so persuasive to them?Marsh explains how medical mistrust and conspiracy theories, can be relevant to veterinary medicine. Often non-mainstream beliefs are not isolated, they are part of a bigger picture of how individuals view the world. So though perhaps believing one ideology isn’t harmful, what this belief can lead to may be harmful, if it pertains to health for themselves, their children or their pets. The downstream effects of irrationality are unpredictable.We discuss how can we go about tackling these issues in the consulting room. First you need to do the groundwork; to show them you don’t judge them and that you just want to understand their perspective. This shapes the conversation to be more open and less combative. We chat about how you can then try to open the conversation to how the individual came to believe in these ideologies. Understanding where they started is better than challenging the ideas from the outset. How does this belief sit with their self-identity and how they see themselves fitting in the world. What need does this fulfil? Join this fascinating conversation where we learn how to open dialogue with those who hold beliefs that don't reflect our own.
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South Africa