July   2003   VOLUME 56: Number 7 Veterinary Ireland Journal Page CONTENTS Peer review articles are available in full as  Acrobat PDF files You will need to download the Acrobat reader    which can be got free at this web site

EDITORIAL   

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Companion Animal Issues

We are supremely confident that none of the authors of the several
interesting and informative contributions in this issue of the journal will
take offence when we declare it as our considered opinion that the most
noteworthy item within its covers is the report by Peter Murphy on the
legislation and the commercial imperatives that circumscribe the therapeutic
options available to the veterinary practitioner. Although his observations
are presented under a companion animal rubric, the issues he has raised
concerning the proposals to amend the Directive on the European Union code
relating to veterinary medicinal products have to be of the utmost
importance to every practitioner; not merely to those whose primary role it
is to treat companion animals or other animals that belong to ³minor
species² or that suffer from ³minor indications².

Some of the proposed amendments to the cascade will apply to the broad sweep
of veterinary practice: for instance, a proposal from the Federation of
Veterinarians of Europe (FVE), that has gained the approval of the European
Parliament, states that ³veterinarians may use, both in food-producing and
in non food-producing animals, veterinary products licensed in another
Member State if they are unavailable in the home country.² That proposal,
together with several others on which the Animal Remedies Committee of
Veterinary Ireland has deliberated, has been sent forward to the European
Council for another round of discussions. Although the case is a good one,
it has yet to be copper-fastened within the code; there remains the need to
impress upon the decision-makers that the code should not make it
unnecessarily difficult for veterinary surgeons to source and to use the
most appropriate medicines for each condition encountered in practice. To
that end, your representatives are keen to strengthen the argument by
assembling and presenting as much relevant evidence as possible on
difficulties experienced by practitioners in relation to conformity with the
legislative provisions or to the availability of drugs of choice in
particular instances. A compendium of unsatisfactory experiences may provide
the clarification and the persuasive evidence to prompt the legislators to
tilt the code toward a more workable ordinance.

The editorial conference that generated this essay brought to the fore
another issue that warrants a brief mention here. A member of the team
remarked that there was a widespread perception that those, whose
responsibility it is to regulate the availability and use of medicines,
would be more sympathetic to representations on behalf of farm animal
practitioners than to those on behalf of companion animal veterinarians -
largely because of the perceived link of food-producing animals with public
health. Immediately, there was agreement that the mind-set that spawned such
nonsense should not remain unchallenged.

It is an incontrovertible fact that the companion animal veterinarian makes
a huge contribution to the health and welfare of the nation¹s citizens,
albeit in the form of activities that the man-in-the-street may not identify
as part of the public health service.

The following comments attempt to outline the public health aspects of
companion animal practice and to highlight their supreme value to a society
in which citizens are living longer, often in the loneliness of the urban
hive. Public health is well served by companion animal veterinarians when
they provide information and advice, routine treatments and vaccinations for
zoonotic diseases. But veterinary medicine involves more than the diagnosis,
treatment and prevention of animal diseases; it is the linchpin that
maintains the human/animal bond in best working order, with all that that
contributes to the health and welfare of the citizens.

Companion animals are good for people and their health. The benefits of pet
ownership were given an extensive airing by Kevin Stafford and Monika Kyono
in the July 2002 issue of this Journal. In brief, there is mounting evidence
that pets can help children ³feel that they are loved, provide comfort and
serve as a source of attachment², while in adults they can reduce stress,
lower cholesterol concentrations, help to improve their owners¹ physical
activities and social skills. As Miriam Atkins pointed out when she reported
on the work of Peata in the May 2003 issue of the Journal, ³pet-facilitated
therapy has become the new buzz word in health care.² Here, the veterinarian
has a vital role to play in the selection of appropriate pets and in
advising on the training, proper management and veterinary care of those
pets. The social benefits are inestimable and, in that context, the
companion animal veterinarian is entitled to claim a creditable place
amongst the public health professionals who, in their daily work, do things
that help people to live healthier and fuller lives. Alas, one suspects that
we have not done a good job in alerting the public to the importance of
companion animal veterinarians in the matrix of public heath services -
perhaps we should begin by recognising the fact within our own ranks.

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