Bryden was one of the early consultants called upon to develop the degree program – before most people knew about it.

As Bryden recalled, it was a bit like being asked to participate . . . → Read More: Decorated veterinarian made Companion of Charles Sturt University]]> Douglas Bryden, AM, was made Companion of the University of Charles Sturt University, in recognition of his role in the development of CSU’s veterinary degree.

Bryden was one of the early consultants called upon to develop the degree program – before most people knew about it.

As Bryden recalled, it was a bit like being asked to participate in a secret-service mission.

“I got a phone call one evening in 2002 from Wagga Wagga asking would I come down and discuss something,” he recalls. “I didn’t know what it was they wanted to discuss or why, but I knew from the questions they were asking that it was really important.”In 2004, the Vice Chancellor of CSU appointed Bryden as a consultant to lead the development of the veterinary course. Bryden had grown up in Wagga Wagga and remains committed to supporting rural veterinarians.

Best-known for his long association with the then Postgraduate Foundation in Veterinary Science, Bryden’s reputation as an educator with a concern for practitioners was invaluable in garnering support for the program from rural practitioners. In particular, Bryden saw the importance of broad selection criteria, rather than limiting acceptance into the program to students with the highest academic results. To this day, candidates are selected for the course based on commitment to rural communities, leadership, communication skills and a well rounded character.

Founding Head of School Kym Abbott praised Bryden’s contribution to the program.

“The commitment to rural practice and students from rural backgrounds, the passion for innovative educational processes and the fundamental role for rural veterinary practices to contribute to the training of our graduates, all are defining characteristics of the CSU program and all area a result of Doug’s inspired vision for the school,” he said.

Although Bryden’s direct contribution to the program ceased in 2005, he maintains close contact with the school, visiting at least annually and funding the Dr Heidi Austin Prize.

The recent award came as a pleasant shock.

“It was just amazing when I got the letter from the Chancellor,” Bryden said. “I really was quite surprised and very pleased because I felt that perhaps it is an opportunity to continue to contribute in the next few years.”

The first graduates of the CSU veterinary program entered the profession in August 2010, with 100 per cent choosing to begin their careers in rural veterinary practice.

ANNE FAWCETT

Melbourne University graduate and ISCAID President Professor Jane Sykes returned to Australia recently to address . . . → Read More: Cameras used to fight infectious disease]]> The International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases (ISCAID) is urging practitioners to document infectious diseases using photographic images. The organisation is compiling an online image library to educate veterinary students and practitioners about the presentation, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.

Melbourne University graduate and ISCAID President Professor Jane Sykes returned to Australia recently to address veterinarians at the Centre for Veterinary Education’s feline medicine conference.

After completing a PhD on the diagnosis of upper respiratory disease with Glenn Browning and Virginia Studdert in 1997, Sykes completed a residency in small animal medicine at the University of Minnesota and became board certified in small animal medicine in 2001. She is currently Professor of Small Animal Medicine at the University of California, Davis, and President Elect of the Specialty of Small Animal Medicine of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM).

Sykes has a special interest in infectious diseases of companion animals and believes that photographs of cases seen in general practice can be used in the fight against infectious disease.

“At the practice level, images can be used as part of a medical record and can be used to enhance patient care as you can compare before and after, or early and late presentation,” Sykes said.

But such images have a broader application in educating veterinarians worldwide.

“Even with common conditions we see a tremendous variation in clinical presentation. Take dermatophytosis – we’ve all seen it but it has a variable presentation and it is useful for practitioners to see a range of presentations so they can recognise the disease.”

Early recognition may lead to rapid intervention.

“With the increase in number of people using smartphones it is very easy for veterinarians in practice to take photos and we’re accumulating images quickly,” Sykes said.

She believes that many veterinarians are visual learners, and some disease presentations, such as localised tetanus, may be captured in a single picture that is easily recalled for decades.

“I am definitely one of those people,” she said.

“We know that veterinarians go online to look for images, so we want to provide a library of high quality images with accurate, reliable information so that people can be confident the image is what it says it is.”

ISCAID is seeking images of anything pertaining to infectious disease including gross lesions, cytology, histopathology, images of organisms growing on culture and even electron microscopy images. Images should be stored in JPEG format with minimal compression. They can be emailed to jesykes@ucdavis.edu

ANNE FAWCETT

DPI Bourke’s veterinary officer Charlotte Cavanagh, said a number of ailments become more prevalent in wet conditions.

“When the floods are on, a lot of animals are standing in water, so hooves become softened, . . . → Read More: First the floods, now animal welfare issues]]> The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPA) and the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) have advised flood-hit communities to be prepared for animal welfare issues.

DPI Bourke’s veterinary officer Charlotte Cavanagh, said a number of ailments become more prevalent in wet conditions.

“When the floods are on, a lot of animals are standing in water, so hooves become softened, which can lead the way to foot abscesses, especially when access to stock becomes limited due to the water,” she said.

Cavanagh said the combination of flooding and warm weather could also pose problems. “The big thing I have been putting warnings out about out here is that with hot weather there is a big increased risk of internal parasites and fly-strike in sheep,” she said.

“It’s worm time anyway, and a lot of stock were lost last year to Barber’s Pole worm. With all this wet weather and lack of access, it’s important to remember that those worms can lay 10,000 eggs per day.”

Cavanagh said that continued stock checks are required to check for mosquito spread diseases, bovine ephemeral fever (three day sickness), fleece rot, buffalo fly, sand flies, pneumonia, dermatophilosis, diarrhoea, pulpy kidney, pink eye, as well as ailments afflicting companion animals.

“Pet owners should definitely keep an eye out for heartworm in these conditions,” she said.

AVA President Barry Smyth, said preparing ahead of time and acting quickly is critical.

“Be prepared for possible disruption to services, including power, water and phone lines for extended periods of time. Bring pets inside and move horses and livestock to safe ground,” he said.

The AVA made a number of suggestions to livestock and horse owners, including securing all loose objects, and to make sure horses and livestock have access to a safe food and water source.

The AVA also suggested that the reliance on automatic feeding systems can be hazardous as power may be lost.

Flood-stricken fields of NSW have also seen large amounts of the usually ground-dwelling and anti-social wolf spider.

In an effort to escape rising water, wolf spiders have been climbing grass en masse and letting out vast webs.

Scientists claim they are doing so in the hope that strong winds will catch them and transport them to a more habitable location, a practice known as “ballooning”.

In coastal areas there is concern that deoxygenated water re-entering rivers via flood plains can affect oxygen levels, with the potential to suffocate fish and other animals.

Though initial tests show the current floods have not caused large losses of life, Southern Cross University researcher Damien Maher said in extreme cases it can kill all the creatures living in the water.

Maher told AAP that the full extent of the damage from the current floods will not be known until the waters subside.

Information about protecting pets and livestock is also available on the AVA’s website.

SAM WORRAD

Gary Norsworthy, based the Alamo Feline Health Centre in Texas, says that all too frequently chronic vomiting in cats is dismissed as result of eating too quickly, anxiety, hairballs or the fact . . . → Read More: ‘Normal’ feline vomiting – is there such a thing?]]> A visiting feline specialist has challenged what he labelled as “the greatest of all feline myths”: namely that chronic vomiting in the cat is normal.

Gary Norsworthy, based the Alamo Feline Health Centre in Texas, says that all too frequently chronic vomiting in cats is dismissed as result of eating too quickly, anxiety, hairballs or the fact that the cat is “just a puker”.

But Norsworthy presented compelling data at the Centre for Veterinary Education’s annual Feline Medicine conference which suggests that vomiting reflects significant small bowel disease in the cat.

“The typical history of these cats is that they are lifelong vomiters, often with a recent increase in the frequency of vomiting,” Norsworthy said. “It might have been occasional for months to years, then one to three times a month, and now its daily but the cat seems well and has a good appetite.”Some cats present with concurrent weight loss or diarrhoea, but for many, chronic vomiting is the only clue that something is amiss.

“The problem is that we have cat owners and veterinarians feeding off each other and accepting that this is normal.”

But according to the new data presented by Norsworthy, vets will only find the root of the problem if they seek it out.

“You won’t find the answers on your classic minimum database,” he says. Rather, Norsworthy recommends abdominal ultrasound with multiple intestinal wall measurements in all cats presented with a history of chronic vomiting – unless of course a metabolic cause is detected.

While the textbooks suggest that an intestinal wall thickness of 3mm is normal, Norsworthy considers a wall thickness of 2.8mm or greater a justification for exploratory surgery and full thickness biopsy.

“Most small bowel disease is segmental, which means that even cats with disease will have some normal bowel wall on ultrasound which is why it is important to measure a number of sites.”

“Ultrasound allows documentation of small bowel thickening which you can show the owner,” Norsworthy said. “By taking them to ultrasound with you, it is much easier to convince clients to consent to an exploratory laparotomy on these cats when they can see the problem.”

Ultrasound alone does not yield a definitive diagnosis.

“Loss of intestinal wall layering is strongly correlated with neoplasia, however most cats with lymphoma don’t have loss of layering so we cannot use ultrasound to distinguish inflammatory bowel disease from lymphoma.”

Differential diagnoses for non-obstructive small bowel disease in the cat include inflammatory bowel disease, neoplasia (most commonly small cell lymphoma, lymphoblastic lymphoma or mast cell tumours), or food intolerance or allergy.

Norsworthy analysed data from 94 cats presented to his practice with a history of vomiting, diarrhoea and/or weight loss, plus an abnormal ultrasound, which underwent exploratory laparotomy and full thickness intestinal biopsies.

Of these, 93 had abnormalities on histopathology, with a histopathological diagnosis of lymphoma in 53 per cent of cases and inflammatory bowel disease in 44 per cent of cases. Adenocarcinoma and mast cell tumours were found in 4 per cent of cases.

The oldest cat in the case series was 18, while 51 were aged over 15 years. Thirty-three per cent of the cats taken to surgery had presented for a routine annual health check, with owners frequently reporting that vomiting was simply due to hair balls.

But Norsworthy believes that hair balls are often a symptom of underlying small bowel disease.

“When you find a hairball obstruction, assume there is disease affecting small bowel motility. The sight of a hairball [on exploratory laparotomy] can skew the diagnosis – look downstream and biopsy the intestine distal to the obstruction.”

Norsworthy argued that hairballs in cats are abnormal if they occur in short-haired cats or those that are noted to be poor groomers, and if they occur at a rate of more than twice a month.

“If the cat is taken to ultrasound and the findings are normal then I feel okay about treating this cat empirically with hairball diets and lubricants, but if the response to symptomatic treatment decreases over time I would want to re-ultrasound the small bowel. The risk is that if chronic vomiting of hair balls is due to chronic small bowel disease, symptomatic treatment masks the disease allowing it to progress.”

Norsworthy’s study group had several cats with areas of inflammatory enteritis and other areas of lymphoma. This is consistent with the belief that inflammatory bowel disease can progress to lymphoma in cats the consequences of delayed diagnosis of small bowel disease can be catastrophic.

Norsworthy said the findings of his study, which he is preparing for publication, support the need for aggressive investigation of small bowel disease. This is evidenced by an increase in the number of exploratory laparotomies he undertakes – from 33 in the last six months of 2011 to 14 in January 2012 alone.

ANNE FAWCETT

The DVSc is a rare honour, awarded to outstanding researchers whose body of work is deemed to have made a consistent and distinguished contribution to veterinary science. Candidates . . . → Read More: Veterinary radiologist receives highest academic honour]]> Veterinary specialist radiologist Graeme Allan will be awarded a Doctor in Veterinary Science (DVSc) this year in recognition of his prolific contribution to the field of veterinary diagnostic imaging.

The DVSc is a rare honour, awarded to outstanding researchers whose body of work is deemed to have made a consistent and distinguished contribution to veterinary science. Candidates submit a collection of original publications for assessment by examiners who are considered pre-eminent in their respective research field.

The unusual thing in Allan’s case is that his clinical research was undertaken while running a busy private specialist practice. As such he is the first Australian veterinarian in private practice to receive the DVSc by examination.

His thesis, ‘Radiological Studies of Disease in Companion and Zoo Animals’, is a compilation of more than 45 years of collaborative studies looking into a range of conditions, including pioneering studies on contrast radiography, oesophageal dysfunction, radiotherapy for treatment of cancer in companion animals right through to new forms of rickets in rex kittens, osteochondrosis in the cheetah and osteocondritis in snow leopards.The examiners unanimously agreed that Allan’s contribution to the field was outstanding. Professor Donald Thrall, best known as editor of the Textbook of Veterinary Diagnostic Radiology, described Allan as “a Renaissance man, with talents in many areas; accomplished veterinary diagnostic radiologist, investigator of numerous problem areas, teacher, and mentor.”

Emeritus Professor Patrick Gavin, of Washington State University, wrote that Allan’s thesis “will facilitate veterinary education, new veterinary radiologists, residents, interns, and veterinary science students.”

Professor Erik Wisner, Chair of UC Davis’ Department of Surgical and radiological sciences, wrote that “veterinary diagnostic imaging has only recently emerged as a specialty compared to other clinical disciplines and advances in imaging technology and computing power have caused the specialty to expand and evolve at an astonishing rate. Dr Allan, considered one of the pioneers of the specialty, has successfully navigated and adapted to this ever-changing terrain throughout his career.”

The irony is that Allan graduated without ever having had a single lecture in radiology. But when one delves into his early life, imaging doesn’t seem a far-fetched career option.

Born in New Zealand in 1940, Allan grew up in the rural town of Waipawa.

“Dad was the town doctor. He really liked living in the country,” Allan said. “So I spent a lot of time within a farming community, fishing in rivers and enjoying that sort of lifestyle. As I thought more about what I would do with my life I thought that living in this sort of community and being a vet would be pretty good.”

That wasn’t Allan’s only aspiration. He really wanted to be a pilot or a cinematographer.

“I was told I was too tall to be a pilot. Back then you couldn’t be too tall [Allan is 193cm]. I didn’t have great eyesight either and when I look back it is patently obvious that it wasn’t the right career choice: I would have hated to be responsible for all of those people up in the air.”

When he attended an interview at Film New Zealand, the panel advised him ­- incorrectly – that there was no future for cinematography in New Zealand. On hearing this, Allan’s parents, who had driven him to Wellington for the interview, “said it was obviously a loony idea”.

Veterinary science emerged as the front-runner.

At the time there was no veterinary school in the country. Instead, the Government provided funding for 25 students to train in Australia – in exchange for working in New Zealand for five years upon graduation. He enrolled at the University of Sydney.

“We were occasionally shown radiographs but we were not taught how they were taken, how they were processed or a systematic approach to their interpretation,” Allan recalls.

“The mystery of radiography at the veterinary school at that time was known only to Arthur Gee, a faculty employee with a background in medical radiography.”

During his studies, Allan met Roslyn Ward, and his plans to return home fell by the wayside. With the support of his future father-in-law he opted to pay out his bursary and remain in Australia, a decision he has never regretted. The pair married in 1966.

In 1965, at the end of his studies, Allan became a locum in Mildura.

“The vet met me at the train station with his whole family bundled into the car,” Allan said. “After a brief introduction, he took me to the practice and he and his family disappeared to the coast. That was not an unusual experience in those days.”

It wasn’t a particularly edifying one either. The practice extended from central Victoria to the Western border of NSW. The practitioner had left Allan with his wife’s Mini-minor, ill-equipped to endure the dirt roads of the outback.

“I was all alone and I just didn’t know a damn thing,” he admits. “I spent a hell of a lot of time driving and getting lost, visiting people who you knew wouldn’t pay you…but it didn’t occur to me that it was that bad. It wasn’t until I learned that some graduates were committing suicide that I realised, and I could understand how some people could be driven to despair in such circumstances.”

Upon graduation, Allan accepted a position at North Shore Veterinary Hospital which possessed a small X-ray machine (it had an output of 90kVp and 30mA). Under the mentorship of Rowland Pursell, a veterinarian who had pioneered the development of tick antiserum, Allan was bitten by the discovery bug.

This signalled a change from his university days, when even Allan admits he wasn’t a stand-out scholar.

“I wasn’t a good student in the traditional sense. I didn’t like lectures and I didn’t learn from the reams of notes that were handed out.”

But reading case reports and journal articles related to the conditions of animals he was treating in practice was endlessly fascinating.

“I found that reading journal articles and looking at clinical material and trying to work out what was going on was a tremendous way for me to learn more about what I did. So all of my early publications related to what I was seeing and doing in practice.”

North Shore was an unusual practice in that two of its four veterinarians were female. One, Jennifer Edols, helped the young Allan write up his very first case report. The patient was a cocker spaniel presented for a routine spey. However, discovery that the bitch possessed an os penis caused much head scratching.

“This led to karotyping the dog, something which was completely new to me and made me realise that there was so much that I didn’t know. It also led to cooperative work with members of the medical profession, who had the skills and laboratory facilities that enabled us to stretch our investigations.”

The article, entitled ‘A case of male pseudo-hermaphroditism in a cocker spaniel’, was published in the Australian Veterinary Journal in 1968.

The realisation that practice generated new knowledge constantly was to see many papers follow.

“I found it was through clarifying my own ideas by reviewing the literature, and writing, that I could best further my knowledge as a new graduate.”

Allan immersed himself in his work, probably – he reflects – a bit too much.

“At our recent reunions people from my year have talked about the fact that back then we expected to work seven days a week, we expected to be on call seven nights. We knew we’d be back at work after dinner, we would have to work on weekends and when the phone rang at 2am we would have to get out of bed – it came with the territory,” Allan said.

Despite the gruelling hours, Allan enjoyed his work.

“My wife once told me that she didn’t know anyone who looked forward to going to work in the morning the way I did. I still do.”

Allan was fortunate at the time to have two close friends – Rolfe Howlett (then a PhD candidate investigating bone pathology), and Bruce Duff (then training in veterinary pathology). The trio exchanged ideas about cases and acted as a “brains trust” for one another.

No one in Allan’s practice at the time really knew what to do with the X-ray machine, least of all him.

“My shortcomings as a radiographer became manifest as frustration with the modality. I used to spend my weekends radiographing animals and hanging the film on pegs on the clothesline in the backyard. I realised that not only did I not know anything about radiology, but hardly anyone else did either.”

He commenced a Masters by research under Richard Dixon at Sydney University. Dixon had recently returned from Colorado State University where he had received advanced training in radiology and radiotherapy. He proved a wonderful mentor, helping Allan investigate contrast media in cholecystography of dogs.

Another faculty member, Graham Cotton, arranged for Allan to observe radiology rounds at the Royal North Shore Hospital.

“These weekly sessions introduced me to a medical radiology community. While I found these sessions richly rewarding, the medical radiologists in turn were fascinated by the range of skeletal disorders that we encountered in dogs and cats.”

Soon after completing his masters, Allan joined the partnership at Ku-ring-gai Veterinary Hospital, where he investigated dwarfism disorders in German shepherds.

“It’s never easy accumulating data in a practice situation where expensive tests and procedures are required, and invariably the cost of pursuing interesting case material was self funded,” Allan said. “This is a situation that has existed for my entire career.”

Allan, along with Clive Huxtable, Rolfe Howlett, Rob Baxter, Bruce Duff and Brian Farrow, published the seminal paper on pituitary dwarfism in German shepherds in the Journal of Small Animal Practice – at the time the most prestigious small animal medicine journal in the Commonwealth.

While at Ku-ring-gai , Allan took charge of refurbishing the radiology suite, installing a high output X-ray machine and an automatic film processor. But the frustration of not being competent at radiography proved overwhelming. Training in North America was the only solution.

“This was an agonising decision as I was a part owner of the practice. My family, Rolfe Howlett and Richard Dixon were all influential in helping me decide to leave my safe veterinary practice environment, sell my shares in the practice, and move to Ithaca in upstate New York.”

Allan completed a residency at the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine under Victor Rendano. His overseas experienced opened up new worlds – Allan had a taste of diagnostic ultrasound, radiotherapy, contrast studies and advanced imaging as well as radiography. Allan sat his board exams and passed with flying colours.

Upon returning to Sydney he worked hard to create a viable practice relying solely on referral work. It was a dry period. Allan spent much of his spare time writing case histories for the Australian Veterinary Practitioner, covering diseases which were and remain difficult to diagnose.

“These cases were designed to demonstrate that ordinary practitioners could practice ‘on the edge’, just as effectively as many better qualified colleagues,” he said.

Allan developed one of the first distance education programs offered by the Post Graduate Foundation in Veterinary Science, now the Centre for Veterinary Education. It remains one of the most popular distance education programs.

Together with Robert Nicoll he established Veterinary Imaging Associates, a diagnostic imaging consultancy which provides services to veterinarians around Australia. Allan and Nicoll taught diagnostic imaging at the University of Sydney for over a decade while maintaining their private practice. With Paul Mahoney and Andrew Wood he created the Australasian Association of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging, aimed to further the education, knowledge and skills of the local veterinary diagnostic imaging community.

Having celebrated his 70^th birthday, Allan shows no signs of slowing down. He continues to work a four-day week, visiting practices in the Sydney region to read films and perform ultrasound while mentoring dozens of practitioners and sharing his wisdom.

Retirement is not imminent, but Allan is asked almost daily when he might give up the game.

“You do get to a time in your life when people are obviously thinking ‘You are an old bugger and why are you still here?’” he said. “There is a palpable bias against old people in the profession and you do hit that wall. I will continue doing this while I enjoy it.”

His secret seems to be that enthusiasm for discovery and thirst for knowledge that bit him with his very first paper.

“At a recent reunion one of my year mates told me he hated being a vet all his life – and I thought that was really strange. I can’t imagine not enjoying what we do. There are so many clinical syndromes that we come across in practice all the time, and if you keep your eye open you can build very interesting case histories. Imaging is just imaging, but where I’ve been successful is in collaborating with others to help elucidate strange disorders. I’ve been so lucky to be surrounded by inquisitive and enthusiastic people.”

Anne Fawcett

January 23 marked the beginning of the year of the water dragon for all who celebrated the lunar new year. For many in Asia, this is perhaps the most celebrated day of the year. A highly anticipated year purely from the fact that it is . . . → Read More: Crimson Post: Welcome the Year of the Water Dragon!]]> Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, DRAGON, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig

January 23 marked the beginning of the year of the water dragon for all who celebrated the lunar new year. For many in Asia, this is perhaps the most celebrated day of the year. A highly anticipated year purely from the fact that it is the year of the water dragon. The Chinese zodiac is based on a 12-year cycle, with each year represented by a different animal. Interestingly, the dragon is the only ‘animal’ in the cycle that is a mythical creature and not a real animal at all. It is generally accepted and believed that the year in which one is born holds great significance in the person’s life. Your character traits, personality, temper, outlook on life, mindset and even your future partner depends on the year you were born and the animal which you have been inexplicably tied to. Essentially, many of these character traits can be tied into a very general understanding of these animals, or even subscribed to a popular belief of what these animals should be. For example, a person born in the year of an ox is a hard-worker, the snake year is a sly one, dogs and tigers are energetic and you can already make a guess about the pig year. Growing up in a Chinese household, my upbringing was fairly liberal and ‘westernised’, however, I could never escape that hold that the Chinese zodiac had on my life and how ingrained it was into my family, friends and society. I could never accept that there were only 12 character traits in millions of people, however, I will find myself unknowingly musing about certain similarities or coincidences.

That leaves a big question, if the dragon is a mythical creature, how does anyone know its true character? The dragon in Chinese myths and legends is always a symbol of power, strength and good luck. The dragon is able to control rainfall, hurricanes and floods and most importantly, the dragon is always the symbol of imperial power. The Chinese zodiac is also further defined by the elements, wood, fire, earth, water and metal. This year is the water dragon, the water is meant to cool or quench the fire in the dragon, leaving a dragon with virtually no flaws. Not only are the people born in the year of the water dragon going to be extremely lucky, it is also the most auspicious year for getting married, giving birth, moving house, changing jobs, settling down in jobs or basically making any life changing decision. It has always been at the back of my mind but I did not really how serious this impacted a developed country when the Singapore government had to build extra schools to accommodate the surge in ‘dragon babies’. This is for a country with one of the lowest birth/fertility rates in the world.

So we have reached the real point of this article. What does the lunar new year and the water dragon have to do with being a veterinarian. Like I said, the Chinese zodiac affects all aspects of life and mostly the more important decisions. Our pets are not free of this obligation. It is a real concern for many animal welfare groups in Asia how the trends and symbols of the lunar year affect the decisions of pet owners and hobbyists. What seemed to be a general observation by veterinarians and welfare/rescue groups have recently converted into some worrying trends. Especially when we are in the height of the years corresponding to domestic pets. 2011 was the year of the Rabbit and needless to say, the rabbit was the unfortunate victim of the trend.

The year started out with pet shops stocking up on rabbits of all breeds, with Flemish giants and Netherland Dwarfs on display as a novelty and sales of rabbits escalating, with buyers believing that rabbits will bring in good luck for the rabbit year. Welfare groups like HRSS (House Rabbit Society of Singapore) and the SPCA (Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) took pro-active action and together with the regulatory board in Singapore (the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority) managed to control and quell display of these prey animals. Despite this, the number of abandoned pet and pure-bred rabbits also reached an all-time high, especially toward the end of the rabbit year when the fad seems to be dying out. The HRSS rescued up to 150 abandoned rabbits (a 30 per cent increase in the year), some abandoned in hutches or in cages filled with food, some in plastic bags and some even reportedly seen cage up in rubbish dumps. The SPCA received 1200 abandoned rabbits despite media releases educating the public. Presumably, this is expected as well for the next few years when the novelty of owning these once trendy pets slowly wears off.

The second disturbing trend is the ‘spring cleaning’ of one’s house just before the lunar new year. The act of giving the house a good once over, throwing out the old and in with the new to welcome the new year. The SPCA takes in 600 animals a month and the number always increases during the festive season. Reports by other welfare groups include purebred dogs in good body condition tied up outside shelters or ‘released’ into parks and outdoor recreation areas. All animal welfare groups in Singapore have since tied up with the authorities to tighten control and policing of unlicensed animals. Other measures taken have been to promote actively responsible pet ownership, implementing fines and harsher penalties for animal abandonment and abuse, pushing for an age limit to own pets, especially pets like rabbits and rodents which are often novelty pets or gifts. In these instances, collaboration between the animal welfare groups, all veterinarians and the authorities is important to push the message across.

Finally, the dragon being a mythical creature, one would think should not impact the domestic pet. On the contrary, this is the year where it is even more important to usher in some good luck. Attention has been turned to more unusual and exotic pets that share the Chinese character ‘long’ with the dragon. Chameleons (bian se long), Dragon fish (long yu), Asian water dragons and even the Chinchilla (long mau) have been predicted as the new trend. In January 2012, director of the capital animal welfare association, Qin Xiaona in Beijing released a media statement discouraging the purchase and sale of these ‘trendy’ exotic pets. In Singapore, chinchillas (a furry rodent pet native to South America) are permitted to be kept as pets. However, the illegal pet trade is one to watch out for this year. The SPCA and the welfare groups have already jointly released statements in local media and social media pushing for responsible pet ownership so here’s hoping for a prosperous year for the movement.

It is not technically true that we only belong to 12 groups of animals. A more comprehensive look at the Chinese zodiac shows that to fully define your zodiac, one needs to know ones year of birth, hours of birth, month of birth, country of birth and ones animal sign. I am like many, not a fervent believer but would certainly think twice if any coincidences occur.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous new year, GONG XI FA CAI.

Best wishes for the new year from your ever traditional, autonomous, motivated by diligence, anxious and hopeful Earth Sheep.

CATHY CHAN