Emeritus Professor Ken Jubb died in Werribee on February 27 following a brief illness. Despite formally retiring in 1990, Professor Jubb continued to attend the veterinary school daily until recently. As a world renowned pathologist, educator, mentor and a key contributor to the establishment of numerous veterinary schools, Professor Kenneth Vincent Finlayson Jubb’s leaves an […]
Continue ReadingMany years ago I wrote an article for The Veterinarian on the grey-headed flying foxes at Melbourne’s Royal Botanical Gardens. Amid great controversy, the Garden’s management had decided to kill bats in order to remove them all from Fern Gully. Recently, an analysis of the saga by Dan Perry from Texas Tech University was published […]
Continue ReadingWhy do veterinarians persist in discounting surgical sterilisation of dogs and cats? This practice is so entrenched that I doubt anyone stops to consider why we do it. I can think of three possible reasons for discounting surgical sterilisation of dogs and cats: Every other clinic does; It’s a “loss leader”; and It’s a community […]
Continue ReadingSome experts suggest that sedation of laboratory rodents with isoflurane before euthanasia with carbon dioxide (CO(2)) is a humane alternative to euthanasia with CO(2) alone, but little research has compared aversion with these agents. Albino rats were tested in a light-dark box where they had the choice between remaining in a dark compartment filling with […]
Continue ReadingThe stunning quality of animals for slaughter remains under constant scrutiny. In response to previous research showing low stunning efficiency in poultry, the conventional water bath will be phased out in the Netherlands. Presently, the main practical alternative to water bath stunning of poultry is a 2-phased gas stunning method. Gas stunning methods are recognised […]
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