New WSAVA committee to focus on reproduction

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association has convened a new Committee to focus on ensuring that veterinarians globally have access to the latest resources and knowledge on the rapidly evolving area of reproduction control. The Reproduction Control Committee is chaired by Stefano Romagnoli, a European Veterinary Specialist in Animal Reproduction (Dipl ECAR) from the University of Padua in Italy and a member of Associazione Italiana Veterinari Piccoli Animali and is comprised of reproduction experts from around the world. They are:

  • Kaywalee Chatdarong, Thailand, Professor of Theriogenology at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and founder of the Thai Board of Theriogenology. She is a member of the Veterinary Practitioners’ Association of Thailand.
  • Kurt de Cramer, South Africa, a Veterinary Specialist in Reproduction and practices as general practitioner and theriogenologist. He is a guest lecturer at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria and a member of the South African Veterinary Association
  • Michelle Kutzler, USA, Board-Certified in Theriogenology and a full professor of Companion Animal Industries at Oregon State University, USA. She is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)
  • Natali Krekeler, Australia, Board-Certified in theriogenology and a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is a member of Australian Small Animal Veterinarians.
  • Rob McCarthy, USA, Board Certified in Veterinary Surgery with a special interest in reproductive control in dogs and cats and the management of feral cat populations.  He teaches at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in the USA and a is a member of the AVMA
  • Sabine Schäfer-Somi, a European Veterinary Specialist in Animal Reproduction (Dipl ECAR) and teaches at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria. She is a member of Vereinigung Oesterreichischer Klientiermediziner.

As a first step, the new Committee is conducting a survey of WSAVA members to explore priorities for education and advice. It will then get to work creating tools, educational resources and continuing educational content.

Professor Romagnoli says: “Giving advice on reproduction or its control and carrying out spaying and neutering procedures often form a large part of a general clinician’s work.  Many of our members are also actively involved in large-scale spay-neuter programs.

“We aim to help members make science-based choices for the management of reproduction in their patients, while safeguarding animal welfare and supporting the human-companion animal bond. We will offer them the latest information to help them make recommendations as to the most appropriate approach to neutering for their patients.

“We are also working with the WSAVA’s Animal Wellness and Welfare Committee to deliver a set of minimum standards of care for companion animals put forward for spay-neuter programs.”

The WSAVA represents more than 200,000 veterinarians worldwide through its 115 member associations and works to enhance standards of clinical care for companion animals. Its core activities include the development of WSAVA Global Guidelines in key areas of veterinary practice, including nutrition, pain management and vaccination, together with lobbying on important issues affecting companion animal care worldwide.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.