Veterinary groups have been highly critical of Victorian laws which led to two dogs being euthanased. The dogs, named Bear and Kooda, were destroyed in June under Victoria’s new dangerous dog laws following a legal battle to save them. The dogs had not engaged in antisocial behaviour, but were put down after an officer from […]
Continue ReadingThere’s something exciting about exploratory abdominal surgery. Whether you’re in small animal, large animal or exotics practice, you can’t always predict whether the procedure will be routine or whether you will “peek and shriek”, to borrow an increasingly popular phrase being bandied around at veterinary conferences and surgery workshops. That element of the unknown is […]
Continue ReadingConsider these cases. A young elephant with an injured leg is knocked over by a boisterous male. An older female elephant chases the male away. She then goes to the injured elephant and touches the sore leg with her trunk. Elsewhere, a matriarch elephant helps a group of captured antelope to freedom by unlatching the […]
Continue ReadingIntroduction As global meat consumption continues to rise and consumers show ever more interest in the origin of their food, maintenance of the welfare of production animals has never before been so important (Decuypere et al., 2010). Of all the production animals, broiler chickens are the most intensively farmed, often to the detriment of their […]
Continue ReadingBACKGROUND Low food availability leading to reductions in Body Condition Score (BCS; 0 indicates emaciation and 5 obesity) in sheep often coincides with low temperatures associated with the onset of winter in New Zealand. The ability to adapt to reductions in environmental temperature may be impaired in animals with low BCS, in particular during pregnancy […]
Continue Reading
