Animal Welfare in the Uruguayan Veterinary Profession Field

Training and dissemination of good handling practices are key points in reducing animal abuse. Three aspects are considered in the development of education in animal welfare (AW): (1) introduction of AW in curricular education, nevertheless it has not been applied in the Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la República de Uruguay, up to now; (2) promotion of permanent education for graduates; (3) development of plans for dissemination, follow up, assessment and continuous improvement on AW affairs. Aiming to obtain information about the knowledge of veterinarians on AW during the practice of their professional duties, in September 2016, an on-line questionnaire was sent to the veterinarians who were in the Educación Continua database. The questionnaire had four sections: a general gathering information and three additional sections, one for each veterinarian professional field (large animal’s health and production, small animal’s health and food industry). From 1,804 questionnaires sent, 388 answers were obtained. There were 69% attended at least one AW course, and 89.9% were willing to attend another AW course. And 63.5% considered the information received to be very useful for their daily activities, 95% considered that AW should be included in the veterinary studies curriculum, while 53.3% declared not having knowledge about the regional animal welfare strategy (RAWS). The majority of the veterinarians considered the acquired knowledge very useful and are eager to obtain more information. It is necessary to keep working to include AW in the veterinary studies curriculum as well as continuing with the diffusion of good practices and AW principles, based on the national and international norms.