Edinburgh AWF talk a great success

On the 22nd October, Elizabeth Ormerod came to the Dick Vet to give a talk entitled ‘Clients Requesting the Euthanasia of Healthy Pets’. The talk was much anticipated and had a great turnout with about 160 students attending!

Elizabeth started the talk by getting us to join in, and think of reasons why people might want their healthy pets euthanized. She made us think about the negative impact of such an act, on ourselves, the client and the reputation of the practice and profession. Elizabeths approach to dealing with this situation was based on the human animal bond, which is something many of us were not familiar with. By using this method it was explained to us how we could persuade the client to consider different options such as signing the pet into our care and from there we could rehome it. Afterwards, we discussed different cases that Elizabeth had seen and the way in which they were resolved.

Everyone found the afternoon very informative and left with a different perspective on how to deal with a difficult situation that we all will one day be faced with.

For more information on university talks, please visit the AWF (Animal Welfare Foundation) student talks and debates page or get in touch with your school AVS representative.