2023-09-29 12:06:53
The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Santiago de Compostela has held a conference on animal protection and abuse, a current perspective of the rules and actions from the legal and veterinary field, with the collaboration of the Provincial Council of Lugo, the Official College of Veterinarians de Lugo, Galeno, Royal Canin and the Institute of Agrarian Biodiversity and Rural Development (IBADER).
José Luis Benedito Castellotepresident of the College of Veterinarians of Lugo, inaugurated the conference together with the dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Gonzalo Fernández Rodríguezand the course director, Maria Mercedes Camiña García.
Benedito commented that as of September 29, when the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Welfare of Animals 7/2023 comes into force, veterinarians will have to carry out informative work, “because people do not know the law.” Furthermore, he regretted that the profession had not been consulted when preparing it, but he remembers that “The law must be followed, and it must be done in the best possible way”. For his part, Fernández made reference to the fact that animal protection is a multidisciplinary problem “that must be addressed with a One Health”.
The first speaker of the course was Alfredo Fernandez Alvarez, expert of the General Council of Veterinarians of Spain (CGVE). The expert explained the work of the forensic expertise and analyzed different related legal aspects. He assured that animal abuse “is an element of sentinel nature,” and that “its identification in animals can prevent its development or extension to people.” For this reason, he regretted that animal abuse was not studied as an element of pathological etiology: “It is important that in our study plans we begin to raise awareness among veterinarians regarding this issue.”.
Alfredo Fernández during his presentation
The veterinary expert added that personal opinions should not be given, “but professional ones, and we must provide them with values of a scientific nature.” In this way, “our conclusions will have a value greater than any opinion, because they will be science.” In any case, he stressed that “No veterinarian should put any other criteria before the well-being and respect for the health of animals. Not even the economic”. For Veterinary Medicine to achieve the support of society, “we have to be aware that when we do our work we represent ourselves, but also our profession,” he said.
VETERINARIANS AS EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS
María Luisa Fernández Rey, head of the Internal Medicine service at the Rof Codina Veterinary Hospital, explained how to perform an examination on an animal when there is suspicion of abuse. She indicated that “the majority of prosecuted cases of animal abuse do not go to trial,” but veterinarians always “They must use their skills as effective communicators to find a way to speak for the victim.”.
The first day ended with the conference of Yolanda Gomez Saavedra, veterinarian of the Department of Environment, Territory and Housing. She explained the details of Law 4/2017 on the Protection and Welfare of Pet Animals in Galicia, and insisted to professionals and future professionals regarding the importance of “disseminating the norm” to make known among the population the laws that deal with animal abuse.
The second day of the course had a practical nature. Jesus Cantalapiedra Álvarez, veterinarian of the Department of Rural Affairs, developed the particularities of animal protection in the case of equids and bovids. He stressed that a veterinary inspector “must follow the norm, not with personal evaluations,” but recalled that it is also important “educate people, not just file”. Next, Maria Rey CamposCAPSA Foods auditor, explained how an animal welfare audit is carried out using the protocol Welfare Quality in a practical session at the Gayoso Castro farm, at the University of Santiago de Compostela.
María Rey Campos explaining to those present.
Jesus Casabiell Pintos, a senior professor at USC, dedicated his talk to teaching what protection is like in the case of experimental animals. He argued that “Each one will have to decide whether or not it is ethically permissible to use animals in experimentation.“, for which it must be taken into account that “if there is a good animal model, there can be great scientific advances in a short time, but if it is bad, advances can slow down.”
Finally, Lucia Belver Quirogalawyer from the Ministry of Rural Affairs, ended the day with a conference on the Administration’s actions in the face of non-compliance with regard to the protection of production animals, and indicated that “It is almost always punished for minor or serious infractions“It is not common for it to be due to very serious offenses.”
DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW ANIMAL WELFARE LAW
The last day was focused on the legal aspects of animal welfare and protection. The first speaker, Luis Villares Naveira, magistrate of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Galicia, addressed the legal and jurisprudential regime on this issue and highlighted that Galician law 4/2017, although it precedes the new animal welfare law, “develops to this state law.” Even “In some cases, such as hunting dogs, they have a higher protection regime in Galician law.“, he claimed.
Lucía Girón CondeDelegate Prosecutor in Lugo of the Spanish Network of Prosecutors for the Environment, Urban Planning, Historical Heritage and Animal Abuse, spoke regarding the criminal protection of animals, and applauded that “the current regulation on animal abuse is very new. We move from an anthropocentric perspective to a zoocentric perspective”.
For its part, David Santos Rio, Lawyer of the Administration of Justice, analyzed how to enter and search a closed place, and the usefulness it has as a guarantee of judicial protection in cases of animal abuse. He recalled that “veterinarians have the obligation to report the news of any criminal case of which they are aware due to their position,” and that “It is recommended that in these cases the veterinary expert test be done from the beginning.”. However, he warned that “it is not advisable to spread possible cases of animal abuse through social networks,” because the author “can eliminate evidence.”
To conclude the course a round table was organized in which the speakers of the last day were able to clarify concepts that were not clear during the celebration of the day. It was moderated by José Luis Benedito Castellote.
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