Action | Elimination of restriction on practical training only in final year of veterinary school |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 1/29/2016 |
While I see that some improvements have been proposed, the requirement for consent before a member of the family is operated on by a student must not be ignored. That's right I said a member of the family, which is what animal companions acatually are, not property, not "just" animals to be experimented upon. I understand that veterinary students need the opportunity to perform what they are learning under real world conditions, but before any medical procedure, especially considerably risky ones, cannot and should not be done without the informed consent of the "owners" (for lack of a better term!) of the animals in question. One would never allow surgery to be performed on humans who cannot give their own consent, and then have no one to be able to give that consent in their stead; why does anyone think that animals should be any different since they can never give their own consent to begin with? Please amend your rules so that people who love their animals no less than any other human member of their families (and sometimes MORE than their human family members!) MUST give their consent, so that everyone can be put at ease, especially if there is an unfavorable outcome! The term "burdensome" should never be used when a matter of life and death, or even the possibility of a potentially negative outcome affecting even the quality of the animal's life going forward. Please reconsider this final request, and do what is right and good, even if it takes some work to make it happen, and to follow through over time. Thank you for your consideration.