Attitude of Veterinary Students and Veterinarian in Khartoum State towards animal Welfare

Abstract

This is a prospective study undertaken from February 2016 to - April 2016 in Khartoum State to investigate the attitude of undergraduate veterinary students and practicing veterinarians toward animal welfare.. Fifty( 4th and 5th year)veterinary medicine students were enrolled in the study. The students were from three different universities located in Khartoum State that is Sudan University of Science and Technology (SUST) ,University of Khartoum and Bahry University. Fifty practicing veterinarians from both government (Abo-hamama Veterinary Hospital and Elkhadaro Veterinary Hospital ) and private sector(some veterinary pharmacies in khartoum North). Two questionnaire were constructed one for each group to collect information on their knowledge and attitude towards animal welfare by direct interviewing of the respondent. Most of the students (96%) think that animal welfare is an important issue in the veterinary field ,(88%) have scientific knowledge of the animal welfare,(66%)think that animal welfare should be taught to veterinary students,(92%)believe that animal welfare affects animals' productivity, all the students think that there is a need for more veterinary service centers to promote animal welfare and they know that euthanasia is among the OIE concerns. Only 12% of the students think that animal welfare is applied in the Sudan and 36% follow animal welfare during health care of the animals. It was found that the gender did not affect the students attitude towards animal welfare. Most of the veterinarians (82%), have scientific knowledge of animal welfare and 94% think that animal welfare benefits the society .The majority of the veterinarians take decisions according to both the owners' interest and the animalwelfare,12%make their decisions only according to owners' interest and 4% decide according to the animal welfare.94% of the participants use anesthesia in the control of pain. It is concluded that the attitude of both the veterinary students and the practicing veterinarians toward animal welfare is very good and adding animal welfare in the veterinary curriculum is essential. Key words : animal welfare , veterinary education , veterinary ethics , five freedoms.