Ethics

Tail docking: a professional dilemma for veterinary nurses

In the UK, there are specific regulations that cover tail docking in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act 2006. These are The Docking of Working Dogs' Tails (England) Regulations 2007 and The...

Bereavement and the veterinary nurse

Early models of bereavement, such as the five stages model created by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in 1969, described grief as a process, with the people involved passing through stages such as denial,...

Values conflict resolution

Value conflicts occur when a situation clashes with a person's deeply held moral beliefs and values, such as religious or political views (Harinck and Druckman, 2017). This article uses a range of...

Ethics in practice: Schwartz rounds and veterinary clinical ethics committees

Schwartz rounds are named after their originator, Kenneth Schwartz, who was diagnosed with cancer in his 40s and died after 11 months of treatment. During his treatment, he found the compassion shown...

The legal, ethical and welfare implications of feeding vegan diets to dogs and cats

‘A philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.’ .

Ethical dilemmas surrounding 24-hour nursing provision for patients in veterinary practice

Shea (2014) discussed how cats and dogs have become part of the family in recent years and although still classed as a person's property, pets are increasingly gaining their own rights in law, for...

Euthanasia of aggressive dogs: ethical considerations

Utilitarianism and deontology are two classical theories which have been used to guide ethical decision making (Crowley, 2006). The former relates to achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest...

Ethical dilemmas: who can decide when euthanasia is justified?

Ethics is the practical application of beliefs and values in everyday life (Busch, 2008) and each person holds their own individual beliefs. The study of ethics considers moral questions and the...

The ethical, legal and professional implications of the frequency of inpatient checks during out of hours hospitalization

In order to ascertain information about client expectation, primarily relating to frequency of checks during hospitalization, a six item questionnaire was circulated among 50 individuals within...