Disease Du Jour: Equine Welfare

In Episode 60 of the Disease Du Jour podcast we talk to Clara Mason, DVM, about Veterinarians and Equine Welfare. Mason said one problem that has been addressed successfully in many parts of the country is providing information for law enforcement and rescues/shelters about equine welfare. She said those entities didn’t know how “to get a case from the field to the courtroom.”

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EquiManagement’s Disease Du Jour podcast is focused on equine research and current best practices. Disease Du Jour is brought to you in 2021 by Merck Animal Health.

Now, she said one of the top issues in equine welfare is that veterinarians don’t want to get involved. But she counters that with the knowledge that equine veterinarians love horses and recognize that they are the best advocates for equine welfare.

Mason is a solo ambulatory practitioner in Winfield, West Virginia, and she serves as the AAEP’s representative to the AVMA’s Animal Welfare Committee. She has presented on the topic of prosecuting cases of equine abuse at the AAEP Annual Convention and, while a member of the AAEP’s Welfare and Public Policy Advisory Council, was part of a team that in 2018 created comprehensive online resources to help members work with clients and law enforcement to prevent equine abuse and neglect. She is a graduate of Mississippi State University’s vet school.

Mason was named AAEP’s “Good Works” recipient for August 2019. Her commitment to at-risk horses in West Virginia has strengthened animal cruelty laws in that state and increased enforcement of equine cruelty and neglect cases.

Mason suggested that since neglect and abuse laws vary from state-to-state, equine veterinarians can check with information provided by Michigan State University’s Animal Legal & Historical Center online.

Topics Discussed:

• How can veterinarians get involved in equine welfare?
• Why should veterinarians get involved?
• What are the challenges of becoming involved that you would counsel other veterinarians about?

Disease Du Jour is brought to you
in 2021 by Merck Animal Health.