- Date posted: 2nd August 2023
Experts will explore the topic as a One Health issue.
The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) has revealed details of a planned one-day workshop looking at domestic violence as a One Health issue and how veterinary teams can respond to it.
The event, co-hosted by the WSAVA’s One Health Committee and the Animal Wellness and Welfare Committee, will be held at the Lisboa Conference Centre in Lisbon, Portugal on 26 September, the day before this year’s WSAVA Congress begins.
Free to WSAVA members, the workshop will be led by Dr Melinda Merck, a forensic veterinary surgeon and former chair of the Animal Wellness and Welfare Committee.
Other speakers on the day will include: Dr Paula Boyden, veterinary director of Dogs Trust, Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles, and Dr Mauro Paulino, a consultant forensic psychologist at the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Lisbon.
Topics to be discussed include:
- the links between animal cruelty and domestic violence
- the management of suspected animal cruelty cases and domestic violence in veterinary practice
- domestic violence pet response plans currently in use in the UK and the USA
- the forensic psychology of domestic violence and animal cruelty
- the role of industry in domestic violence programmes.
Dr Merck said: “We hope that delegates will leave with a much stronger understanding of the risk factors to pets and people from domestic violence and that they will be equipped to recognise the signs and respond appropriately.
“In regions where there is no domestic violence programme in operation, we hope they will also be inspired to start a programme using the roadmap we will give them.”
Those wishing to attend can register on the WSAVA Congress website.
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