Campaign Update – WVA responds “Veterinary community…must fulfill duty as animal advocates”.
Campaign created by Susan Song.
We are very pleased to receive such a positive response from the World Veterinary Association regarding our petition “World Veterinary Congress 2017: Speak Out Against The Dog and Cat Meat Trade in South Korea.”
Click HERE for our campaign page.
Dr. Zeev Noga, the Veterinary Policy Officer of the World Veterinary Association (WVA), wrote the following:
Dr. Noga’s response is very encouraging, in that he emphasizes the role of veterinarians in the welfare of animals around the world. In the positions paper he refers to, http://www.worldvet.org/uploads/docs/wva_position_on_aw_2016.pdf, the WVA holds that the veterinary community generally, and veterinarians individually, must maintain commitment to animal welfare and fulfill duties as animal advocates and leaders in the field of welfare. They refer to the “Five Freedoms” that are widely accepted as the foundation of good animal welfare and which are supported by the World Veterinary Association (WVA). The concept of “Five Freedoms” can be paraphrased as:
Freedom from thirst, hunger, and malnutrition
Freedom from discomfort
Freedom from pain, injury, and disease
Freedom to express normal behaviors
Freedom from fear and distress
We need to obtain these freedoms for the animals suffering from the dog and cat meat trade. We will continue to encourage Dr. Noga to incorporate the plight of the animals in the dog and cat meat trade in the upcoming forum.
We sent thank you email to Dr. Noga and WVA for responding to our concern and urged him to introduce this issue to their program, Global Animal Welfare Forum, at the upcoming WVA Congress. Below is email we sent him:
Dr. Zeev Noga
Veterinary Policy Officer
World Veterinary Association
Dear Dr. Noga,
Thank you for your response to our recent petition, “World Veterinary Congress 2017: Speak Out Against The Dog and Cat Meat Trade in South Korea.”
Regarding the Second Global Animal Welfare Forum, you encourage all those interested in participating to register for this session. It would indeed be impactful if there was a way to introduce this issue into your program. We have worked very hard to bring awareness to the world about this horrible practice. If there is any way that we can participate in your forum, either with organizing a presentation or as a liaison with someone within your organization already addressing this or a similar issue, we are available to help. Every step forward is another step in the direction of freeing these poor animals from their suffering.
Please help us bring this awareness to your veterinarians and veterinary professionals.
Sincerely,
KoreanDogs.org
[Update January 13, 2017] We received another very positive response from the WVA.
“Organizing Committee of the Second Global Animal Welfare Forum already introduced this issue to the program and invited a Korean Veterinarian to give an overview on the dog meat production in Asia covering the animal welfare aspects.”
We are grateful for the WVA’s initiative to address this issue and looking forward to seeing actions from the WVA community to help bring an end to this cruelty.
In response, below is email we sent him:
Dear Dr. Noga,
We are very excited to hear that you are introducing the Dog Meat Trade issue into your upcoming Global Animal Welfare Program in August. It is very important to raise public awareness about this deplorable trade. The veterinary medical community’s opinion and insight into this will have an important impact. You are the guardians of the health and welfare of all animals, and your support is immeasurable.
Thank you very much,
KoreanDogs.org
[Update January 15, 2017]
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Praying they will take a firm stand and help put an end to this suffering of innocent animals.
Non à la consommation de chien et de chat !
We must all take a stand to protect these innocent and voiceless animals now. The suffering has gone on way too long and it must be stopped. These positive statments gives us hope and the faith that things will change and the suffering and horrific treatment of animals will end.
Great news ! There needs to be many people in Korea standing together against these hoerible abuses if cats and dogs .
The idea of organizing the congress in the center of evil is sick. Let those tallks and “sharing our concern” change into DEEDS!
Please END THIS HORROR.. TORTURE.. SO EVIL…
This is excellent news. I would love to see factory farm animals in America be treated with the same respect. Especially chickens.