Veterinary practitioners are routinely faced with ethical quandaries within their profession. At the recent Veterinary Ethics Conference in Vienna from 27–29 September 2023, veterinary practitioners and ethicists grappled with challenges in teaching, practicing, and regulating the profession.
Arguably one of the key themes throughout the conference was a discussion as to what constituted veterinary ethics and the directions it should be heading. For Peter Sandøe, a researcher of animal welfare at the University of Copenhagen, veterinary ethics can best be thought of as both a form of applied ethics and a form of professional ethics. It is a growing field of study and a professional practice. However, what makes veterinary ethics distinctive is, Sandøe argues, that it shapes the professional identity. “We are” he says, “here for the animals.”