An Introduction to Veterinary Humanities

Although veterinary professionals can now provide technologically sophisticated medical care for animals, every day they ask themselves questions that lie outside the realm of science. How do I overcome my dread of this hostile client? How can I protect myself from moral stress? What level of intervention is ethically appropriate for this patient? What does professionalism mean for me? While the work can be immensely rewarding, the veterinary sector can be very challenging. It is a world where clinical care is influenced and professionalism affected by multiple factors relating to colleagues, patients, animal caregivers and wider societal contexts. We deal every day with human problems that science alone can’t solve.

This book offers new ways to think about these issues through the emerging interdisciplinary field of veterinary humanities. It breaks new ground in bringing together insights from multiple academic perspectives – history, art, ethics, social sciences and many more – to think about veterinary topics in a new way through contributions from more than forty authors. Some are veterinary professionals with expertise in humanities and social science, others explore the veterinary world from a primary background in the humanities and social sciences. Addressing topics from across the veterinary sector, their writing ranges from deeply personal reflections to academic essays.

FEATURES

● 32 chapters by different authors with veterinary and/or humanities expertise

● Linking sections that relate these contributions to overarching themes

● UK-based scholarship with wider relevance

● Structured to stimulate reflection and discussion, in university, in the workplace or anywhere people consider what it means to be involved in the veterinary world.

This anthology will be particularly relevant to those training or working in the veterinary sector, whatever your role or level of experience. Other readers who are interested in animal welfare and human-animal relationships will also find it accessible, because the book assumes no clinical knowledge and offers no clinical guidance. It’s a book about being human and working with animals, intended to help you think about what that means for you.

Alison Skipper qualified from Cambridge Vet School and spent many years in first-opinion companion animal practice before turning to the humanities and completing an MA in History and a Wellcome Trust-funded PhD on the history of breed-related disease in pedigree dogs at King’s College London, followed by a charity-funded postdoctoral project at the Royal Veterinary College, which analysed UK canine health and welfare research funding. She is now Veterinary and Research Advisor at the Royal Kennel Club, where she uses interdisciplinary skills to advance canine welfare in the dog breeding sector. Alison is a co-founder of Veterinary Humanities UK.

Ruth Serlin qualified from the Royal Veterinary College and has worked as a charity vet, a primary care emergency vet and as an educator in practice. After moving into veterinary education, she has been a Lecturer in Veterinary Professionalism at the RVC, a Training Consultant for VDS Training, and is now founder of Mosaica Consulting, a communication skills consultancy. Her academic career has followed a similar squiggly trajectory and she has a Certificate in Veterinary Anaesthesia, a postgraduate teaching qualification, and a Master’s in Applied Linguistics from Nottingham - her gateway to the world of the humanities.

Carol Gray qualified from Glasgow Vet School and spent 15 years in charity and first-opinion practice, including 6 years as a practice owner. After a move into veterinary education, she taught professional skills at Liverpool Vet School, during which she completed an MA in Medical Ethics and Law. Now a confirmed humanities scholar, she undertook an ESRC-funded PhD at the University of Birmingham Law School, examining the nature of informed consent for small animal elective surgery. After a postdoctoral post at Liverpool Law School, she moved to Hartpury University to focus on postgraduate veterinary nurse education. She is co-founder of Veterinary Humanities UK.