On 10th June 2021, the EASVO General Assembly took place virtually by "GoToMeeting"
Sadly we were, again unable to meet, in person, in London for the GA this year so, instead, we held a busy and valuable “virtual meeting” ably supported by Wiebke from the FVE team. We agreed to support all of the items for vote on the FVE General Assembly Agenda and enjoyed interesting discussions on several issues.
Our main discussions were on Animal Welfare and we were grateful to be joined by Sean Wensley, chair of the FVE AWWG, to discuss the FVE papers for vote, on sustainable husbandry systems for laying hens and best practice for the euthanasia of horses, and the FVE AW strategy that is out for consultation. During this discussion we agreed to recommend that FVE and the AWWG consider how they define/use the terminology around “animal mental health”/psychological wellbeing of animals and also consider how to present documents for different audiences as they develop the AW strategy. We also discussed the work of the ad hoc FVE working group on welfare during long distance transport following our recommendation to the FVE GA on this at the last meeting.
From Germany, Conny, spoke about the One Health challenges posed by the rise in the illegal dog trade/puppy smuggling and the internet sales of pets and, recognising that work is already underway, we call on the FVE to continue to show leadership in this area. We will also consider proposing a joint session with UEVP (practitioners) to discuss these challenges at a future GA.
And finally, we reflected on the integration of an EASVO strategy with the developing work plan for the FVE strategy. We agreed that a small group of EASVO members, led by Romano, will develop a draft strategy for further discussion/adoption at the November GA.
