Steven McCulloch: The AVMA must withdraw support for overturning Proposition 12

In a new article published in Vet Record, Dr Steven McCulloch, Research Fellow at the Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience, argues that the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) must withdraw its support for federal legislation overturning state farm animal welfare laws.

Among other provisions, Proposition 12 prohibits the sale of pork from pigs confined in gestation crates. These are widely recognised as an extreme confinement system in which pregnant pigs are unable to turn around.

We might expect animal welfare to be a central consideration for veterinary associations. Yet the AVMA has supported legislation that would overturn Proposition 12 and the protections it provides against the use of those extreme confinement systems for pigs. How can this position be reconciled with its veterinary responsibilities?

These associations occupy positions of power, influence and trust. That makes scrutiny of their positions all the more important.

McCulloch argues that the AVMA's position is incompatible with its veterinary responsibilities and that it must withdraw its support.

Read the piece in Vet Record: https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/vetr.71092