An article in this week’s New York Times has been making the rounds in the veterinary community, with many of my vet school classmates posting a link to this article on Facebook. The article details one of the biggest crises in veterinary medicine: the crippling academic debt incurred by veterinary school graduates, the low starting salaries for new graduates and the dearth of veterinary jobs currently available in the United States.
There’s been a lot going on at the Dr. D household over the past few weeks. We sold our house, bought a new house nearby and, sadly, had to say goodbye to our dog Kona. With all this turmoil, our other dog Maeby has been quite out of sorts. Maeby was very attached to Kona, and we knew his passing would be as difficult for her as it has been for us. As is true for many dogs, Maeby has always suffered from some minor anxiety since she was a puppy and this behavior has worsened as of late.
WIth the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show scheduled for this week (February 10th and 11th), an article in The New York Timesraises some significant concerns about the living, breeding and health conditions for many purebred American Kennel Club (AKC)-registered dogs.Unfortunately, as with many, many dog breeders across the nation, even those who register their puppies with the AKC have been found to operate “puppy mills”. Inside puppy mills, dogs are bred for quantity, not quality and often live in deplorable conditions with limited human contact. There is little to no regard for eliminating genetic diseases through responsible breeding, and in some cases the dogs are housed without access to the outdoors, food and water.
Fortunately, it’s a question I’ve been asked a scant few times in my career: can my yappy, barking dog be “debarked” with surgery? I recently read an interesting Huffington Postblogon this topic, and the author beautifully sums up why this horrendously painful and unnecessary surgery is never recommended by veterinarians. Most of us consider debarking surgery to be medical malpractice.
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