Ethics in Veterinary Practice: Balancing Conflicting Interests

An incisive examination of relevant and contemporary ethical issues facing veterinary practitioners, students, instructors, and animal researchers

In Ethics in Veterinary Practice: Balancing Conflicting Interests, a team of distinguished scholars delivers a foundational exploration of animal ethics and a guide to examining contemporary issues and dilemmas that arise regularly in veterinary practice. The book offers comprehensive, quickly accessible, and up-to-date information on veterinary ethics with content devoted to unique issues by practice type.

The authors offer a primary resource for veterinary ethics useful for veterinarians, faculty, instructors, senior undergraduates, and veterinary students that focuses on recognizing and addressing real-life ethical dilemmas and relevant philosophical discussions about the moral status of animals, animal rights, and interests.

Ethics in Veterinary Practice presents material on integrative medicine, animal pain, moral stress, and the future of veterinary ethics. Readers will also find:

A thorough introduction to a theoretical basis for veterinary ethics, including discussions of animal welfare, ethical theories, and legal issues
Comprehensive explorations of clinical veterinary ethics, including discussions of veterinary advocacy, ethical dilemmas, professionalism, economic issues, and medical errors
Practical discussions of ethical concerns by practice type, including companion animals, equines, and animals used for food
In-depth examination of emerging ethical concerns including animal use in veterinary education and animal maltreatment

Perfect for practicing veterinarians, veterinary students, and veterinary technicians and nurses, Ethics in Veterinary Practice: Balancing Conflicting Interests will also earn a place in the libraries of instructors teaching veterinary ethics, as well as biomedical and animal ethicists.

“As veterinary medicine becomes more technologically and socially complex, interest in ethics is growing. Ethics in Veterinary Practice provides a needed reference from the North American perspective, for anyone facing ethical dilemmas (i.e., all of us). Suitable for practitioners, students, and technicians, the book supplies factual background and practical guidance for navigation accompanied by a clear ethical analysis of common dilemmas in all aspects of veterinary medicine.”

Lisa Moses
Veterinary Specialist in Internal Medicine
Center for Bioethics
Harvard Medical School, USA

“Ethics in Veterinary Practice is a statement of both the influence of Bernie Rollin’s lifetime work and of the coming of age of veterinary ethics. From the moral status of animals to veterinary ethical dilemmas, from medical errors to professionalism, from economic issues to end-of-life decision making, Ethics in Veterinary Practice leaves no stone unturned. A must-read for students and professionals alike.”

Manuel Magalhães Sant'Ana
European Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law
University of Lisbon, Portugal

“This book makes a valuable contribution to the subject, hosting writing from a number of prominent scholars in the field. The book bravely tackles several contemporary issues including veterinary corporations, moral stress and medical errors as well as providing updated insights into the history of the profession and veterinary professionalism. Throughout, the complex and contested place of animals within our society is openly and thoughtfully explored from a veterinary perspective. “

Vanessa Ashall
European Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law
University of York, UK

About the Author

Barry Kipperman, DVM, DACVIM, MSc, DACAW, Instructor, Veterinary Ethics, University of California at Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, CA, USA; Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
University of Missouri, College of Veterinary Medicine, Columbia, MO, USA

Barry Kipperman is a board-certified veterinary specialist in small animal internal medicine and animal welfare. Barry was the founder/owner of a small animal specialist and emergency hospital in the San Francisco Bay area and practiced for over 30 years before transitioning to teaching and writing full time. Dr. Kipperman has always had an interest in ethics and philosophy. Dr. Kipperman received a Masters’ degree in International Animal Welfare, Ethics, and Law from the University of Edinburgh in 2017. Barry has published numerous papers on the subject of veterinary ethics in journals including the Journal of the American Veterinary Association, Veterinary Record, Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, and Animals. His particular interests include the multiple advocacies of the veterinarian, moral stress, farm animal welfare, and the impact of economics on animal welfare in small animal practice. Barry has lectured in the U.S. and internationally. Dr. Kipperman teaches veterinary ethics at the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and animal welfare and ethics for the University of Missouri. In his spare time, Barry enjoys playing guitar and piano for his dog Buttercup.

Bernard E. Rollin (deceased), University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Animal Sciences, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, University Bioethicist, Department of Philosophy, Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO, USA

Bernard E. Rollin (B.A. CCNY, Ph.D. Columbia,, deceased in 2021), was a University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Professor of Animal Sciences, and University Bioethicist at Colorado State University. He was a major architect of the 1985 U.S. Federal laws protecting laboratory animals. Rollin authored over 20 books, including Animal Rights and Human Morality and The Frankenstein Syndrome. He wrote a popular monthly column on veterinary ethics for the Canadian Veterinary Journal. He was one of the leading scholars in animal rights and animal consciousness and has lectured over 1200 times all over the world in 28 countries. Rollin developed the world’s first courses in veterinary medical ethics. He served on the Pew National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production and on the Institute for Laboratory Animal Resources (ILAR) Council of the National Academy of Sciences. The winner of numerous U.S. and international awards, including the AVMA Humane Award (2007), he was a weightlifter, horseman, and motorcyclist.

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