Despite continued restrictions on movement and venue owners taking extra and strict security precautions, there was a good turnout at the annual three-day Small Animal Veterinary Conference last October in the Chinese capital of Beijing.

Animals Asia was in attendance with Senior Veterinary Surgeon Eddie Drayton and Senior Vet Support Manager Wen Yan having been invited to the conference, with Eddie delivering two of many presentations on animal welfare in veterinary medicine. This is a marked increase on previous years that clearly demonstrates a growing appetite for and interest in the topic amongst Chinese veterinary professionals.

In fact, there was an entire room dedicated to animal welfare, with discussions on a wide range of subjects including considerations for end of life and pain management. Max, a former Animals Asia intern, presented a talk on welfare considerations for different breeds, an incredibly interesting and to some, a relatively new concept.

Eddie and Wan Yen found the increased number of talks dedicated solely to the importance of animal welfare in veterinary practice incredibly exciting and heartening;
“In a conference mainly dedicated to the medical and surgical aspects of vet medicine, it was hugely encouraging to see the interest in welfare, a topic that has been treated as a side-line consideration at many vet conferences in the past” Eddie explained.
The dynamic duo also took advantage of the opportunity to meet other experts and key opinion leaders and to promote and nurture Animals Asia’s vision of developing a network of experts dedicated to animal welfare in veterinary medicine.

Among them was an anaesthesiologist at the influential Xin Ruipeng hospital, Ye Nan, who educates vets on developments in anaesthesia with an emphasis on animal welfare, and Zhang Yongjun, a leading veterinarian in the exotic animal field.
Zhang is very involved in the movement to improve animal welfare and has worked with many NGOs and organisations, and trained many practitioners to increase standards over the years. Both were incredibly excited to meet and establish connections with Animals Asia which could prove productive in the future.

Eddie has not only made a name for herself in China as a Key Opinion Leader of Pain Management whilst delivering our rescued bears the best possible veterinary care, her outreach work has also created huge opportunities for the development of Animals Asia’s Vet Training Hospital at the Chengdu bear sanctuary and has improved small animal welfare on a national scale. Thanks to Eddie’s dedication, Animals Asia has become increasingly recognised and respected throughout the veterinary community in China as a beacon of best practice.

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