HEALTH - First Canadian Vet Elected as President of WSAVA

(Dr. Ingwersen, WSAVA)

Dr. Walt Ingwersen has become the first Canadian Veterinarian elected as President of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA).

Ingwersen has been involved with the organization since 1996 when he was a member of its Microchip Committee.

Since then he worked as news editor and webmaster, sat on the Executive Board, and led the creation of a WSAVA Global Pain Council.

As President, he will lead the delivery of the WSAVA’s Strategic Plan, which is focused on engaging the association’s growing membership into an active, connected and supportive global community of veterinary peers.

WSAVA works to enhance the clinical care of companion animals globally, representing more than 160,000 veterinarians around the world through 94 member associations.

Its core activities include the creation of Global Guidelines which set standards for veterinary care and providing continuing education (CE) and other educational resources for its members, particularly those in which companion animal care is still emerging.

“We have come a long way in a short time - but there is much more to do and we have ambitious plans to continue to drive up standards of veterinary care globally,” Ingwersen commented in a release.

After postgraduate training in veterinary internal medicine at the Ontario Veterinary College, Ingwersen spent 12 years in general and referral practice before going on to a range of non-clinical roles.

He helped develop and popularize the Global ISO microchip standard and bring it to North America and became involved in volunteer veterinary medicine while working with the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association, Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and American Animal Hospital Association.

Ingwersen is currently a Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd and continues to provide internal medicine consultative advice to veterinarians across Canada.

2016 Presidential Candidates: Stance on Animal and Veterinary Issues

With eyes both north and south of the Canada/U.S. border watching the presidential race, a variety of publications and organizations have examined the candidates’ stance on animal issues.

Animal issues may not determine how everyone may vote, but can influence individuals working in the animal industry or passionate about the cause of animal welfare or rights.

DVM360 published an article that examined if the top four candidates would fight animal cruelty, tackle veterinary student debt and support mandatory prescriptions. They took into account party lines, voting history and published interviews.

While Democratic candidates fared better in the DVM360 analysis, the author conceded “with so many issues, viewpoints and priorities, the choice for president is much broader than each candidate’s likelihood to vote the way veterinarians would hope.”

Every year the Humane Society Legislative Fund publishes the Humane Scorecard which documents the “successes” and “setbacks” for animal welfare. This includes summarizing all the bills that pass into legislation and those that fail.

The Scorecard also documents how different candidates vote on bills and rate their voting record. The higher the number, the more the candidate has voted for bills that support the progress of animal welfare issues.

Of course, Donald Trump has never voted so hasn’t received a score. He has said he’d be “the best president for animals God ever created,” in an exclusive interview with animal-rights blogger Andrew Kirschner.

Senator Marc Rubio has an average score of 12/100 with Ted Cruz farther below - an average of 4/100 over his three years in the Senate.

Again, the Democrats tended to score more positively on animal issues with Hillary Clinton receiving a 100 one year, and an average of 92 over four years. Bernie Sanders scores a whopping 97/100 over an 11 year voting history.

For those with an interest in putting their support behind presidential candidates who support veterinary or animal welfare issues, there are plenty of resources to help them make a choice.

PEI Veterinarian Becomes President of the CVMA

Dr. Nicole Gallant from Prince Edward Island is the 67th president of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA). Dr. Gallant replaced Dr. Jean Gauvin who finished his term on July 19th, 2015. Dr. Gallant has been working with the CVMA for 8 years.

Dr. Gallant graduated from the Faculté de médecine vétérinaire at the University of Montreal in 1983. After graduation she returned to PEI and began practicing at a mixed-animal clinic. Dr. Gallant has been practicing at Kensington Veterinary Clinic for 32 years now and she became a partner in 1990. In 1988 Dr. Gallant became a councillor at the Prince Edward Island Veterinary Medical Association (PEIVMA). From 1989 to 2002 Dr. Gallant was the registrar of the PEIVMA. In 2007 she became the PEIVMA representative on the CVMA Council and in 2012 she became a CVMA Executive.

Dr. Gallant said, “It is an honour to continue my work with the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association as its president. I look forward to representing the profession across the country as CVMA continues to be the national and international voice for Canada’s veterinarians, providing leadership and advocacy for veterinary medicine.”

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