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2010-02-09 |
AMMAN - As pet ownership becomes more common in Jordan, animal rights activists say stronger regulations are needed to ensure that veterinarians are properly trained and that they treat their patients humanely.
“Authorities must awaken to recognise that vets are just as capable of inflicting abuse on pets as any other individual,” said veterinarian Ghazi Mustafa, general director of the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad.
“There are vets whose main concern is generating money by manipulating owners’ feelings to get them to approve unnecessary procedures,” Mustafa said, adding that the cost of veterinary services is on the rise.
HRH Princess Alia Bint Al Hussein, Honorary President of the Jordan Veterinarians Association (JVA), told The Jordan Times in an interview that veterinarians should be sincere both in their commitment to their profession and in their love for animals.
Animals, she stressed, should be viewed as part of God’s creation and granted the same rights as humans.
“Animals do a lot to help us,” the Princess said, adding however that humans often “sadly abuse them”.
Princess Alia noted that the veterinary profession is difficult, demanding a lot of experience, intensive training and time. Some vets need even the necessay self-confidence, she said.
“Some vets are afraid to touch animals and tend to sedate them immediately,” she said, while others handle pets with compassion and care.
Alex Abu Ghazaleh, the first veterinarian specialised in small animal practice in Jordan, said that some veterinarians fail to understand the human-animal bond.
“It is a natural interaction that develops gradually which we [vets] should respect,” he said, adding that pets provide comfort and companionship to their owners and become members of the family.
“In most universities that teach veterinary science in the Arab world, the attention is focused on raising and caring for farm animals - poultry, sheep, cows, turkeys, pigs - and small animal practices are neglected,” Abu Ghazaleh said.
“As a result, most vets have flaws and weakness in treating and caring for pets.”
Faizah Ahmad, a veterinarian in practice for seven years, said that the problem lies in the way that some vets view pets as “materials”.
She said that while some work hard to improve their profession, share knowledge and consult with colleagues, others are more concerned with impressing clients by “their clinics’ decorations”.
Wael Arabiat, a professor of Islamic law at the University of Jordan, said that Islam teaches the care of all creatures and recognises animals’ rights.
He said that in the Koran, man is put on the same footing as all other species.
“Man, animals and plants have a partnership based on praising God the Creator of all,” Arabiat told The Jordan Times, referring to a story in Islamic texts of a woman who was doomed to hell for not feeding a cat and a man who went to heaven for giving a dog water to drink.
Rob Stevens, a British DJ working at one of Amman’s radio stations and the owner of two cats and a dog, said that animal authorities need to be more transparent in order to assure pet owners that their animals are being treated properly.
“I believe that it provides comfort as well as credibility if in each vet clinic there was a board in the vet’s waiting room explaining animal rights in Jordan, the maximum and minimum costs of medicines and surgeries, as well as a number for owners to complain to if needed,” Stevens told The Jordan Times.
There are 1,270 veterinarians in the Kingdom, almost 800 of whom are practising, according to JVA Director Abdul Fattah Kilani.
According to the director, the association received “a few complaints in 2009”, which he said were due more to the “owners’ psychological attachment” to their pets than to actual errors or malpractice.
“We admit that there are mistakes,” he said, adding that when a vet is proven to have committed malpractice against any animal “they will face the toughest penalties, and no less”.
“The professional reputation and integrity are very important to us,” the JVA chief stressed.
He noted that the syndicate is working to streamline the profession and to upgraded its members’ scientific and professional skills by conducting seminars and workshops.
In addition, he said, the JVA is also concerned with maintaining the ethics and traditions of the profession and protecting members’ rights, as well as receiving complaints and solving disputes between pet owners and vets.
Kilani said that the association welcomes any complaints from owners or concerned citizens. (Complaints can reach the JVA at (06) 4644502 during working hours).
Assistant Secretary General for Livestock at the Ministry of Agriculture Nasser Hawamdeh told The Jordan Times that small animal practice clinics (the official name for those facilities that treat pets) are well equipped and offer professional services to all pets, adding that the doctors practising there are certified to do the job according to the book.
“The clinics are inspected annually to renew their accreditation and licence,” Hawamdeh said.
He added that most claims of veterinary malpractice start and end with the pet owners, who are primarily responsible for the safety of their pets.
“Many of these owners take their pets to the vet when the animals are in the last stages of their illness expecting the vet to cure them,” said Hawamdeh, adding that the result in many cases is the death of the animal, while blame is pinned on the vet.
For Stevens the DJ, one simple gesture could give comfort to pet owners.
“In my opinion, what provides psychological comfort to the pet owners is to see the vet wearing the white robe just like any human doctor,” he added.
*** By Rula Samain/ Jordan Times
***A vet attends to an injured dog at a veterinary clinic in Amman recently (Photo by Rula Samain)
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