BVA - what everyone else knows

Re: BVA - what everyone else knows

Michael Woodhouse — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:50:28 GMT

[quote user="Judith Joyce"]Didn't I read somewhere that Wensleydale cheese is now made from Polish milk?[/quote]

I can assure you that real Yorkshire Wensleydale is made from Yorkshire milk in Wensleydale. Most of the producers are our clients.

http://www.wensleydale.co.uk/

Re: BVA - what everyone else knows

J G Wray — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:33:40 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]I agree that pet and equine exotic disease control are vital and just as important as cattle disease control. Want I don't see is a few fat pets or an indoor cat as especially important in the grand scheme of things. My little dog cannot express its natural behaviour ie hunting in a pack. It can have everything it wants and be well looked after but if you think it's able to 'express natural behaviour' you're all kidding yourselves. [/quote]

You know, I'm clear what my role is. I work in a niche service industry, where the owners spend is discretionary. Where do you work, because I'm happy to get a crick in my neck gazing up at those in my profession operating at a higher moral and social plane? You can have as much admiration as I can possibly muster, but I still won't like paying for that elevation.

JGW

Re: BVA - what everyone else knows

Judith Joyce — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:18:26 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]but who knows how bad things may be without their efforts?[/quote]

........ or how much better.

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]especially important in the grand scheme of things[/quote]

........be very careful about how "grand" you want your scheme of things to be. In a less parochial and altogether grander scheme of things the UK cattle industry could easily be done away with and all our meat and milk imported. Didn't I read somewhere that Wensleydale cheese is now made from Polish milk?

Malcolm N

Re: BVA - what everyone else knows

Michael Woodhouse — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:01:59 GMT

[quote user="David Mills"]

Exotic infectious equine disease control;

Pet and equine obesity;

Professional fees referenced to other professions;

RSPCA MoU (trying best to pig-ear currently);

Pet Insurance;

CSR;

Holding RCVS to account;

New graduate support;

Unwanted dogs;

Cat welfare (indoor cats);

[/quote]

I agree that pet and equine exotic disease control are vital and just as important as cattle disease control. Want I don't see is a few fat pets or an indoor cat as especially important in the grand scheme of things. My little dog cannot express its natural behaviour ie hunting in a pack. It can have everything it wants and be well looked after but if you think it's able to 'express natural behaviour' you're all kidding yourselves.

BVA do have a very successful young vet network that meets regularly in our area for social/CPD. There's some useful information on their website, including a nice booklet. How much support do new grads need?

The BVA/RSPCA MOU works fine for us. So far we have always been paid, even when I have got a log number after giving first aid.

What do I use my BVA subscription for?

VR and In Practice
Searching for the above online
Legal helpline
Significant BUPA discount
at times have used the job website.

I'd pay my subscription for the journals (65 issues per year), the legal advice line and the BUPA discount. Any left should be spent on the most important issues. BVA may seem to have not gained much ground with TB negotiations but who knows how bad things may be without their efforts? I still think it's far more important than anything you list.

I have no specific axe to grind.

Re: BVA - what everyone else knows

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:50:56 GMT

David This time I agree with you 100%

Wynne

Re: BVA - what everyone else knows

David Mills — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:02:22 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]

TB is a vast area that has a major impact on animal and human health. The cost of the fiasco is borne by the taxpayers, and we are included in that. As a mixed practice vet in a TB free area I still would rank TB as the biggest issue affecting animal health in this country.

[/quote]

I don't think many people would disagree with you regarding the size of the problem but you are crusading in BVA style, riding on the backs of 'the profession'. BVA does not equal DEFRA or even an arm of DEFRA. It is a membership organisation, paid for by members, there to represent member interests (and financial compensation - ha!) in this area, not crusade to the public on its importance. How many SA vets - the majority - want their membership fees a) wasted on countless rounds of utterly incompetent, self-aggrandising, time-wasting, personal-career-advancing negotiations over YEARS with the final result as it is i.e. tendering (aka BVA ignored, not listened to, £100,000s wasted) for an issue that as a practising member affects only a minority? b) to go on other esoteric projects like the VDC, which has recently surevyed members for financial business plans of LA practices, again affecting so few people? The BVA is agenda-ised for the 'big issues' with silly moral crusades at their heart rather than being proportional to the interests of its members. 2000 LA practiotioners for the last 8years+ taking the lions share of the BVA activity budget? Do me a favour

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]

What issues should the BVA be involved in? I can't see a small animal or equine issue with such impact or importance. Seriously, what should they concentrate on?

[/quote]

Here are a few:

Exotic infectious equine disease control;

Pet and equine obesity;

Professional fees referenced to other professions;

RSPCA MoU (trying best to pig-ear currently);

Pet Insurance;

CSR;

Holding RCVS to account;

New graduate support;

Unwanted dogs;

Cat welfare (indoor cats);

There are plenty, plenty more.

Re: BVA - what everyone else knows

J G Wray — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:14:07 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]What issues should the BVA be involved in? I can't see a small animal or equine issue with such impact or importance. Seriously, what should they concentrate on?[/quote]

This is the articulation of the problem for BVA. LA vets are blinkered, parochial, selfish even.The future of the profession is not in this minority male dominated niche area of practice. Furthermore, the BVA is not theirs, nor is it defined by its relationship with Defra.

LA vets activites have enjoyed the funding and resources provided by the majority of the profession for long enough. They have made a pigs ear of almost all they have touched for more than a decade and it's time to consign them to a separate area and get them to stand on their own feet.

JGW

Re: BVA - what everyone else knows

Michael Woodhouse — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:58:36 GMT

The relationship with DEFRA/Animal Health allowed BVA to be instrumental in retaining some tapeworm controls in the pet passport scheme.

What issues should the BVA be involved in? I can't see a small animal or equine issue with such impact or importance. Seriously, what should they concentrate on?

The reason the committee (and almost all committee) are 'old' is they have reached a time in their life when they are stepping back from practice into (semi) retirement. As a vet <30 I couldn't afford the time or money to get political.

Re: BVA - what everyone else knows

Bob Russell — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:10:17 GMT

Sadly there does seem to be a historical bias with the BVA. The council seems to be large animal and commerce dominated whereas the profession is predominantly small animal.

This was one of the reasons IMO why there was such a weak response to the Marsh Report, cascade etc.

As a profession we have taken a pounding over the last few years and the BVA have not been there to help defend it from attack. Key players are LA, male and older, the profession is SA, female and younger overall. Time for change me thinks.

Re: BVA - what everyone else knows

J G Wray — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:46:54 GMT

[quote user="Niall Taylor"]can you clarify this second para pls.?[/quote]

Oops sorry.

The LA agenda dominates BVA business. The next/latest Council is exceptional in that it has prioritised McKelvey/RCVS and a nascent interest in promoting the profession's CSR. The key players at BVA are LA Vets and male. If they hived off LA issues into a dedicated sub unit then there would be no loss of effect, but there would be reduction in cost to all those members subsidising these activities i.e. SA vets.

By using the BVA as a vehicle for the interest of a minority, those in charge are storing up a problem. They are the ones, not those who point out their hegemony, who need to change. The trouble is they don't want to, err, and they're in all the key positions.

I'd like to see BVA pigeon hole LA issues and concentrate on the dominant demographics of work type and gender.

JGW

Re: BVA - what everyone else knows

Niall Taylor — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:50:49 GMT

[quote user="J G Wray"]Only BVA LA vets don't get it. Trouble is they don't want to get it. They like being the focus of DEFRA's biggest cost, but for some reason they feel the need to drag the BVA into their limelight, when it could and should be run as a (cheap and lean) sideshow.[/quote]

Sometimes I find your posts hard to understand JWray - can you clarify this second para pls.?

Niall