Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Dinu Catilina — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 18:47:21 GMT

[quote userid="2100" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31245/veterinary-controversies-and-ethical-dilemmas/247831#247831"]And of course letters by saxon priests tended to have a pretty small audience, I would presume :[/quote]

That's the thing, they were meant for the pope but they were leaked (nothing new under the sun) and this is how the vampire folklore started.

I actually think that we live in the best times to be informed. For the first time in history we can cross reference sources and facts from all over the world with great speed as long as we are not lazy enough to believe just one narrative.

My apologies for the off topic.

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 15:53:01 GMT

[quote userid="9239" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31245/veterinary-controversies-and-ethical-dilemmas/247827#247827"]Arlo, I don't think this is new to humanity. [/quote]

Dinu Catilina For sure there has always been disinformation. But I think there is a greater disregard of facts these days. And of course letters by saxon priests tended to have a pretty small audience, I would presume :) whereas now everyone can broadcast to more or less everyone. That's profoundly different.

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Dinu Catilina — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 07:44:22 GMT

[quote userid="2100" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31245/veterinary-controversies-and-ethical-dilemmas/247807#247807"]I think we do. I mean, it's not a binary thing like there is no truth left any more. But for sure it's been massively eroded, both by the apparent disregard that public figures have for the importance of getting their facts right, and also the way social media has enabled people to publish and share stuff they haven't bothered to check is factually true. And as if that weren't enough, you have the widening acceptance of people with some notably anti-scientific opinions, like Robert Kennedy (or his adviser Aseem Malholtra: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62z4rd87nlo).[/quote]

Arlo, I don't think this is new to humanity. The truth has always been subjective depending on who gathered the information, how it was interpreted and sometimes, who gained something from it. Truth is complex and in the right circumstances we can both be right and both be wrong about a subject.

It might be better to talk about facts rather than truth, facts are objective but what we make of those facts is still an interpretation. Look at the Ukraine war or the Gaza disaster and I bet that if were to debate them we will both find multiple facts (truths?) to support our own believes.

We have proof of disinformation for as long as we have written evidence. Google the Donation of Constantine document or the letters written by the saxon priests about Vlad the Impaler.

I got the book, looking forward to reading it.

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 14:25:51 GMT

[quote userid="4103" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31245/veterinary-controversies-and-ethical-dilemmas/247824#247824"]yes your films are really well made I like them[/quote]

Gosh, thank you Cinzia, sincerely. I don't get huge amounts of feedback (to my veterinary ones, at least), so it is lovely to hear someone likes them!

(PS Anyone else, I am not on a fishing expedition!)

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Cinzia Gandini — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 10:09:47 GMT

[quote userid="2100" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31245/veterinary-controversies-and-ethical-dilemmas/247823#247823"]my films will raise awareness[/quote]

yes your films are really well made I like them

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 08:45:28 GMT

Cinzia Gandini I guess there are parallels between vet med and vet publishing in terms of the economics of supply and demand. But hopefully my films will raise awareness and promote a bit of discussion amongst those who don't want to buy or can’t afford the book.

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Cinzia Gandini — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 23:29:04 GMT

I don't want to look polemic but If a Kindle edition of a book is priced at £21.99, especially in a field like veterinary care where high costs are a frequent concern, it can feel frustrating or even ironic. So I think that the problem of veterinary costs can be considered excused if not partially solved.

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 12:56:52 GMT

Here we go, a quick intro to the new series, mainly so that if anyone watches a later one and is asking themselves why, or who ...

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Alistair Graham-Evans — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 11:07:09 GMT

The same era in which if you get caught out lying you just say you mis-spoke and everyone is expected to forgive you.

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 09:20:32 GMT

[quote userid="2131" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31245/veterinary-controversies-and-ethical-dilemmas/247804#247804"]If we live in that era now... that makes me very depressed.[/quote]

I think we do. I mean, it's not a binary thing like there is no truth left any more. But for sure it's been massively eroded, both by the apparent disregard that public figures have for the importance of getting their facts right, and also the way social media has enabled people to publish and share stuff they haven't bothered to check is factually true. And as if that weren't enough, you have the widening acceptance of people with some notably anti-scientific opinions, like Robert Kennedy (or his adviser Aseem Malholtra: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62z4rd87nlo).

You're right, it is depressing. But I also think it's an opportunity. Science has never been very good at explaining itself (largely because a scientist cannot disprove a negative, so will always say: I'm 99% sure, whereas the believer (in their own truth) will have 100% conviction). Now is an opportunity for everyone who understands the value of science and facts to find better ways of communicating the benefits.

It's something that the medical professions are especially prone to, of course, because the human mind so desperately WANTS to see patterns; to believe the treatment is working (even if it is just water).

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:10:14 GMT

[quote userid="2100" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31245/veterinary-controversies-and-ethical-dilemmas/247803#247803"]Is that a real question, Evelyn? [/quote]

Yes, it was a real question.

If we live in that era now... that makes me very depressed.

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 22:14:34 GMT

[quote userid="2131" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31245/veterinary-controversies-and-ethical-dilemmas/247801#247801"]But... wtf is a "post-truth era"?[/quote]

Is that a real question, Evelyn? It’s the era in which the truth, as in ‘facts’, have been usurped by ‘my truth’ which is to say, people’s beliefs and lived experiences, or just plain lies. Channel 4 did a documentary a couple of weeks ago in which they showed over 100 statements made by one D. Trump to be entirely false.

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 19:05:12 GMT

To be honest, I doubt if I have any time to read it.

But... wtf is a "post-truth era"?

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Alistair Graham-Evans — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:33:35 GMT

Just ordered it - arrives in a week

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Clive Ansell — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 19:25:22 GMT

[quote userid="2100" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31245/veterinary-controversies-and-ethical-dilemmas"]Before I start, it is probably too soon, but has anyone else started reading it yet?[/quote]

No, but I have ordered a copy

[quote userid="2100" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31245/veterinary-controversies-and-ethical-dilemmas"]I'm going to start a new discussion for each chapter of the book, and invite a discussion on the topic, so that I can make sure that my film content is as good as it can be. [/quote]

Good idea, and look forward to it. Could be some interesting debate, although much of it we have covered before.

RE: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas

Beats — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 15:51:50 GMT

No, but I'll read it now you've flagged it. Eddie Clutton as an editor worth a read in my opinion.

I'm particularly looking forward to chapters 31 and 36 given the authors for them listed.

I'll swop you book recommendations, Arlo. One of the few books to describe the disparity between what a vet (or the vet profession or the RCVS or whatever) might mean by animal welfare and what someone else might mean: https://www.ufaw.org.uk/ufaw-wiley-blackwell-animal-welfare-series/understanding-animal-welfare

has anyone read: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mental-Health-Well-being-Animals-3rd-ebook/dp/B0FDWWSYJS ? Again, given the author, I'd be interested in reading it myself. (I thought this JAVMA article was a sane read back in the day, so the name jumped out at me: https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/233/1/javma.233.1.30.xml)