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Advocacy in action
 I’ll get around to
it later
The AASV mission statement reads as follows:
“It is the mission of the American Association of Swine
Veterinarians to increase the knowledge of swine veterinarians
by:
- Promoting the development and availability of the resources
which enhance the effectiveness of professional activities
- Creating opportunities which inspire personal and
professional growth
- Advocating science-based approaches to industry
issues
- Encouraging personal and professional interaction
- Mentoring students, encouraging life-long careers as swine
veterinarians.”
Each of the five issues forming the foundation of our
association is important to furthering the professional, personal,
or both aspects of our careers as swine veterinarians. Four of the
foundation issues are focused internally, and we, as individuals,
have a direct effect on their impact. There are many opportunities
for you to obtain the resources necessary to enhance your
professional capabilities. You create opportunities on a daily
basis that further your professional and personal growth. As
veterinarians, we tend to seek out personal and professional
interaction, and most of us welcome the opportunity to mentor a
student or recent graduate. The AASV serves as a resource to
provide you with access to these opportunities, but it remains
incumbent on you as individuals to take full advantage of them, and
taking advantage of them enhances your professional or personal
life or both.
Advocacy, however, is an attempt to reach out to the rest of the
world and educate them about what we do, how we do it, and why. It
is important to reach out to them, because they influence our
ability to practice veterinary medicine, care for our animals, and
interact with our clients. There are numerous forces, some even
within our own profession, which would like to dramatically change
your way of life and that of our clients. Unfortunately, it’s
often difficult for us as individuals to combat these forces. As an
association, however, we can have a greater impact and a louder
voice.
Compared with most of the organizations that would like to alter
your ability to practice, AASV is still relatively small. We
represent 750 US swine veterinarians. That’s only 1% of the
veterinarians in the United States. By comparison, the Humane
Society of the United States claims to represent 20,000 people in
every US congressional district. That’s a lot of votes. You
may ask, “How do we compete with that?” The answer is,
by getting involved with other groups and associations of
like-minded individuals. Forming coalitions makes our voice much
louder and gains us access to decision-makers.
Being part of a coalition, however, involves much more than
signing our names on a circular letter. We have to become active
participants in the process. The “face” of our
organization has to become recognizable to regulators, legislators,
policy-makers, other coalition members, and, yes, even to our
enemies. These folks need to hear your opinion. I visited with
senate staffers last year regarding the Horse Slaughter Prevention
Act, following its passage in the house by an overwhelming
majority. The staffers I spoke with told me that this bill was the
number-one issue about which they were receiving e-mails and phone
calls – more even than about the war and immigration. And all
of the communication they were receiving was in favor of the bill.
They indicated that it would be very difficult for a senator to
vote against the bill in light of that kind of response, even
though they recognized that it was bad legislation. Fortunately,
the bill died in the senate, but it will likely be re-introduced
during the 110th Congress.
Another obvious challenge to our industry is the push to
eliminate gestation stalls as an acceptable method of sow housing.
In spite of the fact that science does not indicate that one
housing method enhances sow welfare above another, the decision is
being made on the basis of emotion and marketing. As veterinarians,
we are concerned that the decisions we make are in the best
interest of the animals we care for, and we rely on science to
guide us. A large number of issues could significantly affect the
way you practice your profession. These issues will likely be
decided by people who know very little about what you or our
clients do. Some issues are local and others are national or even
international in scope and involve such topics as antimicrobial
access and use, animal welfare, small-business issues (eg, taxes,
insurance, OSHA), declining numbers of food-supply veterinarians,
lack of funding for independent references (eg, FARAD) and
research, drug compounding, food safety, humane slaughter, and
accreditation changes, just to name a few.
Our daily lives and careers are very busy. We find time,
however, to make sure that we do those things that enhance our
professional and personal lives – the other four tenets of
our mission. We also need to recognize the value in contributing
some time and resources to advocacy as well. You can do this by
taking the time to meet your legislator when he or she is in town,
send e-mails to your representatives, give presentations to local
school kids or civic groups, become active with the National Pork
Board or the National Pork Producers Council, participate in AVMA,
or even just contribute to political action committees. Most of
all, take an interest in these issues and understand that their
outcome will have a significant impact on your profession and your
ability to choose how you practice it.
-- Harry Snelson
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