Veterinarians to comment on veterinary issues outside their area of expertise
Ethical question of the month, March 2025
Is it ethical for veterinarians to use their credentials to act as an “expert” despite having limited or no knowledge of the issues in another aspect of veterinary medicine? This may happen innocently when veterinarians are asked for opinions on issues outside their expertise, or when veterinarians with an agenda try to undermine an aspect of animal use for which they do not agree. These individuals have much more credibility, given their educational credentials, than lay animal activists. For example, is it ethical for a small animal veterinarian to criticize veterinarians who care for feedlot cattle, despite not having exposure or experience
with the conditions of these animals? Similarly, is it detrimental to the veterinary community if a swine veterinarian were to publicly castigate laboratory animal veterinarians for the use of animals in research?
Should such egregious cases be potential reasons for complaints to the licensing body?
Clare Palmer, Peter Sandøe, & Dan Weary comment on this dilemma and you can read it here: Ethicists’ commentary on whether veterinarians should comment on veterinary issues outside their area of expertise