Equine

BEVA has busiest year supporting the industry

vetreportSeptember 15, 2013

The past year has been one of the busiest in BEVA’s history. Not only has it been a frequent public voice for the industry on the headline-grabbing horsemeat and anabolic steroid issues this spring but it has also been an industrious supporting body for members, introducing of a host of practical initiatives from discounted CPD, to advisory literature on best practice for clients.

With two important equine-led stories making international front page news earlier this year, BEVA was called upon to advise and comment on the horsemeat scandal, closely followed by the British Horseracing Authority’s investigation into the use of anabolic steroids in horseracing. In response to the former BEVA is now working closely with Defra to make existing passport regulations more workable and thus prevent unfit horsemeat entering the human food chain. In terms of the latter BEVA has laid the foundations for simplified guidance on the medication of competition horses.

Education-wise, thanks to a revitalised financial performance in recent years, BEVA has managed to subsidise the fees its members paid for CPD courses in 2013 to 50% and to make its webinars free to members. In conjunction with leading insurance providers it has introduced two new guides to help vets and their clients negotiate the complexities of equine insurance. It has also worked with Defra and equine welfare charities to produce a concise horse biosecurity checklist for horse owners to set out clearly the practical essentials of good horse care including nutrition, safety, vaccination, parasite control, disease prevention and transport.

At the start of the year BEVA launched a series of Apps to help the busy practitioner. More recently, in response to a job survey conducted amongst members, an Internship Awareness Programme has been launched to guide new graduates on how to make the best of available opportunities and Congress marks the beginning of a survey into work-related injuries that may help reduce the risks faced by equine vets in the future.

BEVA Chief executive, David Mountford, commented “BEVA staff and Council members have been busier than ever this year in working to improve the lot of equine vets and their patients.  The results are evident and underpin the Association’s central position within the equine industry.”

For further information on all these initiatives visit www.beva.org.uk.