Why Veterinarians Should Care about Politics: Science Matters

Why veterinarians should care about politics

For many people, discussion of politics is fraught with angst especially in this time of divisiveness.  It is tempting to want to put our heads in the sand and believe that what happens in Washington, DC has no impact on what happens in Washington state.  In this moment, veterinarians should care about politics and should act.

Decisions made in Washington DC will have direct impacts on the care we can provide to our patients. It will impact the safety of our food supply and the food available to our pets and patients. It will also impact the knowledge we have about drug safety.

Avian Flu is killing cats

This came to head for me this week as we just presumptively diagnosed a cat with Avian Flu (H5N1).  The cat was eating a poultry raw food diet and we had to euthanize it due to severe worsening neurologic signs.  While we were able to get the preliminary result from the Washington State Diagnostic lab, all presumptive Avian flu tests need to go to USDA for confirmation. This is critical when there is a widespread disease outbreak, we need a nationwide understanding of what is happening how it is spreading.

Federal layoffs are bad for veterinarians

In the midst of this outbreak, just two weeks ago, the USDA National Animal Health Laboratory Network were notified of layoffs.  After layoff notices were sent to federal veterinarians and others working on the outbreak, USDA realized the issue and tried to rescind those letters.  Can you imagine being those veterinarians?  Working hard to deal with a significant and expanding animal outbreak and then being told you were laid off?  And then oh no, our bad, never mind?

The layoffs have also impacted the Center for Veterinary Medicine at the FDA.  These are the folks who ensure that drugs are safe for pets and livestock.  They are the ones tracking and reporting on diets and non hereditary DCM in dogs.

In addition to layoffs, a hiring freeze means needed people can not be hired to help with avian influenza control.  According to a recent VIN news article, there are 30-40 open USDA positions related to the outbreak that remain unfilled.

We need veterinarians in federal positions and we need good science.  As a community we need to support each other to do the work. Veterinarians and others working on animal and drug safety issues should not have to worry about what is going to happen to their job arbitrarily in the next couple of months due to a car guy with a chainsaw.

Each us should reach out to our congressional representatives and urge them to take back their responsibility for budgets and appropriations in the federal government.  In addition, we need to urge them to  fully staff the agencies that do crucial science and oversight to protect our safety and the safety of the animals in our care. We need to support the hard working federal veterinarians doing critical work in our industry.

To find your representative and email them, you can use this link.  To find your state’s senators, use this link.