AVA NSW Division President November Update

As we move toward the Festive Season and the prospect of celebrating with family and friends, what memories will we have of 2022. January started with the apparent end of the COVID pandemic with the opening of the borders to overseas travellers and the gradual lifting of public health order restrictions in the community. Unfortunately, the virus didn’t agree with the official decision that it was history, and we are now looking at the 4th wave with infected cruise ships riding that wave.

Mandatory mask wearing for hospitals and recommended for public transport and indoor public areas has been reintroduced in NSW as I write this report (18 November). I know that many veterinary practices have maintained their COVID safe practices if the spaced seats lined up outside of clinics is any indication. If you need a refresher on these practices, they are available on the AVA website.

From February onwards, it started to rain with multiple flood emergencies occurring during the year, now affecting most of NSW with many areas “west of the divide’ experiencing unprecedented inundation. The devastation of the Northern Rivers floods in March highlighted a major deficiency in the communication with private veterinarians by the official emergency management response for natural disasters.

The creation of an AVA liaison position to develop a communication bridge between the emergency control centres and vets, during the later stages of the Northern floods and during the Hunter Valley/Western Sydney floods, was the first step in addressing the deficiency. Liz Gemes, our senior advocacy officer, negotiated receipt of the daily situation reports from the emergency control centres to
keep us informed of the emergency response developments.

Further discussions between the NSW Division and the Department of Primary Industries resulted in the development of Vet Engagement Project to improve the involvement of private veterinarians in all hazards emergencies – emergency animal diseases and natural/man made disasters. The Project includes DPI as the lead with AVA, Vets Beyond Borders, Veterinary Practitioners Board and Local Land Services. Our preference was to address natural disasters involvement initially because we thought that these disasters would be becoming more frequent and emergency agencies, outside of DPI and LLS, did not truly acknowledge the importance of including private veterinarians where animal health and welfare is impacted.

Lumpy Skin Disease and the appearance and rapid spread of Foot and Mouth Disease across Indonesia changed the priority for the project. Improving awareness about these two economically damaging diseases by veterinarians and owners of susceptible animals and improving the technical skills required by veterinarians during a possible incursion has been initially addressed through information webinars and printed literature on the diseases (links are available on AVA website).

Face to face training workshops for veterinarians have been planned (4 major regional workshops with smaller sessions available through individual Local Land Services areas) and a glove box guide for veterinarians providing practical advice on emergency animal diseases is now available. If you are attending the EAD summit in Canberra (29th November to 1st December) between the many outstanding presentations, visit the DPI NSW stand for up-to-date information on the workshops (and your copy of the guide).

In case you haven’t noticed, there is a state election next March. There has been a recent avalanche of parliamentary activity on a number of animal welfare related subjects (animal welfare legislation, animal research, rehoming of research animals, puppy farms, breeding of companion animals), resulting in either recommendations to the sitting government or amendments to existing animal welfare or companion animal legislation. Although this emphasis on animal welfare is welcomed, unfortunately the focus can be narrow, resulting in the dreaded ‘unintended consequences’ if the amendment is passed.

With the current minority government relying on the cross benches to pass or prevent amendments, the Division has been very active in providing advice either directly to the relevant minister or member of parliament, attendance at Parliamentary Inquiries or through submissions, on the impact of these amendments on the veterinary profession and their clients.

The Division has developed an election platform which is available for comment on the Get Involved site. We would appreciate your feedback.

Reading December 2021 President’s report, I believed we were making positive progress on addressing the ‘vet-unfriendly’ issues plaguing the current Pet Registry, replacing it with an innovative new version, and the continuing problems involving councils and stray animals. A change in the policies of the Planning and Environment Super-Department to which the Office of Local Government belongs, followed by the loss of its previous Minister who had an active interest in assisting veterinarians, resulted in all progress hitting reverse. This was emphasised in the results of the recent re-run of the survey seeking members’ experiences with local councils and their approaches to stray animals (Thank you to those members who participated).

There has been a dramatic reshuffling of the deck chairs within OLG and the loss of most of our advocates. This year was spent re-establishing AVA as an active stakeholder in the companion animal area, not just another seat warmer in meetings. The New Pet Registry has now been extricated from its hiding place and is beginning to move again forward with the appointment of a new Project Manager. The impost of current council stray animal policies on veterinary practices was highlighted and accepted as an issue in the recent independent review of council impounding and rehoming practices.

A quick overview of the last year and only a snap shot of the work that has been done by the Division and its committee – Anne Quain, Bruce Watt, David Tabrett, Debbie Neutze, Emma Davis, Melissa Kozaruk, Mikala Welch and Zachary Lederhose (and Louisa Poutsma and Mick Kidd who left the committee during the year). My appreciation to our hard working and talented senior advocacy officer, Liz Gemes, who joined us in February and hit the ground sprinting. Thank you to Chantelle Quintal who has the difficulty job of translating our committee’s ramblings during meetings into understandable minutes.

If you are wondering about a Christmas present that keeps on giving, a donation to the AVA Benevolent Fund will provide valuable support for our colleagues in their times of need.

Enjoy time with your nearest and dearest.

Regards,
Diane Ryan
President NSW Division