Assessment of an Educational Intervention on the Knowledge and Attitudes of Indian National Veterinarians to Animal Welfare and Euthanasia

The teaching of animal welfare in Indian veterinary education is limited. Current knowledge and attitudes to animal welfare and euthanasia, and the effect of a targeted educational intervention, were assessed in 84 Indian national and 49 non-Indian veterinarians attending a two-week training course run by the Worldwide Veterinary Service in Tamil Nadu. A pre-intervention questionnaire, comprising knowledge and attitude questions on animal welfare and ethical issues, was completed. Fifteen students were then retained as a control group. The intervention group was exposed to a pre-designed lecture and case-studies (d6). At the end of the course (d12), another, identical questionnaire was completed. Initially, there was no difference in knowledge of the control or intervention groups of Indian participants. Overall knowledge scores were lower in Indian participants compared to non-Indian participants (p<0.05). Both groups’ scores increased after the course p<0.05), with the Indian participants improving the most. Indian participants’ attitudes were supportive of animal welfare and euthanasia prior to the intervention. Improvements in scores, with some reaching significance (p<0.05), were observed post- intervention. Non-Indian participants’ attitudes were more supportive of animal welfare and euthanasia with ‘strongly agree/strongly disagree’ chosen more frequently than Indian responses. Both groups’ self-assessment of their understanding of these topics improved post- intervention (p<0.01). There were no prominent differences in questionnaire responses in the control cohort. This study shows that a targeted educational intervention impacts on Indian veterinarians’ knowledge and attitudes towards animal welfare and euthanasia, and is relevant to organisations aiming to improve animal welfare standards in India.