The RCVS Disciplinary Committee has issued an equine veterinary surgeon a reprimand and formal warning as to his future conduct after he kicked a horse in the abdomen following an examination.
The charge was that during the course of the examination, the horse kicked the veterinary surgeon on his leg with their left hind leg, whereupon, in response, the vet kicked the horse in the abdomen.
Within the disciplinary hearing, expert evidence was called on from two individuals. The first expert agreed that attitudes to physical reprimands had changed over time. And in his expert report, he stated that a reprimand administered by a veterinary surgeon that may have been considered acceptable by a significant body of the veterinary profession some decades ago would no longer be regarded as such now, in his opinion. He stated that, in his opinion, there was not a reasonable body of veterinary opinion which would consider kicking a horse as an acceptable form of negative reinforcement of behaviour. The second expert stated that, in the case of the minority of veterinary surgeons who used physical reprimands as a means of modifying behaviour, he was not aware that such reprimands would include the use of a kick.
In this disciplinary, The College submitted that deliberately kicking, either as punishment or by way of teaching or training a horse, fell far below the standard expected of veterinary surgeons. And that principles 1.1 (Veterinary surgeons must make animal health and welfare their first consideration when attending to animals) and 6.5 (Veterinary surgeons must not engage in any activity or behaviour that would be likely to bring the profession into disrepute or undermine public confidence in the profession) of the Code of Professional Conduct has been breached.