For many people, ideas about veterinar­ians and the veterinary profession are at least partially informed by the colourful and descriptive James Herriot books and television series (All Creatures Great and Small etc.). These tales paint an idyllic if somewhat earthy picture of a profession that can be strenuous and demanding, but is also at times wonderfully reward­ing. Descriptions of surgery on stroppy cows in muddy yards, imaginary disor­ders in pampered toy dogs and run-ins with mad sows or odd-ball farmers bring a wry smile of recognition to vets of all generations.

But although the typical mixed prac­tice clinical veterinarian in the style of James Herriot still exists, the accumu­lation of knowledge has made it more difficult for individual vets to be able to do everything, and has led to increas­ing specialisation within the profession. As a result, people who studied veteri­nary science may be found in compan­ion animal practice, production animal or equine practice, food safety (meat works vets), biosecurity and disease sur­veillance, public health, farm advisory work, research, teaching and laboratory work. My own career as a veterinarian has included time in rural clinical prac­tice, post-graduate training and teach­ing at university, and an internship at a veterinary pathology laboratory leading to my current position as a veterinary anatomic pathologist. The information provided by pathologists assists vets to diagnose the cause of disease or loss of production in large and small animals, detects incursions of foreign disease before they become widespread, allows certification of New Zealand animals for export, and helps detect adverse effects of chemicals and drugs in animals before they are used in people.

As people who are redeemed by Christ, we are first and foremost citi­zens of heaven rather than citizens of this world. Whether or not we are apt to serve as ministers of the word, we are all prophets, priests and kings and need to bring our faith to bear on our respective careers. We may thus regard ourselves not so much as primarily doctors or teachers or lawyers, but as Christians who serve through medicine, Christians who teach, and Christians who interpret the laws of the land. So in that light, how does a career as a veterinarian fit within the context of a Christian life?

This article will seek to answer that question by looking at how Scripture informs our view of the animal creation, how the veterinary profession views its own role in society (and whether this is compatible with a biblical world-view), and some of the challenges facing a Christian veterinarian.

Veterinary Medicine in the Bible⤒🔗

Although the Bible refers to the medical profession (e.g. Luke the physician, the physicians who attempted to treat the woman with a haemorrhage in Mark 5:25-26), there are no direct references to animal physicians. Scripture does, however, provide broad principles which inform us of our obligations with regard to the animal component of creation.

Firstly, as God’s image bearers we should reflect God’s own attitude toward His creation. Genesis 1:20-25 describes the creation of the sea creatures, birds and terrestrial animals in all their wonderful variety. Verse 25 states, “And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.” If the creatures of the earth are good and valuable in God’s estimation, then so they should be in ours.

Scripture also describes God’s care of His creatures and His expectation of our care for them also. Psalm 104 speaks of how God provides for the needs of wild mammals, birds and sea creatures: “These all look to you to provide them their food at the proper time.” (verse 27). Matthew 6:26 states in the context of our own value to the Lord: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” When God flooded the earth, he took special care that Noah would create a craft big enough to fit all the animals along with their provisions (Genesis 6:19-21). God wants a world full of animals! He is pleased with and cares for His animals, and this should be our attitude also. In addition, Genesis 9:4 and Leviticus 17:14 indicate that the lifeblood (“the life”) of animals is precious and should not be wantonly shed. And Proverbs 12:10 equates caring for the needs of our animals with righteousness.

We see then that we must care for and love the creation. But our relation­ship with it must also be seen within the context of our position as God’s sole image-bearers and stewards. We should not love the creation to the point of idolatry. People within organi­sations like People for the Ethical Treat­ment of Animals (PETA) believe all living creatures have the same intrinsic worth and capacity to suffer as humans, and so should have the same rights. Accord­ing to their philosophy, exploitation of animals for our own use (whether as pets or pork chops) is akin to human slavery and cannibalism.¹ In Genesis 1:28-30, God said, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” God later gave Adam the responsibility of naming the animals (Genesis 2:19­ 20), provided skins for Adam and Eve to wear after the fall (Genesis 3:21), re­affirmed man’s sovereignty over creation to Noah (Genesis 9:2) introduced animals as part of the diet (Genesis 9:3), and prescribed animals as sacrifices (Exodus 12). Scripture speaks of horses being the strength of an army, the ox being a beast of burden, fishing as an occupation and a lowly donkey bearing our Lord into Jerusalem. Animals are ubiquitous, wonderfully diverse, and are provided for our utility and delight. We may use them, but must treat them with respect and mercy.

In the light of Scripture then, the role of the Christian veterinarian (and others involved in animal husbandry) may be seen to encompass stewardship, mercy and witness. Stewardship helps to max­imise the usefulness and enjoyment of animals for people. Mercy recognises the role of suffering due to sin in every aspect of creation, and seeks to treat animals with care and respect as God requires. And witness is made possible by interacting with animal owners and handlers in a way consistent with the above biblical principles.

How does the Veterinary Profession View its Role?←⤒🔗

When considering any career path, it is wise to research how your chosen profession views its own role and to assess whether that is compatible with a Christian worldview. There are some professions that may be less suited for Christians because they require regular compromise of Christian principles. Others pose more subtle and veiled chal­lenges, so a good grounding in the faith is needed in order to recognise and ne­gotiate them. How does the veterinary profession fit within this spectrum?

The role of the veterinarian in New Zealand is regulated by the Veterinary Council (VCNZ), which has formulated a code of professional conduct.² The Code is built around seven principles that form the basis of professional be­haviour expected of veterinarians. These are as follows:

1. Protecting animal welfare and allevi­ating suffering
    
2. Practicing in a way that promotes ef­fective communication, trust, meets confidentiality and consent require­ments and recognises clients’ right to choose
    
3. Interacting with colleagues honestly and in a way that fosters good rela­tionships and communication
    
4. Acting in a way that promotes the public’s trust and confidence in the profession
    
5. Striving to provide a high standard of veterinary practice
    
6. Exercising sound judgement when authorizing, dispensing, recommending, selling and using veterinary medicines
    
7. Practicing in accordance with rele­vant legislation and other applicable standards

Most would agree that the above principles do not compromise the con­scientious Christian; in fact, despite the secular origins of the Code, many of the statements are consistent with a biblical approach to the world. Protecting animal welfare, alleviating suffering, honesty, being at peace with and doing good to all men, obeying the relevant authori­ties, and doing our work to the best of our ability are all examples of principles that may be found in Scripture. So the role of the veterinarian as defined by its regulatory body is certainly not a problem for the Christian veterinarian. But as with any profession, there are moral and ethical issues that arise within the practice of a veterinarian that need to be met and wrestled with.

Challenges Facing Christians in the Veterinary Profession←⤒🔗

Euthanasia←↰⤒🔗

One of the difficult issues that veteri­narians grapple with is the killing of animals. Every new graduate on their first weekend or night duty will be presented with a request to put an animal to sleep. Typically there will be dozens of weeping family members present, all crowded round while the nervous vet tries to find a collapsed vein on a distressed dog or cat. Often this is an elderly, beloved pet collapsed in the garden, or perhaps a horse with a severe injury. Occasion­ally the request is made to euthanase a healthy animal for behavioural reasons or because they have come to the end of their usefulness to the owner. How does a Christian approach these cases?

Scripture clearly indicates that animals may be used for human benefit, such as for production of food or fibre. But as we have already seen, there is a warning not to spill blood for frivolous reasons (Leviticus 17:14). Taken together, a biblical approach would be that it is legitimate to end an animal’s life, but we need to ensure that there is a good reason for doing so, and that we do not cause unnecessary suffering in the process. Such considerations extend from killing animals for food production purposes to pest control (e.g. biological control of rabbits, poisoning of possums, euthanasia of stray cats) or to preserve human life (e.g. shark nets).

A frequent comment that veterinarians hear from animal owners after putting a pet to sleep is that if we can provide this merciful release for our beloved pets, why can’t we extend the same to people who are suffering? This is an opportunity for witness, as it provides an opening to discuss the sanctity of human life and our position as image bearers of God and stewards of His creation.

Animal Welfare←↰⤒🔗

Animal welfare is another highly polarizing topic that the veterinarian must navigate. There are certainly cases of unacceptable animal cruelty reported in the media from time to time,³ and veterinarians must be prepared to protect and advocate for those who can’t speak for themselves. However, the general trend of society today tends to over-emphasise animal welfare and somewhat anthropomorphize animals. While this approach may be rightly criticised, the Christian response should not be to swing in the opposite direction, but to promote a right view of man as God’s steward over the creation and sole image-bearer. Unfortu­nately, the reaction to an over-emphasis on animal welfare can be a somewhat cavalier attitude toward animal welfare. Treating animals in a cruel or careless way or thoughtlessly ending animal life is inconsistent with God’s Word and the law of the land; we need to be careful of our witness in this matter.

Veterinarians need to be aware of, abide by and promote the five key re­quirements for acceptable animal welfare laid out in the Animal Welfare Act 1999:

1. Proper and sufficient food and water
    
2. Adequate shelter
    
3. The ability to display normal patterns of behaviour
    
4. Appropriate physical handling
    
5. Protection from, and rapid diagnosis of injury and disease

These broad freedoms are of course open to divergent interpretations. Does freedom to behave normally mean that we should leave horns on cattle and po­tentially let them gore each other? Does tipping lambs upside-down, putting a ring around a vital structure, poking them with needles and burning off their tails constitute appropriate physical handling? Without knowing that these procedures prevent and ameliorate serious disease (freedom 5), one would think not. But of course a practical balance must be met, otherwise any sort of animal hus­bandry intervention would be excluded. Christians who work with animals are in a great position to be able to contrib­ute to these debates in a constructive way, by teasing out and applying biblical principles of stewardship and mercy.

After Hours Duty and Isolation←↰⤒🔗

As in the medical profession, there is a requirement for vet clinics to provide emergency cover during nights and weekends. In larger towns, clinics may cooperate in order to spread this load among many vets. Some smaller practices in cities pay a fee to an after-hours clinic to cover nights and weekends. However, in smaller towns and rural practices the after-hours is typically divided up among the vets of that practice. This can mean a vet is on duty on a regular basis, especially during busy times of the year such as spring calving. Having to deal with emergencies during the night and weekends with little or no professional support and isolated from friends and family can be very stressful, such that there is a relatively high rate of drug abuse and suicide among veterinarians.⁴ Christian vets living some distance from larger centres may also find it difficult to attend worship, and family life can be impacted. Although these challenges are not insurmountable, young people who wish to pursue a career in the industry need to weigh the possible impact that after hours duty has on family life and spiritual health.

Evolution←↰⤒🔗

The scientific community prides itself on evidence-based research, peer review, controlled trials and rigorous protocols in order to test hypotheses and reach consensus. Publishing research in scien­tific journals requires thorough review of the literature, conformity to strict proto­cols and standards of reporting, animal ethics approval, statistical analysis, and critical assessment of the manuscript by several experts in the field. These stand­ards are laudable, but along with the progress made in veterinary and bio­medical science comes a tendency for pride in human achievement and dis­missal of anything not verified through experiment. People who express faith in a creator God and trust His revelation about the beginning of the universe risk marginalisation or worse in the scientific community. An example is seen in this quote from the popular evolutionary bi­ologist, Richard Dawkins: “It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that)”.⁵ Anyone traversing a university degree in the sciences will strike this way of thinking from time to time and needs to be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks for an account of our hope (1 Peter 3:15).

This attitude was also recently illus­trated by a debate on the New Zealand Veterinary Association discussion boards, questioning whether creationist veteri­narians are fit for dealing with issues in veterinary medicine in a reasoned, sci­entific way. We as believers know that applying a Christian worldview is the best way to produce good science (think of all the major scientific achievements made by men of faith – Copernicus, Kepler, Pascal, Boyle, Newton, Faraday, Linnaeus, Mendel, Planck among count­less others). Dishonesty, fraud and back­handers are well-documented even in rigorously reviewed science,⁶ and may easily occur when status, money, or even a sinful desire to ‘prove a point’ informs the researcher instead of God’s law. When it comes to scientific research, a Christian approach seeks not to bear false witness, to do good to others, to fulfill the dominion mandate responsibly, and ultimately to bring glory to the one who created all and knows before time what the truth of the matter is.

Questionable Animal Husbandry←↰⤒🔗

It is often more important for vets to communicate with and resolve owner issues than to treat the animal. Because people have a wide range of uses of and attitudes toward animals, vets are often placed in situations where ethical dilemmas are raised. The following are just a few of those confronted by vets in practice:

• Financial issues: Veterinarians fre­quently deal with cases of injured or sick pets in urgent need of medical at­tention where the owners have limited funds to pay for that care. Owners may fail to appreciate how much veterinary attention costs because they are used to a publically funded medical system. Usually veterinarians can deal with these cases by sug­gesting less expensive options than the ‘gold standard’, offering payment terms over a period of time, or in cases where welfare is severely com­promised, putting the animal down. On other occasions, owners see their pets as little people and spend large amounts of money on fancy diets, general pampering and elective vet­erinary procedures. This can be some­what of an ethical dilemma for a vet: Is it justifiable to let someone spend thousands of dollars on specialist vet­erinary care for their Labradoodle, when they could spend that money more wisely on their children? At the end of the day, the owner has the right to refuse or accept advice offered so long as there is no serious welfare breach. But the vet can cer­tainly subtly influence one way or another, and has to be careful not to make decisions based only on profit.
   
• Racing industries: There is no doubt that race horses are impressive crea­tures. Seeing them charging around the track with muscles taut and turf flying is a sight to behold. But unfortunately, relative to other sports, horse racing is very much undergirded by gambling. Where large amounts of money are involved, the focus shifts away from the prowess of the horse, jockey and trainer, and the poten­tial for unethical practices increases. Having worked at training stables during veterinary studies, I can attest to horses being administered interest­ing brews prior to racing. Not many people realise that there is a drug-testing program for race horses that rivals that for professional cyclists! In addition, injured and broken-down horses (and Greyhounds) are not always dealt with mercifully. Because of these concerns, being a race-day vet was not something I aspired to.
   
• Pig hunting: In my rural practice, each weekend on duty there would be at least one or two calls to patch up badly injured pig dogs. Boar tusks often make a deceptively small punc­ture on the outside, but severely lac­erate muscle and other structures underneath. One particularly stoic dog stood out: It presented to the clinic standing up and wagging it’s tail, but on examination had collapsed lungs, fractured ribs and tear in the diaphragm (the muscle between the abdomen and chest cavities). Another dog had what the owner thought was a pig wound in the skin of the armpit, but on further exploration had a fractured humerus and a fragmented bullet, which was accidentally fired by the owner in the thick of the melee. These examples illustrate what can be a hazardous occupation for dogs. Vets will certainly provide care for these animals regardless of their thoughts about their occupation. However, as some dogs are more prone to injury than others, the stewardship of con­tinually using such dogs, knowing the risks, is questionable.
   
• Dairy cow inductions: Each year, many thousands of dairy cows are scanned to check whether they are in calf. If too many cows are “empty”, the length of artificial or natural mating is extended to increase the in-calf rate. In order to maximise milk production and the chances of the cow getting back in calf for the next season, the practice for late calvers has been to induce them to calve early through hormone injections. Often the premature calves don’t survive, but when they do they are weak and under-developed. It is then up to the farmer to dispatch them. There has been much discus­sion in the veterinary industry about whether this is an ethical management tool to improve reproductive efficiency on farms. There is now a plan in place to reduce and gradually phase out in­ductions. The welfare of the calf and market perception are strong drivers to move away from this practice. As with animal euthanasia, this subject can provide an opportunity to discuss the relative importance of animal and human life and suffering. Many farmers are bemused at the amount of con­tention caused by inducing/aborting cows, while the practice of aborting 17,000-18,000 human babies each year⁷  is swept under the carpet by large segments of society.

These are some of the challenges and issues facing veterinarians in today’s society. It is a career path that takes com­mitment and resolve, but also provides great opportunity to apply God’s dominion mandate mercifully and productively. For any occupation, understanding the underlying biblical principles enables the Christian to identify and deal with ethical challenges that may arise. Out of these challenges may come opportunities to be a witness for Christ and to bring glory to the Creator of all things.