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"Know When to Call it a Day"
Every day The Home of Rest for Horses is inundated by calls from "no-longer-want-to-be horse owners" seeking a
conscience-salving way of making a decision for the future of their horse, says Paul Jepson, the Home’s Chief
Executive and Veterinary Director.
Speaking at the Home’s annual meeting, he said: "I believe we are witnessing a gradual extension in the useful
working life of horses and I like to think this is an endorsement of our investment in research and our relentless
preaching of responsible ownership.
"But, perhaps controversially, I would also suggest that the increasing popularity of pet insurance may be having
a negative effect on welfare, encouraging unnecessary treatment coupled with, in my opinion, inadequate attention
in the already crowded veterinary curriculum to ethical issues that give the courage and wisdom to know when to
'call it a day'.
"Science, knowledge and education have expanded exponentially but we humans still seem to crave the inexplicable
a fascination with the mystical," he added. "What is alarming to me is the cloak of respectability we create by
euphemistically labelling it 'alternative medicine'. Don't get me wrong many of these alternative therapies
are useful and explicable (acupuncture for example) but others are not.
"Veterinarians should remember that they must always comply with the golden rule of medicine: 'First do no harm'."
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