VN August 2023

Vetnuus | August 2023 2 I often see calls for veterinary support. Be it in urban or rural areas, advantaged or disadvantaged communities, structured or unstructured organisations. What is our individual or corporate social responsibility to reach out to these calls for support? An individual’s social responsibility can be described as an individual's awareness of how personal actions affect the community, whereas corporate social responsibility is an ethical framework in which an individual is obligated to work and cooperate with other individuals and organizations for the benefit of the community that will inherit the world that individual leaves behind. Corporate social responsibility is traditionally broken into four categories: environmental, ethical, philanthropic, and economic responsibility. Environmental responsibility is reducing harmful practices, such as pollution and wastage; regulating energy consumption by energy- saving methods; and offsetting negative environmental impacts, such as planting trees. How“green” is your practice/organisation? Ethical responsibility is concerned with ensuring your practice/ organisation is operating fairly and ethically. We must embrace ethical responsibility to practice ethical behaviour through fair treatment of all stakeholders, including leadership, investors, employees, suppliers, and customers. It is therefore of major concern if many of our colleagues flag collegial interaction as an issue in mental health breakdowns. Philanthropic responsibility refers to a business’s aim to actively make the world and society a better place. In addition to acting as ethically and environmentally friendly as possible, organizations driven by philanthropic responsibility often dedicate a portion of their earnings to leave a better world behind. It is thus sad that our very own SA Veterinary Foundation is desperate for funds to support veterinary research. Are your practice/organisation contributing to the foundation? Economic responsibility is the practice of backing all financial decisions in a commitment to do good in the areas listed above. The end goal is not to simply maximize profits, but to make sure the business operations positively impact the environment, people, and society. SAVA through its structures, the SA Veterinary Foundation and SAVA Community Veterinary Clinics, has created a platform for its members to fulfil their, be it individual or corporate, social responsibility. Are you or your practice/organisation supporting these structures? Social responsibility is an ethical theory in which individuals are accountable for fulfilling their civic duty, and the actions of an individual must benefit the whole of society. Social responsibility is not only an individual or organisational commitment but has benefits such as increased employee engagement, better bottom-line financials, more support for and by local and global communities, increased investment opportunities, marketing opportunities and brand awareness, increased customer retention and loyalty and a stronger employer brand. SAVA through its structures, the SA Veterinary Foundation and SAVA Community Veterinary Clinics, has created a platform for its members to fulfil their, be it individual or corporate, social responsibility. Are you or your practice/organisation supporting these structures? I urge every member to do some introspection to determine the role you and your practice/organisation play in making the world a better place. v Kind regards, Paul van der Merwe From the President Dear members, Freedom & Duty always go hand in hand and if the free do not accept the duty of social responsibility, they will not long remain free. Be the compromise you want to see in the world. Build what you want to see in the world. We, as humans, have actually developed a sense of social responsibility - John Foster Dulles 24-Hour, Toll-Free Helpline: 0800 21 21 21