December 2023 37 The CoC requires veterinarians to act professionally when they work with game capturers and other professionals. Veterinarians must always maintain the required standards for clinical procedures regardless of their work circumstances. However, veterinarians may not teach any game capturers or other persons to perform the procedures or use the scheduled medicines that are listed and reserved for use by veterinarians only. Although the CoC does not deal with the safety aspects of the capture process relating to humans, the veterinarian responsible for the chemical immobilization of animals must take control of it. All the parties involved must be briefed before the capture process starts. This is especially true when working with people for the first time but should be done with every capture. Everyone involved must be informed of the dangers of capturing drugs. The lethal potential that exposure to these medicines can have must be explained in a manner that makes it understandable to everyone. People must specifically be told what they may and may not do, how to handle discharged darts, and what to do if there is accidental contact with these dangerous drugs. Animal Health and Welfare Wildlife veterinarians are responsible for the health and welfare of the wildlife while under their care. The CoC lists the responsibilities of veterinarians who are employed by conservation agencies in a further paragraph, but presumably, it is the same responsibilities referred to in this general statement. These responsibilities are: • Diagnosing diseases in the animals. • Prescribing medicines and treating animals. • Control of diseases through prevention, curative measures, and measures to contain diseases. • Health and welfare of immobilized animals, including the selection of acceptable weather conditions for game capture. • Health and welfare of animals in transit. This must be done by providing guidelines for safe and human transport regarding appropriate enclosures, handling procedures, tranquilization, and placement of water and feed. • Animal welfare in general. • The release, relocation, and rehabilitation of wild animals. Working with wildlife, and game capture specifically, comes with extraordinary risks. All the responsibility for animal health and welfare and some safety responsibilities are placed on the shoulders of the veterinarian. This means that wildlife veterinarians must be aware of this and must be well prepared to deal with these aspects. The CoC is helpful in this regard. If you have any questions, you can contact me at trudie@legalvetservices.co.za. v (Endnotes) 1. Veterinary and Para-Veterinary Professions Act, No. 19 of 1982 2. Rules Relating to the Practicing of Veterinary Professions Legal Mews
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