Weekend Rounds - 10.09

Hi ,

Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian members! Up in the great white north, we're spending our long weekend with family, eating well, and enjoying our first pumpkin-spiced latte of the season.Tomorrow is also World Mental Health Day - which means it is a great time to check in with loved ones, colleagues and friends to see how they're doing. Especially in our profession, you never know the internal battles that others are tackling and a check-in might make a difference. 💜

This week:

⛈️ Vets on the front lines

📰 Good news from around the world

🚀 Quick hits

In response to one of Florida's most deadly hurricanes, a team of veterinarians from Texas A&M's Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) have been deployed to assist with search, rescue, and recovery efforts. The veterinarians will play a vital role in supporting  more than 80 urban search and rescue (USAR) dogs - one of the largest teams of rescue dogs ever dispatched in the US. In addition to the local animals displaced and injured by the hurricane, USAR dogs are often in need of care and close monitoring as they explore flood waters that are often contaminated. The VET has a decontamination unit at their base of operations to assist in removing the contaminants from the search-and-rescue dogs and other small animals. Similarly, the American Humane Rescue team arrived Florida to help the animal victims that have been injured and displaced by the hurricane, and the University of Florida’s Veterinary Emergency Treatment Service (UF VETS) team traveled to Fort Myers this week to treat small animals in need of medical care. We are always blown away by the ingenuity, skill, collaboration, and selflessness by vets around the world in times of crisis. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the disaster.

Today is an important day by any means, but especially in our profession.Supporting the well-being of veterinarians is an important pillar of our mission at Obi Veterinary Education, and we hope that you will take this day to reflect on your own mental health and that of your colleagues.  Take some time for yourself today and let's all reflect on the steps we can take to support our own and our colleague's mental health.

Good news, good news, good news. That's all they wanna hear.- Mac Miller

Thanks to the wonderful folks at Future Crunch, we have a new batch of good news stories to brighten your day. Sometimes it's hard to see the forest through the trees, but it's not all bad out there - we promise.   Australia has unveiled an ambitious ten-year recovery plan for threatened species, including the prevention of any new native animal or plant extinctions. The government has pledged $224.5 million towards the project, and committed to conserving 30% of the continent's land mass. Australian Geographic  Multiple Indigenous nations across Canada are declaring protected areas based on their own sovereignty. The idea took off in 2018, following the publication of a report showing Indigenous-led conservation could help Canada reach its commitments on climate change and conservation. Half a million square kilometres of protected areas across the country have now been proposed. Narwhal  Europe has closed 87 sensitives zones to bottom trawling in the Atlantic, putting 16,419 km2 of waters below 400 metres off limits. This comes after a ban four years ago on bottom trawling below 800 metres, providing further protection for vulnerable marine ecosystems such as cold water reefs, sea mounts and sea pens. EC  New fishing regulations will ban bottom trawling in Kattegatt, a 30,000 km² sea area between Sweden & Denmark, which is home to porpoises and endangered Swedish shark species. Conservation groups have fought for the measures for over a decade and the new regulations are now the strongest in Europe. Greenpeace  Poaching is less of a threat to sea turtles than it used to be, with a new analysis showing illegal poaching has dropped sharply around the world in the last decade. The numbers are reflected in anecdotal reports from conservationists too. In Lousiana, for example, hatchlings have been spotted on the uninhabited Chandeleur Islands for the first time in over 75 years. PBS

• Conservationists are celebrating the recovery of the snail darter, a small freshwater fish native to the Tennessee river. In the 1970s, the fish became the focus of a Supreme Court ruling and an act of Congress when a proposed dam threatened its extinction. It was transplanted to the Hiwassee and Holston rivers and today can be found in several additional locations. Mirage

• European populations of mammals and birds are bouncing back following decades of successful conservation initiatives. Most of the 50 species tracked for a new report, including bison, lynx, wolves, beavers and bears, are increasing in numbers and spreading to new areas across the continent. “It shows that, if you take measures, wild animals can recover.” Bloomberg

• New animal welfare legislation in New Zealand will ban live animal exports by sea from April 2023. Although the country only exports animals for breeding, not slaughter, its remoteness means animals are at sea for extended periods, heightening welfare-associated risks. Guardian

• After been hunted to extinction 400 years ago, Eurasian beavers have been declared a protected species in England, making it illegal to capture, kill, injure, or disturb them. Wildlife organisation have praised the move, saying beavers' dams help keep water clean and prevent flooding and drought. BBC

Thanks again to Future Crunch for keeping us connected to the good news around us. 

Here are some stories we're following this week from around the veterinary world and animal kingdom: 

A fulfilling career in veterinary social work [DVM 360] Taking a fresh look at veterinary diagnostic laboratories [AVMA]Texas Tech To Provide Every Veterinary Student, Faculty and Staff with Handheld Imaging Equipment [Equipment Management]

Farmed fish feel pain and anxiety and must be killed humanely [The Guardian]Mammoth De-Extinction Firm Turns Sights on Saving Elephants From Same Fate [Newsweek]

Endangered turtles just hatched for the first time in North America [CNN]

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