摘要
Education of veterinarians in animal welfare issues is important to improve the welfare and health of animals. A questionnaire to 250 veterinarians related to their knowledge on animal welfare issues has been carried out at the Veterinary School of the University of the Republic, Uruguay, during March-April 2012. The questions were related to the courses on animal welfare veterinarians received, their main field of work, the importance given to the information offered and the quality of the topics addressed. From the total of veterinarians surveyed, 45% （112） answered the questionnaire. Of those who responded, 47% attended to three or more animal welfare courses, 18% assisted to two courses and 22% to one. The occupation of the 82% of respondents was with beef and dairy cattle （large animals） or in the meat industry equally. 10% works with small animals （especially pets） and poultry （production and industry）. The 95% of respondents considered that animal welfare is very important for their daily work with animals 65% reported that animal welfare concepts have high applicability in their job. 85% considered that animal welfare should be part of the veterinary curricula and 100% expressed their compliance to be present in other courses on the subject. These results emphasize the importance afforded by Uruguayan veterinarians to improve their knowledge on animal welfare and to continue including specific courses in the veterinary curricula.
