August 2023

The importance of veterinary social work

Veterinary social work addresses human needs where veterinary medicine and social work meet. For decades, social workers have worked with needs in pet loss, animal-assisted therapy, companion animals and well-being, the importance of pets to the elderly, the link between interpersonal violence and animal abuse, social work implications of animal hoarding, and in veterinary hospital settings.

Revisiting a landmark case from the past

Alice, a two-year-old mixed breed dog, presented to the emergency service of the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania one weekend in November 2004. The pooch had unknown trauma while spending time on a large farm in York, Pa.

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