(Dis)placing veterinary medicine: Veterinary borderlands in laboratory animal research

Anderson, Alistair; Hobson-West, Pru

Abstract

The veterinary profession is complex and heterogeneous, embedded in a variety of social contexts. One such context is the animal research laboratory where, in the UK, Named Veterinary Surgeons (NVSs) have key legislative responsibilities for animal care and welfare. As members of the veterinary profession, and as actors in the animal research laboratory, NVS work exists at the intersection of a number of potentially conflicting sets of regulations and expectations. However, in line with a traditional neglect of veterinary medicine by social scientists, the role of the NVS has been little studied to date. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 33 NVSs in the UK, this chapter focuses on the animal research laboratory as a veterinary borderland, where NVSs engage in a complex process of creating, traversing, and blurring boundaries between clinical and laboratory practice. More specifically, the chapter shows how NVSs create an image of their work as displaced, or on the margins of the profession, manage complex negotiations with wider publics, and reflect on examples of spillover between the laboratory and the clinic. The chapter concludes that the animal research nexus can only be understood via a full appreciation of the position of the NVS, and also the wider tensions facing the contemporary veterinary profession.

Citation

Anderson, A., & Hobson-West, P. (2024). (Dis)placing veterinary medicine: Veterinary borderlands in laboratory animal research. In Researching animal research : What the humanities and social sciences can contribute to laboratory animal science and welfare (223-246). Manchester University Press. https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526165770.00018

• Online Publication Date: Jan 9, 2024
• Publication Date: Jan 9, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jan 31, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 31, 2024
• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Pages: 223-246
• Book Title: Researching animal research : What the humanities and social sciences can contribute to laboratory animal science and welfare
• Chapter Number: 9
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526165770.00018
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/30633898
• Publisher URL: https://www.manchesterhive.com/display/9781526165770/9781526165770.00018.xml