Interview reports

[HeartSong]

Anybody have their interview already and want to share anything about it?

I just had mine today, guess it went alright. Nothing real wow, but I think I did well and enjoyed it too. I was interviewed by three people, a practitioner, a faculty member, and a fourth year vet student. The faculty member was serious the whole time, the practitioner seemed kinda bored and the vet student was quite bubbly. I don't remember all the questions, let's see what I can remember.

They asked, paraphrasing quite a bit . . .

-What's the difference between animal right and animal welfare?
-Describe the human/ animal bond? What about with agricultural animals?
-What's the role of a veterinarian in housing conditions of agricultural animals?
-What kinds of experience do you have working with vets? What kinds of things did you do working with them?
-What do you do in your free time?
-What are your weaknesses?
-Of the following, what is the most important to you and why? Family, money, being a veterinarian, saving an animals life . . . and I think one other thing that I don't remember. Of those, which is the least important?
-How did you find out about and become interested in animal behavior?
-Do you know what you are going to have to do to get into behavior medicine after the four years of general veterinary school?
-(They asked me about my graphic art experience since that's a fairly large part of my resume.)

I think I'm forgetting a couple of questions, but that's a pretty good idea of what I was asked.

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[verbal_kint]

Thanks for letting us know the questions! very helpful!

How would you all answer the first question about animal rights vs animal welfare? For me, I've never really thought about the difference between the two, so I'm glad I get the chance to ponder it now instead of when I'm in the hot seat.

Oh, and what school is this from?

Thank you!

 

[bern]

How would you all answer the first question about animal rights vs animal welfare? For me, I've never really thought about the difference between the two, so I'm glad I get the chance to ponder it now instead of when I'm in the hot seat.

Big difference between animal rights and animal welfare! Though the distinction is often blurred.

The basic premise of animal rights is that animals deserve rights similar to the inalienable rights humans claim. They should not be "exploited" by man in any way - not eaten, not raised for wool or dairy, not kept in zoos, not used as work animals, not even kept as pets. PETA seems to have softened its stance a bit in recent years, and now ALF is the more extreme group. But if you look back on statements made by PETA and other animal rights groups over the years, you will find that they say some pretty disturbing things that I'm guessing most of us wouldn't agree with.

Animal welfare is a more moderate take. It is accepted that medical testing on animals is sometimes necessary, but seeks to reduce the number used and the amount of distress they suffer. Same thing with food animals. The idea is that animals should be treated humanely and with respect, but the relationships we have with them are important and rewarding.

I'm generalizing here and it's far more complicated than I've made it out to be, but that's the basic idea. I'm guessing the reason they ask the question to find out if you're aware of the issue (and to make sure you're not going to try to set all the lab animals on campus free). While the animal rights movement is trying to do things that I agree with, and since they've gotten a lot of bad press they don't seem to be actively pursuing some of the more extreme reforms that they did in the past, I think animal welfare is a more responsible and realistic approach.

 

[verbal_kint]

Thanks! I googled some more information and that helped as well.

http://www.fbresearch.org/animal-activism/welfare-vs-rights.htm
http://www.furcommission.com/debate/

 

[birdvet2006]

How would you all answer the first question about animal rights vs animal welfare? For me, I've never really thought about the difference between the two, so I'm glad I get the chance to ponder it now instead of when I'm in the hot seat.

In the UK, animal welfare is a very big deal. They really etch the "5 freedoms" into our brains during our first couple of years of vet school. I think it would be excellent for anyone to mention the 5 freedoms if asked a question about animal welfare during an interview. See this link to read about these freedoms:

http://www.fawc.org.uk/freedoms.htm


Cindy

 

[HeartSong]

I've been really big into the difference between the two lately so I was actually kinda happy that they asked me that question. I basically described the two briefly and let them know that I thought that animals rights went too far, that animal are just that, not humans.

The interview was at Oklahoma State University.