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NVAS >
History
NVAS Historical
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At the Australian Veterinary Association's (AVA) Annual General Meeting in
Canberra in March 1994, a decision was taken for the AVA to support an
accreditation scheme to allow deer farmers to be trained to remove velvet
antler from their own deer, after undertaking an approved course of
training.
The AVA reaffirmed the need for the "use of an effective analgesic
technique administered by a veterinary surgeon, or, under the
direction of a veterinary surgeon, by operators trained and
accredited to perform the procedure from their own stock." The AVA
thus also agreed that velvet antler harvest is a legitimate
procedure on deer farms, and that the process is humane, as long as
accepted procedures to achieve analgesia are used.
The first program to train and accredit deer farmers in Australia
was developed in Western Australia in 1992, in parallel with the initiation
of a similar program in New Zealand. This first program was put
together for the |
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Deer Farmers
Association of WA by
Dr Sue Joubert, and she must be given full credit for her work,
which was carried out will close attention to what was occurring in
New Zealand. A similar training course was conducted in South
Australia and Victoria a year later. Both the SA and Victorian
courses were derivatives of the WA course, and this has now evolved
into what can now be considered the National Deer Velveting
Accreditation Scheme. After the AVA's decision in March 1994,
the Deer Farmers Federation of Australia (DFFA), now the Deer
Industry Association of Australia (DIAA) accepted the task of
putting together such a scheme, which would be approved by both the
AVA and the Veterinary Surgeons' Boards in all States.
A DIAA committee was formed in mid 1994, with Dr Tony English
nominated by the AVA as its representative, charged with the
responsibility of ensuring that the new National Velvet
Accreditation Scheme complied with the spirit of the AVA's decision
in March 1994 to permit deer farmers to harvest velvet from their
own deer. The two primary concerns expressed during the
protracted debate before and during the AVA AGM had concerned the
animal welfare implications of such a scheme, and the drug supply
issues involved.
A key element in the AVA's approval of any such scheme was the
approval of only 2 percent xylazine, yohimbine and local anaesthetic
for use by deer farmers.
Source:
Dr A W English
Camden 5 September 1995
NVAS Course Notes
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