Aust Vet J Vol 77, No 7, July 1999 417

News

MANAGING EDITOR DENNIS RINGROSE

SCIENTIFIC EDITORJOUKO KOPPINEN

CLINICAL EDITORDAVID WATSON

D E S I G NDENMEAD DESIGN STUDIO

NATIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGERTONKIN MEDIA

PROFESSIONAL ADVERTISEMENTS C O O R D I N A T O R

VERONICA KELLS

BOARD MEMBER RESPONSIBLE FOR P U B L I C A T I O N S

IAN DENNEY

AUSTRALIAN VETERINARY ASSOCIATION

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERBARBARA HORSFIELD

BUSINESS MANAGERDAN HUTCHINSON

AVA BOARDPRESIDENT GARTH MCGILVRAY, VICE PRESIDENT

GEOFF NEITH, PRESIDENT ELECT IAN DENNEY, BOARD MEMBERS BILL MORGAN,NICK KANNEGIETER,

ROGER CLARKE, JO TOIA, JOANNE SILLINCE AND NORM BLACKMAN.

PRINTED BY VERITAGE PRESS

The Australian Veterinary Journal (AVJ) is the official journal of the Aus-tralian Veterinary Association. It is produced each month and is dis-tributed to members of the AVA and to subscribers. The publisher, TheAustralian Veterinary Association, does not hold itself responsible for thestatements made in the AVJ. Unless so stated, material in the AVJ d o e snot reflect the endorsement, official attitude or position of the AustralianVeterinary Association or the Editors. Advertisers are responsible forcomplying with the Trade Practices Act 1974, as amended.

C O N T R I B U T I O N SNews and general correspondenceNews items and general correspondence should be submitted to theManaging Editor, AVA House, 134-136 Hampden Rd, Artarmon NSW2064, Australia or PO Box 371 Artarmon NSW 1570 Australia. Tele-phone (02) 9411 2733, fax (02) 9411 5089, email editor@ava.com.au

Scientific sectionArticles for the Scientific Reports section of the AVJ should be sub-mitted to The Scientific Editor, AVA House, 272 Brunswick Rd,Brunswick Victoria 3056. Telephone (03) 9387 2982, fax (03) 93880112, email avjsc@ava.com.au

Clinical section:Articles for the Clinical Section should be submitted to The Editor,Clinical Section, AVA House, 272 Brunswick Rd, Brunswick Victoria3056. Telephone (03) 9387 2982, fax (03) 9388 0112, emaila v j s c @ a v a . c o m . a u

Non-member subscriptionsNon-members pay $305 a year for subscription to the AVJ. C o n t a c tPam Young at the AVA National Office.

A d v e r t i s i n gSydney: Tonkin Media, PO Box 101, Avoca Beach NSW 2151, telephone (0243) 851 746, fax (0243) 852 017.

Australian

V E T E R I N A RYJO U R N A L

C o v e r

This painting of an Emu ( D r o -

maius novaehollandiae) is byDr Pet Walton. She is a vet anda prize-wining wildlife painter,based in Whittlesea in Victoria.She can be contacted on 039715 1081.

AVA National Office extracted a correction and an apology from ABC Radio Na t i o n-a l’s “Law Re p o rt” last month. This followed the broadcast of an item in which theissue of pro bono (free) work undertaken by some professions to assist the communi-

ty was discussed. The program concentrated on free services provided by lawyers. It conclud-ed with a list of professions we re we re said to NOT to perform pro bono work - vets we re ap a rt of that list. The Communications Manager spoke directly to staff at the program. Headvised them of their grievous error and explained the AVA’s 14 Fe b ru a ry national mediarelease, which outlined the $17 million in pro bono work undertaken by our members lastyear in caring for injured wildlife and “lost” animals. A copy of the release was then sent tothe program with a request that a correction be forthcoming. The program staff attempted todefend their mistake by saying they we re “u n a w a re” of the situation of vets when pre p a r i n gthe program. They had no response when told that it did them no credit to be bro a d c a s t i n gas “f a c t”, information that was wrong and about which they now claimed to have no specif-ic knowledge. Subsequently the producer and the presenter of the “Law Re p o rt” contactedAVA National Office separately, each seeking information to assist them in framing their apol-ogy and correction. The producer requested the text of the oath undertaken by graduatingvets, pledging to care for animals and to serve the community. The presenter said she hadre c e i ved “a few complaints from vets - and a couple from doctors”. She said: “I was genuine-ly impressed to learn how much free community work vets do, such as caring for injure dwildlife. You have won a fan for life!” Doctors did not fare so well. She said those who hadcontacted the program had expected to re c e i ve royal treatment on the basis that: “we tre a tpublic patients at reduced rates - compared to private patients”. It seems the medicos did notwin a fan at all, let alone one for life.

Law Report caught short

Queen’s Birthday vet honours

Three prominent veterinarians were recognised in the 1999 Queen’s Birth-day Honours List. They were: Dr John Bourke, of Elsternwick, Vic, who

was made a Member of the Order of Australia. He was Victorian Division Pres-ident (1971); Federal Councillor (1970-74) and is a Life Fellow. Dr DonaldMackie, of Victor Harbour, S.A. received a Medal in the Order of Australia forservice to veterinary science and to the community. He was President of theSouth Australia Division in 1965 and 1979 and is currently the historian. MrsKathleen Walker (Dr Farr), of Warralda, NSW received a Medal in the Orderof Australia for service to veterinary science, particularly through the AVA. DrFarr was the third woman student to graduate from Sydney University in Vet-erinary Science, in 1938, when she also joined AVA.

Pet PEP at AVAOnline

Members interested in checking the latest plans for the AVA’s Pet PEP commu-nity relations program can now access information through a Pet PEP page

which was recently added to our website. AVAOn l i n e can be found at:http://www.ava.com.au Pet PEP can then be reached by clicking on the PetPEP/UAM button on the left side of the AVA home page.