The Executive Board has approved consultative site visits by the AVMA Council on Education to universities in Mexico, Denmark, and England—visits that are in keeping with an AVMA strategic goal for the COE accreditation process to be the premier standard globally for veterinary education. The veterinary colleges in those countries that have indicated an intent to seek AVMA accreditation are the Universidad Aut?noma de Baja California Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Veterinarias, University of Copenhagen Faculty of Life Sciences, and University of Liverpool Faculty of Veterinary Science.

The consultative site visits will provide unofficial appraisals of the programs as related to AVMA accreditation standards. The COE provides accreditation for U.S. and Canadian veterinary colleges and for foreign veterinary colleges that voluntarily seek such classification and that meet or exceed the standards of accreditation. The COE has so far accredited foreign colleges in Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

Emergency personnel respond to an incident involving a double-deck trailer transporting 59 horses and ponies near Wadsworth, Ill., in fall 2007. The trailer had overturned, leading to the death or euthanasia of 13 horses on the scene and the euthanasia of five more horses afterward. The incident prompted introduction of a bill to ban double-deck trailers for equine transport in Illinois.

The AVMA opposes the use of double-deck trailers for the transportation of equines because of safety concerns, according to a new policy that the Executive Board approved in mid-April. The policy follows recent vehicular incidents involving equine transport that caught the attention of the public and the press, including the rollover of a double-deck trailer in Illinois last fall that resulted in the deaths of 18 of 59 equines.

The AVMA Principles of Veterinary Medical Ethics now state that veterinarians should disclose potential conflicts of interest to clients. The Executive Board approved the addition of the disclosure provision on the recommendation of the Judicial Council. The Council on Veterinary Service first suggested the change. The principles of ethics already included a section covering influences on judgment, but the section previously did not address contracts or agreements by individual veterinarians.

In the background to the recommendation, the Judicial Council noted that veterinarians enter into many commercial relationships and ventures that can provide benefits in patient care and convenience to clients. A potential conflict of interest arises when veterinarians use facilities, products, or services from which they derive income. Veterinarians should disclose the potential conflict of interest to clients in such situations.