Abstract:Is vetting a craft that must be learned due to the limitations of scientific discipline, or simply a question of practice makes perfect? This question arose from our empirical research on Veterinary surgeons (vets), who we found were often struggling with the divergence between the precise and unambiguous knowledge underlying the training and the unpredictability and imprecision of their everyday practices. These are comparatively underexplored issues insofar as the literature on vets tends to be descriptive a… Show more
“…Redmalm, ; Schuurman, ; see also Mik‐Meyer et al, , p. 6). In the ‘making’ of this companionship the agency of others, such as the vet, becomes illusory and thus irrelevant (see Clarke & Knights, ). Based on the in‐depth autoethnographic diary notes of the companionship between Kerttu and her keeper, Suvi, we therefore argue that insights from dog–human companionship can teach us something valuable about care, compassion, mourning, death and responsibility.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In this relation, also the thoughts and actions of the vets matter. As Clarke and Knights () argue, notions of veterinarian expertise often turn out to be illusory — and so it was also in Kerttu's case as the vets seemed to struggle to find the right answers to her mysterious disease. The two empirical extracts above capture the fine‐grained nuances of caring about the other (Graham, ), thus rendering visible the complex relation between the giver and the receiver of the body work (Wolkowitz, , p. 506) and in which the agency of the animal becomes manifested (see Redmalm, ).…”
Section: A Story Of Female–canine Companionship: Padding Between Griementioning
confidence: 99%
“…In the note above, a strangely vulnerable and painful moment of a situational practice in a veterinary clinic is rendered visible — a moment in which the relationship between the dog and her keeper is celebrated instead of ‘an act of responsible killing and of care’ (Schuurman, , p. 208), which Suvi seemed to be afraid of having to face at the clinic one day. Here, the veterinarian practices are also entangled with body work, thus illustrating the cultural dimension of it (Cohen & Wolkowitz, ); Suvi is emotionally exhausted, while the vet acts coolly and aims at giving expert conclusions and hiding any insecurities beneath her professionalism (Clarke & Knights, ). Moreover, as illustrated in the empirical extract above, the affective and in‐depth embodied relations between human and animal are surprising and overwhelming and entail a huge variety of emotions and emotion work (Hamilton & McCabe, ) during their journey together.…”
Section: A Story Of Female–canine Companionship: Padding Between Griementioning
confidence: 99%
“…Topics related to animals in the academic literature include the practices of veterinary work (Clarke & Knights, ; Law, ; Sanders, ; Schuurman, ), the therapeutic effects of pets on individuals in human–animal interaction (e.g., Brooks et al, ; Friedmann & Son, ; Jackson‐Grossblat, Carbonell, & Waite, ) and effects at a social level (Wood, Giles‐Corti, & Bulsara, ). The recent articles of Hamilton and McCabe () and Baran, Rogelberg, and Clausen () describe the work of slaughterhouse workers, who face the demands of killing animals, therefore revealing the struggles of ‘dirty work’.…”
What could the underdeveloped research area of canine–human companionship teach us about gendered body work as well as offer to the field of organization studies more broadly? This article responds to recent discussions on the animal in the organizational academy. We share an autoethnographic story of female–canine companionship as experienced by one of the authors of the article and her beloved dog, who is currently living on the borderlines between life and death, joy and mourning. We find this example relevant for raising important feminist concerns among organizational scholars about silenced questions around care and grief as well as for developing more inclusive and ethically grounded approaches to exploring research topics dealing with vulnerability. Finally, this article offers a critical reflection on the potential and limitations of alternative research in the field of organization studies that recognizes our affective relations with animals.
“…Redmalm, ; Schuurman, ; see also Mik‐Meyer et al, , p. 6). In the ‘making’ of this companionship the agency of others, such as the vet, becomes illusory and thus irrelevant (see Clarke & Knights, ). Based on the in‐depth autoethnographic diary notes of the companionship between Kerttu and her keeper, Suvi, we therefore argue that insights from dog–human companionship can teach us something valuable about care, compassion, mourning, death and responsibility.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In this relation, also the thoughts and actions of the vets matter. As Clarke and Knights () argue, notions of veterinarian expertise often turn out to be illusory — and so it was also in Kerttu's case as the vets seemed to struggle to find the right answers to her mysterious disease. The two empirical extracts above capture the fine‐grained nuances of caring about the other (Graham, ), thus rendering visible the complex relation between the giver and the receiver of the body work (Wolkowitz, , p. 506) and in which the agency of the animal becomes manifested (see Redmalm, ).…”
Section: A Story Of Female–canine Companionship: Padding Between Griementioning
confidence: 99%
“…In the note above, a strangely vulnerable and painful moment of a situational practice in a veterinary clinic is rendered visible — a moment in which the relationship between the dog and her keeper is celebrated instead of ‘an act of responsible killing and of care’ (Schuurman, , p. 208), which Suvi seemed to be afraid of having to face at the clinic one day. Here, the veterinarian practices are also entangled with body work, thus illustrating the cultural dimension of it (Cohen & Wolkowitz, ); Suvi is emotionally exhausted, while the vet acts coolly and aims at giving expert conclusions and hiding any insecurities beneath her professionalism (Clarke & Knights, ). Moreover, as illustrated in the empirical extract above, the affective and in‐depth embodied relations between human and animal are surprising and overwhelming and entail a huge variety of emotions and emotion work (Hamilton & McCabe, ) during their journey together.…”
Section: A Story Of Female–canine Companionship: Padding Between Griementioning
confidence: 99%
“…Topics related to animals in the academic literature include the practices of veterinary work (Clarke & Knights, ; Law, ; Sanders, ; Schuurman, ), the therapeutic effects of pets on individuals in human–animal interaction (e.g., Brooks et al, ; Friedmann & Son, ; Jackson‐Grossblat, Carbonell, & Waite, ) and effects at a social level (Wood, Giles‐Corti, & Bulsara, ). The recent articles of Hamilton and McCabe () and Baran, Rogelberg, and Clausen () describe the work of slaughterhouse workers, who face the demands of killing animals, therefore revealing the struggles of ‘dirty work’.…”
What could the underdeveloped research area of canine–human companionship teach us about gendered body work as well as offer to the field of organization studies more broadly? This article responds to recent discussions on the animal in the organizational academy. We share an autoethnographic story of female–canine companionship as experienced by one of the authors of the article and her beloved dog, who is currently living on the borderlines between life and death, joy and mourning. We find this example relevant for raising important feminist concerns among organizational scholars about silenced questions around care and grief as well as for developing more inclusive and ethically grounded approaches to exploring research topics dealing with vulnerability. Finally, this article offers a critical reflection on the potential and limitations of alternative research in the field of organization studies that recognizes our affective relations with animals.
“…A shift to small animal work is only one consequence to arise from going part‐time, another being confidence, already a problem for vets in general (Clarke & Knights, ): I think going part‐time for females is tough, really tough … you just don’t remember stuff because you’re not doing it as regularly … it drops your confidence, definitely; I feel less confident. (Female, SA Vet)…”
Section: Findings and Theoretical Analysismentioning
Veterinary surgeons (vets) provide us with a fascinating platform to study anthropocentric and zoocentric beliefs, which we argue are gendered in both their genesis and practice. Gendered in the sense of the double meaning of our title ‘who's a good boy then?’, which reflects both a default male gender and a patronizing masculine claim to mastery over the animal. In addition, veterinary practices are organized in specifically masculine ways that, despite the demographic feminization of the profession, are oblivious to distinctively gendered practices and concerns and thus to the reproduction of gendered inequalities. The research also focuses on how there is a tendency for vets to neglect their own bodies for the sake of the animal's welfare (zoocentrism) but, at the same time, this reflects and reproduces masculine anthropocentric demands for human supremacy involving linear rational and effective control over the animal as a necessary part of their commercial and career success. In the empirical presentation, we show how organizational gendering within the gendered organization of veterinary surgery occurs at all levels, sometimes openly and explicitly, but also covertly and implicitly. In seeking to interrogate the covert and implicit in gender asymmetry, we draw on post‐humanist feminist philosophical perspectives that facilitate our challenging of the gendered anthropocentric organization of veterinary work.
Background
Health insurance offers many benefits to clients and veterinarians, such as the ability to perform necessary and possibly cost‐intensive medical interventions without financial constraints, or to potentially prevent euthanasia based on financial challenges. However, concerns about negative consequences, such as the overuse of diagnostic tests or overtreatment, have also been raised.
Methods
Using an online questionnaire distributed via e‐mail, which included a section on health insurance, we investigated the relative number of insured dogs and cats treated by Austrian, Danish and UK veterinarians (N = 636) and the attitudes of those veterinarians toward health insurance. Further, using a case vignette, we examined whether coverage by health insurance may influence treatment suggestions.
Results
Even though veterinarians in all three countries believe that health insurance reduces stress since clients’ financial resources will be less important, we found that Austrian veterinarians are more likely to agree that health insurance is unnecessary compared to Danish and UK veterinarians. Further, many raised the concern that insurance policies influence clinical decisions; and less than half supported the idea of making insurance mandatory. A majority of veterinarians in Austria and the UK thought that insurance can lead to the overuse of diagnostic tests, and in the UK a majority also thought that it can lead to overtreatment. Using case vignettes, we found that veterinarians were significantly more likely to suggest a CT scan to a client with an insured animal, in contrast to a client with stated financial limitations. Further, UK veterinarians were more likely to suggest a CT scan to a client with an insured animal, in contrast to a client without insurance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we found that veterinarians, in general, were in favour of health insurance, and that greater coverage may increase more cost‐intensive veterinary care. Our findings also raise a potential ethical challenge of health insurance causing differential access to clinical care for patients.
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