[ SHOWGSD-L ] AVSAB v The Dog Whisperer via Merial
- From: "Paula Cooke" <pcooke212@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:10:23 GMT
Got this from another list and thought I would pass it on.
Paula, 121 days and counting
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Hi all, Please share this announcement with your dog friends, the letter is
also available at www.AVSABonline.org
American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior
www.AVSABonline.org
June 11, 2009
The executive board of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior
(AVSAB) is deeply troubled to learn that Merial, a leader in the veterinary
healthcare industry, is using Cesar Millan in a promotional campaign for
Heartgard and Frontline. We are even more disturbed to find that Merial is
cross-promoting Mr. Millan's behavior video as part of this campaign. Merial's
executives may not be aware of the fact that the American College of Veterinary
Behaviorists (ACVB; www.dacvb.org), the American Veterinary Society of Animal
Behavior (AVSAB; www.avsabonline.org) and the Society of Veterinary Behavior
technicians (SVBT; www.svbt.org) have uniformly spoken out against the
coercive, dominance-based techniques employed by Mr. Millan on his television
show "The Dog Whisperer."
At best, the show is entertaining but misleading to pet owners. At worst, Mr.
Millan's techniques and misinformation have contributed to increased aggression
and anxiety or resulted in physical injury to the pet and/or pet owner. As
practicing veterinarians, we all unfortunately have seen many cases of the
latter. Merial claims to "enhance the health, well-being, and performance of
animals." Asking veterinarians to recommend that their clients seek behavior
information from Mr. Millan speaks otherwise.
In these difficult economic times, it may be understandable that Merial would
want to use a celebrity to advertise its products in a direct-to-consumer
fashion. However, had Merial taken the time to investigate, it would have found
that Mr. Millan's philosophy runs counter to the standard-of-care promoted by
veterinary behaviorists and taught at veterinary schools.
For reference, we have attached AVSAB™s position statements on the "Use of
Punishment in Behavior Modification in Animals" and "Dominance Theory in
Behavior Modification in Animals." You will find that these statements are
based in scientific research and do not support the techniques Mr. Millan
promotes on his show. We would also be happy to provide you with additional
peer-reviewed references indicating that the training methods televised on "The
Dog Whisperer"?
often lead to increased aggression and human injury.
American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior www.AVSABonline.org
We are deeply saddened that Merial's executives are not more supportive of the
veterinary behavior community and its efforts to promote effective,
scientificallybased, humane training methods. We remain concerned that your
company's support of Mr. Millan's controversial training methods through the
distribution of his video and financial support of his show will contribute to
the number of difficult dogs and injured owners that we have to eventually
console, counsel, and reeducate.
Perhaps Merial would like to support our efforts to counteract the negative
impact of this unfortunate marketing choice that may ultimately serve to
alienate educated veterinarians, dog trainers, and owners alike. We would
welcome the opportunity to further discuss this issue with Merial.
Sincerely,
E. Kathryn Meyer, VMD (President)
John Ciribassi, DVM, DACVB (Immediate Past President)
Karen Sueda, DVM, DACVB (President Elect)
Kari Krause, DVM
Kelly Morgan, DVM
Valli Parthasarathy, PhD, DVM
Sophia Yin, DVM MS
Laurie Bergman, VMD, DACVB
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