Animal Health

Since 1946, the WHO has defined health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. More recently, the concept of ‘mental health’ has quite sensibly been defined as ‘more than the absence of mental disorders or disabilities, (…) a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community’. Even though the vocabulary used may seem difficult to apply to animals as it stands, surely animal health is also more than the absence of diseases or pathologies? It should be noted that this concept is only gradually gaining ground in veterinary circles. Since its creation in 1924, the key activities of the OIE have been to monitor and control animal diseases. It was not until the OIE’s Third Strategic Plan for 2001–2005 that the organisation included the improvement of animal health, veterinary public health and animal welfare worldwide in its mandate. This mandate was reaffirmed in subsequent Strategic Plans, the latest of which extends into 2015. Nonetheless, an examination of the OIE’s specific missions reflects the importance of diseases, and the broadening of the definition of ‘animal health’ seems to have more to do with adding ‘animal welfare’ than with changing the definition of animal health as such, which would bring it more into line with the WHO definition.

That said, scientific advances in the fields of ethology and neurosciences are forcing us to revise our perception of the mental complexity of animals, as illustrated by the recent example of the Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness. Animals as ‘sentient beings’, as they are described in the Treaty of Lisbon, must be considered as capable of feeling emotions, having needs and a degree of consciousness. The concept of mental health should, therefore, apply equally to animals. An animal can, for example, suffer from ‘anxiety’, ‘depression’ or even ‘compulsive disorders’, which are some of the new challenges facing ‘veterinary behavioural medicine’. In addition to the absence of these pathologists, an animal in good mental health would be one with ‘a life worth living’, as demonstrated by recent advances in certain aspects of animal ethics.