Response to Animal Welfare Committee’s recommendations on the use of ultrasound for pregnancy confirmation in canines

Below is a letter from the AUA to the AWC, in response to their recommendations on the use of ultrasound in pregnant canines.

Dear Animal Welfare Committee,

I am writing in response to the March recommendations from the AWCS on the use of ultrasound for confirmation of pregnancy in canines, found here.

The committee’s recommendation that the use of ultrasound for confirmation of pregnancy in canines should be restricted to veterinarians only is very disappointing, because no distinction has been made between properly trained lay users of ultrasound, and the untrained majority. This is surprising, given that you frequently reference the Naturewatch panel in your document, and I – as the ultrasound expert of this panel when we spoke in parliament – showcased the amazing work properly trained lay scanners have performed over the last decade.

I have been working with both breeders and veterinarians in the use of ultrasound for 15 years, and I regularly hear the same horror stories you mention in the report (of misdiagnosis of pregnancy) in reference to veterinarians, but never to Animal Ultrasound Association accredited scanners. An untrained vet with an ultrasound scanner is as dangerous as an untrained non-vet.

As for the untrained / irresponsibly ’trained’ lay users of ultrasound, who should be your target, the vast majority of these have received ’training’ from scam companies like [redacted] and [redacted]. Our organisation has repeatedly reported these companies to DEFRA, the police, Trading Standards and HMRC – to no avail. The fact that people with poor quality equipment, no training, and no framework within which to practice ultrasound are now out in the field misdiagnosing and missing life-threatening conditions is the predictable consequence of a failure to act against the companies playing at teaching a specialist subject that they do not understand, and in which they hold no qualifications. It’s a consequence we have warned of for over 8 years. 

If your committee continues to suggest restricting the use of ultrasound for pregnancy confirmation, I sincerely hope some more research will be done into the huge disparity in skill level and standards of practice between our members (who are both veterinarians and lay scanners), and the rest. The average number of years of scanning experience of our members is 8 (range: 3 years to 30 years). Every one of our members has undertaken a minimum of two training courses; the first, at a minimum, with a qualified, accredited sonographer, the second with a clinical specialist obstetric sonographer. All are committed to upholding standards, referring to and working with their local veterinarians, and discussing and implementing best practice. 

As mentioned, I am a sonographer myself; it is my career. I earn a living from my research work, and from my work teaching veterinarians. I have every financial incentive to back your recommendations, because if lay scanners were no longer able to scan, veterinarians would have to pick up the slack, and me and my team are by far the most well known and obvious choice to train all of these people. Yet, I am writing to you to say that I do not think this is, ethically or practically, the right thing to do. The UK will lose a group of highly trained, responsible users of ultrasound who work hand-in-hand with their local veterinarians. In exchange, our already overworked veterinarians will inherit a job very few of them want to do. 

* Anyone can use ultrasound equipment or settings which are not safe or appropriate for pregnancy scanning in small animals.

* Anyone can confuse intestines for gestation sacs.

* Anyone can miss pyometra.

Veterinarians, by virtue of being veterinarians, are not magically immune from these dangers. The only thing standing between any human being and these errors is good training from qualified, experienced mentors, who uphold high standards. We are lucky in that only the very best are attracted to training with the Animal Ultrasound Association in the first place, because they realise the importance of being trained by professionals.

If you would like to discuss this subject with me, my colleague Yvette, or any of the team, please do get back to me. We are very happy to provide any insight or advice that might be able to help you.

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