Informed owner consent for anaesthetic practice in companion animals

The practice of veterinary medicine has changed radically over the past two decades, and is aligned itself with the field of human medicine. The reason for change is the increasing recognition of the animals as sentient beings and the importance of the human-animal bond by society in general. Therefore veterinarians have an ethical obligation to respect the animal patient and consequently the owners’ autonomy - that is, their right to be involved in decisions that affect their animal. In medicine, this is reflected in the prerequisite to obtain consent for treatment. Considering that the patients in veterinary medicine are not capable of making a decision for themselves, it is necessary to give a “voice” to animals to consent via their owners. Taking into consideration these factors, veterinary medicine needs to evolve and to incorporate informed owner consent, regarding the treatment of their animal companions. In fact in veterinary medicine, where no rule of law in the European Union obliges the veterinarian to obtain informed consent, informing the client-owner is an obligation associated with good practice. The decision of when to implement written consent forms in practice is determined by the veterinarian based on the assessment of risk vs. benefit to the animal and taking into consideration the owner’s understanding of the information discussed regarding treatment options. In this review, with ethical emphasis, the Authors advocate the implementation of consent forms in relation to sedative, anaesthetic and treatment procedures in companion animals. Consequently veterinary practitioners could better protect themselves against malpractice suits with this straightforward policy.