Celebrating 250 years since the creation of veterinary education programmes in Mexico, the country’s veterinary elite has come together to sign the Universal Declaration of Animal Welfare (UDAW).

On 24th February 2001, representatives of five veterinary associations and 17 guilds in Mexico, as well as 13 university departments of veterinary medicine gave their support to WSPA’s campaign for a UDAW, already signed by multiple governments, including in Latin America, and other bodies and organisations worldwide.

For Marcela Vargas, WSPA Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Campaigns Manager, this act constitutes invaluable support for UDAW from the veterinary community. “With today’s signing, we recognise the vital momentum the scientific community has given us, the credibility, and the motivation to continue persuading different political entities to adopt UDAW before the United Nations.”

Dr. Francisco Trigo, Director of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Zootecnics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), said that animal welfare is a moral responsibility of civilised societies in general, and of those who benefit from animals and those who feel passionately about them, as well as of the professionals who prepare themselves expressly for this purpose.

Víctor Hugo Franco Olivares, President of the College of Veterinary Medicine of Aguascalientes and tireless defender of animals, said the signing of this declaration marked a precedent since such a declaration had never been a priority before in Mexico. “Let’s hope people make a commitment and always take care of animals, which sustain humanity in many ways, since they give us food and companionship,” he concluded.