Veterinary teaching hospitals use animals to train future veterinarians, creating welfare considerations around repeated procedures and observer-induced stress.
Animals in veterinary teaching hospitals face welfare considerations from repeated examinations and procedures by multiple learners. Patient animals experience more handling than in private practice. Stress from unfamiliar students and clinic environments can be significant for anxious animals. Specially maintained educational animals used for procedure practice must have welfare carefully monitored. Teaching hospitals generally have higher veterinary staff density providing good medical care. Welfare-positive teaching emphasizes minimal-stress handling that benefits both animals and student learning outcomes.