Subject: GVS Disbudding of Goats Consultation: Questionnaire Launch
Dear Society Secretary,
We wish to notify relevant societies of the launch of a GVS consultation examining disbudding of goats in the UK and abroad:
As you may know, within the UK, the act of disbudding goat kids can only be undertaken by a Veterinary Surgeon. Whilst the majority of UK milking goat kids are disbudded, this is by no means the case internationally. With a greater emphasis on the welfare of all domestic farmed species, the Goat Veterinary Society (GVS) has become increasingly aware of the need to have an open and transparent discussion about all aspects of disbudding, including the welfare implications of both disbudding and not disbudding. The aim of this consultation is to facilitate an informed and inclusive rationale of when and why we may choose to disbud, to understand if these positions are fixed, and if not, what are the barriers to moving towards potentially not disbudding in the future. The consultation and resulting discussion may help generate points to help those choosing to disbud their goats, to make an informed decision about the procedure.
This questionnaire will be circulated both within the UK and internationally, to seek a range of experiences with the procedure of disbudding goat kids.
All questionnaire responses will be strictly anonymous and will be used only to inform the Goat Veterinary Societies consultation, individual responses will not be passed on to third parties – GVS will not be able to identify any questionnaire respondents. It is hoped that the results of this questionnaire will enable us to better understand the attitudes and opinions of those involved in making decisions on farm whether to disbud or not, as well as the factors that influence these decisions and whether they are wider lessons the goat sector can act upon to improve the welfare of this species.
The GVS will present the collated findings at our summer conference in June 2025, where we will also facilitate an open discussion panel on the subject of disbudding to try and take the conversation further.
This questionnaire is open to ANYONE associated with disbudding goats – veterinarians, farmers, nurses, smallholders, pet goat owners.
Please do pass on this email to anyone who may meet the criteria above. A link to the questionnaire can also be found on the GVS website on a News page.
The deadline for submitting responses to this questionnaire is 30/04/25.
Please note the questionnaire can only be answered once per respondent and answers cannot be altered after submission. The questionnaire is in online Google Forms format only, please ensure you have correctly submitted the form by completing all pages to reach a final page that says 'Your response has been recorded'.
PLEASE ACCESS THE QUESTIONNAIRE HERE (LINK TO ONLINE GOOGLE FORM)
If you have any questions about this questionnaire, please contact the GVS Secretary via email at
Kind regards,
Yasmine Cooper BVSc MRCVS
Honorary Secretary
Goat Veterinary Society
Tel: 01477571000 (8am - 5.30pm Mon - Fri)
Website: https://www.goatvetsoc.co.uk/