History
FECAVA was founded in 1990 at the companion animal veterinarian practitioner meeting in Bienne (Biel), Switzerland.
Humble beginnings of CA associations after Second World War
After the Second World War, companion animal (CA) practice was growing all over Europe. As early as 1947 the first “small animal” medical associations were formed and in 1958 the first cross border umbrella organisation for “small animal medicine”: the World Small Animal Veterinary Association.
1987: Europe starts to get organised
Nevertheless the European associations of companion animal practitioners remained largely isolated from each other. Language barriers hindered the exchange of specialized bodies. Lack of communication made it impossible to attend the annual conferences of other organizations, often held at the same time. These were the reasons why in 1987 Didier Carlotti (France) proposed a meeting of companion animal practitioners at European level.
The initial objective was to coordinate the CE events of national associations.
The group was called the European Harmonisation Committee (EHC) and their meetings should be held at least once a year. Internationally recognized status was achieved by the founding of FECAVA (Federation of European Companion Animal Associations) on the 12th of May 1990. The statutes, changed in 1995 and 1999, were written under French law registered in France. In 2011 the Council decided to move under Belgian law, due to the fact that the functional headquarters had moved from Paris to Brussels .
The first European Journal of Companion Animal Practice was printed in 1990.
At the first meeting of EHC, the idea came up to publish an English language magazine with reprints of articles from national European journals. 17 000 copies of the first edition were sent to the members. Due to the strict selection criteria for articles, the standard of the journal is very high. Soon there were requests from organisations and libraries outside Europe to subscribe to “EJCAP”. The 12th edition was sent out in 2002 to almost 30,000 members of FECAVA: circulation had almost doubled in twelve years.
Online Social Media platforms didn’t exist in those times. To illustrate how CA veterinary practitioners in other countries are working, profiles of individual veterinary practitioners from the different member associations were published in EJCAP. The feedback was very positive.
In 1992 Keith Davies proposed to map the extent and spread of infectious diseases in Europe which were relevant to the companion animal practitioner. The outcome of a questionnaire on infectious diseases in the individual countries was published in EJCAP 4 (1), 16-19, (1994). In October 2011 the last paper version was send out: EJCAP moved online.
Core activities around the Millennium: Eurocongress organisation and harmonised CE
After the founding of FECAVA different working groups were formed to develop proposals and SOP’s. Next to the protocols to organise the Eurocongress, CE harmonistion was a major issue. The first official “European CE” event took place in Riccione 1993, followed by Birmingham in 1994, Erithraí in1995 and Lillehammer in1999. Other Continuing Education meetings took place in 1999 in Lisbon, 2001 in Dublin and 2002 in Tallinn.
The first FECAVA Congress was held in 1994 in Paris, followed by Brussels 1995, Israel 1996, Birmingham 1997, Bologna 1998, Lyon 1999, Amsterdam 2000, Berlin 2001, Granada 2002, Estoril 2003, Rhodes 2004, Krakow 2005, Prague 2006, Dubrovnik 2007 Dublin 2008, Lille 2009, Geneva 2010, Istambul 2011. In contrast to the Continuing Education meeting, the congresses have been held regularly since 1994. However, it was agreed with the WSAVA, that it would be useful in years, in which the WSAVA held congresses in Europe to conduct a joint conference. Simultaneous translation into English makes these congresses very attractive not only in Europe.
1991 the European Association of Veterinary Specialisation (EAVS) reported on the development of a single form of specialization of companion animal practitioners in Europe: the European Diplomate. A FECAVA working group was founded to monitor the development of specialization in Europe. General national CE, at the certificate level, still exists and is handled according to national association regulations. In 1996 the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation (EBVS) was formed, consisting of two representatives from each European Veterinary College. The scope of EBVS is to survey the training programmes for veterinarians, who want to become a recognized specialist in Europe. From this moment on FECAVA passed from an active to a passive role and remains a consulting body to EBVS in CA matters.
FECAVA goes East
In Eastern Europe companion animal veterinary medicine was hardly present before 1990, due to the fact that this profession was subject to state regulations. After the opening of the borders to the West and the collapse of communism, Eastern Europe developed more and more companion animal practices and formed companion animal medical organizations. FECAVA supports its colleagues from Eastern Europe and jointly with WSAVA, organises training events, collections of books, student exchange programs and exchanges of young practitioners e.g. internships in Western Europe.
The joint Balkan CE Project
In 1997 FECAVA decided together with WSAVA to start a new project in the Balkans, with CE projects in Eastern European Countries like Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania and the former Yugoslavia. These exchanges would encourage colleagues in these countries to form companion animal medicine practitioner associations and enlarge the european CA vet community. The first CE activities were held in Ohrid 1998, Pamporovo 1999, Dubrovnik 2000.
Introduction of Europe-wide standardized training of veterinary nurses.
In this area, European countries differed greatly. The profession of veterinary nursing is not recognized in some European countries and there is accordingly no training. The Working Group on the training of veterinary nurses was founded at the 11th FECAVA Council meeting in Rome in 1992. The group based its work on a questionnaire sent out to all directors, to determine in which countries of Europe and how the profession of veterinary nurse training was developed. The outcome of this para-CA veterinarian standardization project can be found under www.acovene.org.
Animal Welfare issues: FECAVA gets more and more involved
Since the beginning there were active exchanges of views within the member organizations considering this important subject, where the veterinarian has a key position as expert. The results are european policy statements on issues like cropping of ears and tails, dog breed or the general approach to neutering stray animals. Strong liaison was established with international partners like the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the International Association of Human Animal Interaction Organisations (IAHAIO), the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) and others.
In 2001 a "Pet Night" was held (Strasbourg) for the first time. The organisers were FEDESA Fédération Européenne de la Santé Animale (FEDESA), FECAVA, the EuroGroup on Animal Welfare, IAHAIO and "Dogs for the Disabled". The "Pet Night" continues to take place on a regular basis to rise awareness on CA welfare issues.
The human-animal bond matters to FECAVA. That is why the interdisciplinary project “The blue dog” was launched in 2006. The statement on AAT programs underlines the importance of veterinarians in this field.
Closely linked to animal welfare is the identification of companion animals.
Based on the different identification systems of companion animals by microchipping on the european market, Guidelines for microchipping of CA in Europe were worked out.
European vaccination certificates and health certificates
FECAVA was not able to establish its worked out documents on an european scale in the 90th. Harmonisation was realised by EU regulation in 2005 introducing the european “pet passport” and regulating the conditions when travelling with companion animals in Europe. FECAVA is following the development and giving input via FVE.
You need more FECAVA informations?
To get more informations visit us at our stand at the Eurocongress, get in touch with our Headquarter or have a look at Tanja Kruses Thesis (german language).
How can I join FECAVA?
To become a member of FECAVA and benefit from Eurocongress discount, having full access to the EJCAP and interact on our blog you have to be, or become, a member of your national member association.