Access to veterinary care: evaluating working definitions, barriers, and implications for animal welfare

Humans have a moral obligation to meet the physical and mental needs of the animals in their care. This requires access to resources such as veterinary care, which is integral to achieving animal welfare. However, "access" to veterinary care is not always homogenous across communities and currently lacks a consistent definition. The objectives of this scoping review were to (1) understand how "access" to veterinary care has been defined in the literature, (2) map a broad list of potential barriers that may influence access to veterinary care, and (3) identify how access to care impacts the welfare of companion and livestock animals. The literature search yielded a total of 1,044 publications, 77 of which were relevant to our inclusion criteria, and were published between 2002 and 2022. Studies were most frequently conducted in the United States (n = 17) and Canada (n = 11). Publications defining access to veterinary care (n = 10) or discussing its impacts on animal welfare (n = 13) were minimal. However, barriers to accessing veterinary care were thoroughly discussed in the literature (n = 69) and were categorized into ten themes according to common challenges and keywords, with financial limitations (n = 57), geographic location (n = 35), and limited personnel/equipment (n = 32) being the most frequently reported. The results of this scoping review informed our proposed definition of access to veterinary care. Additionally, our findings identified a need to further investigate several understudied barriers relating to access to care (i.e., veterinarian-client relationship, client identity) and to better understand how they potentially affect animal welfare outcomes.

Effect of dose and trap type on captures of striped and spotted cucumber beetles using synthetic vittatalactone

Striped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittatum (F.) and spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber) are key pests of cucurbits. Pesticide applications directed against cucumber beetles can jeopardize bee pollination which is essential to crop yield. Alternative selective tactics, including behavioral control for managing cucumber beetles, are needed in order to improve pest management. The striped cucumber beetle pheromone vittatalactone is attractive to both male and female adults, and also to spotted cucumber beetles. We tested the response of both species to different doses of synthetic vittatalactone, and to different trap types, in field trapping experiments in Maryland. Both species showed strong dose-response in May-June and October 2020. Among 12 trap types tested during a 2-wk experiment in June, using 1 mg mixed vittatalactone, sticky panel traps caught the most of each species, with vittatalactone-baited traps exceeding unbaited traps by >8 fold for striped and >2 fold for spotted, and with significant response to yellow versus clear color absent in striped, but strong in spotted. Among nonsticky traps, those with yellow or yellow-green exceeded those without these colors for both beetle species, and a ground-placed boll weevil trap captured the most striped cucumber beetles. Bucket-style traps caught excessive nontarget bumblebees (Bombus spp.) if yellow, and a few beetles, if all green. Results allow field monitoring with a choice of sticky or nonsticky traps and suggested lure loading of 1 mg mixed vittatalactone, containing ~90 μg active isomer. These findings contribute to the development of multispecies behavioral monitoring and control as a component of cucurbit IPM.

Both the Squash Bug Anasa tristis and Horned Squash Bug Anasa armigera (Hemiptera: Coreidae) are Attracted to Vittatalactone, the Aggregation Pheromone of Striped Cucumber Beetle

Vittatalactone, the aggregation pheromone of the striped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittatum (F.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is attractive to two species of squash bugs (Hemiptera: Coreidae), the squash bug Anasa tristis (DeGeer) and horned squash bug Anasa armigera (Say). In field trapping experiments in Maryland and Virginia, clear sticky traps baited with 1 mg of a synthetic 8-isomer mix of vittatalactone captured ~9× more of female A. tristis and of both sexes of A. armigera, whereas male A. tristis were not significantly attracted, compared to unbaited traps. A. armigera showed a distinct dose-response to vittatalactone lure loading in the late season, and this species was more attracted than A. tristis, based on comparison to captures from underneath wooden boards emplaced in adjacent fields. Results suggest that vittatalactone could be a 'keystone semiochemical' in colonization of cucurbit hosts by specialist herbivores, and may offer the opportunity for multi-species behavioral control as a component of integrated pest management in cucurbit crops.