[Professional responsibility: multiple loyalty].

Abstract

Among the many existing occupations, the so-called 'professions' occupy a special position. They are characterized, among other things, by a special intellectual component, special traditions and the fact that they serve the community in a particular fashion. With a profession goes a code including agreements concerning behaviour towards colleagues, clients and patients as well as the community. In the present paper, a number of critical questions are raised regarding the 'Code of Conduct for Veterinarians: Whose interests are served by this code and are given priority respectively? To what extent attention is paid to the rights of clients and patients? How are conflicts of loyalty settled or do they pass unnoticed? To what extent does monopolizing occur of a subject which others would also like to consider and have their say on, namely, the starting-points of a conscientious practice of veterinary medicine?