The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) is committed to advancing the health and wellbeing of companion animals across the globe.
Improving care for companion animals requires global collaboration, strong professional standards and a commitment to continuous learning. At the forefront of this effort is the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) – a worldwide network of over 390,000 veterinarians worldwide drawn from its 113 member associations. This community works together to advance the health and welfare of companion animals across the globe and to offer a voice for companion animal veterinarians around the world.
The Innovation Platform spoke to Dr Jim Berry, President of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, to learn more about its work and plans for the year ahead.
Can you briefly outline the work of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association and its main focus areas?
WSAVA aims to advance the health and welfare of companion animals and to advocate on behalf of companion animal veterinarians – and the wider veterinary team – globally.
This is done by concentrating on five main pillars:
- Developing standards and guidelines for companion animal practice.
- Supporting and promoting personal/professional development for the entire companion animal veterinary team.
- Advocating for change in the profession to support animal welfare, and companion animal veterinary teams.
- Ensuring we have a strong, united, and collaborative companion animal veterinary community.
- Ensuring WSAVA has the necessary infrastructure to deliver our goals.
What were WSAVA’s main achievements in 2025?
In 2025, WSAVA launched a new and enhanced online learning platform to support our Academy programmes. This has allowed us to deliver high-quality certificate courses, as well as podcasts and webinars.
This year, we established three new committees: the Standards Steering Committee, tasked with developing global standards for all aspects of hospital care; the Strategic Advisory Committee, tasked with identifying and prioritising the importance of new and developing trends in the companion animal veterinary sector; and the Advocacy and Communication committee, tasked with advocating for change in the profession and ensuring we have a global voice in veterinary practice.
What are your priorities for the year ahead?
The main focus for the coming year will be to review and update our three-year strategic priorities. This will be done with input from the Strategic Advisory Committee, as well as from data derived from a new survey that will provide a snapshot of the state of companion animal veterinary practice globally.
WSASVA also launched two new programmes for our members: the Future Association Leaders programme, which combines online lectures, live interactive sessions, and an in-person meeting at our World Congress in Poland in October. The second programme is a Basics of Veterinary Business online course aimed at newer graduates.
What are the main issues that you are campaigning for change on?
Our campaigning for change focuses primarily on antimicrobial resistance and responsible antimicrobial use, recognising their critical importance for both animal and public health. In parallel, we strongly advocate for professional wellbeing across the entire veterinary team, promoting sustainable careers, mental health support, and healthy working environments for all veterinary professionals.
How are you shaping education in the companion animal veterinary field?
WSAVA supports global veterinary education by providing a variety of high-quality, expert-driven courses, podcasts, seminars and webinars for remote access. In addition, we continue to host the yearly flagship WSAVA World Congress in a different region every year.
WSAVA is also actively engaged in regional summits to determine educational needs for our members, and also provides regional workshops, lectures, and courses. All of these programmes are supported by the work of our expert committees, which develop guidelines and in-clinic tools for daily use.