The BCVA's bull pre-breeding examination certificate.

摘要

The development of the UK bull PBE certificate was driven by demand from practitioners to have a form for reporting the results of PBE that had well-defined standards and criteria. Practitioners should keep copies of the results of PBE in practice records, which may be in a more detailed format than the PBE certificate; as these provide a useful database when the same bulls are examined on a yearly basis. In addition to the data recorded on the certificate, the author keeps detailed spermiogram results, as these are useful when reassessing the same bull for recovery from temporary testicular degeneration. Disease status is not certified; as there are already various health declarations presented with bulls at the time of sale in the UK. It is made clear on the PBE certificate that no guarantee of infectious or contagious disease status is included in the examination results, and it is the responsibility of the purchaser to request relevant tests as required for their individual farm biosecurity plan or to ensure that these tests are carried out in quarantine before the bull is mixed with the main herd. Veterinary surgeons carrying out bull PBEs for certification must ensure they have been appropriately trained, and invest in the equipment required to carry out the procedure in a professional manner. Using a combination of history, careful physical examination and semen evaluation, the veterinary surgeon can help farmers make considered decisions on the use of bulls. It is hoped that having a UK bull PBE certificate will allow the results of these examinations to be reported in a standard way.