Interview with Gardner Murray

摘要

In 2002, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) added 'animal welfare' to the topics it has to address. How did this occur and what or who were the main drivers?It is useful to touch briefly on the history and function of OIE before talking about of animal welfare to provide some context. The OIE is one of the oldest international organisations in the world and was created in 1924 by intergovernmental agreementas the 'Office Organisation International des Epizooties' (OIE) in part to coordinate international actions in response to economically significant cattle disease, rinderpest, which was ravaging many parts of the world. OIE was later renamed the World Organisation for Animal Health but retains the acronym OIE.1 OIE is not a United Nations organisation, but works closely within agencies and many other groups including non-government organisations (NGOs). From a small beginning, OIE now has 178 members and is the inter-governmental organisation responsible for improving animal health and welfare worldwide.