Ethical monitoring of ovum pick-up procedures in domestic horses: A standardised self-assessment checklist for responsible veterinary practice.

Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) have the potential to accelerate genetic improvement in selective equine breeding programmes while addressing specific reproductive challenges. One recent assisted reproductive technique in domestic horse breeding is Ovum Pick-Up combined with Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (OPU-ICSI). Despite their advantages, the implementation of these new procedures, like more established breeding methods, raises ethical concerns relating to aspects like animal welfare, staff safety, professional and veterinary practice integrity, which must be monitored and assessed. In this paper, we propose and discuss an ethical checklist for self-assessment to ensure that OPU procedures are conscientiously performed and monitored from an ethical standpoint. Based on three key ethical dimensions - Animal welfare ethics, Professional ethics, and Procedural ethics - the checklist has been developed and tested through an iterative process involving a panel of 14 experts, both in OPU procedures and applied ethics. The checklist is designed to achieve several objectives, including reducing procedural risks and protecting animal welfare, while the self-assessment approach enables the professionals involved to highlight potential issues that might otherwise be overlooked in daily practice and ensure that OPU procedures adhere to the highest ethical standards.