SUMMARIES OF SELECTED STATEMENTS I. MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FOOD The following statement on a case concluded in 2015 has been published: 2015-37. Are animal owners parties to the Veterinary and Food Administration’s cases about violations of section 8(1) of the Act on Veterinary Surgeons? A specific case prompted the Ombudsman to take up a general case on his own initiative with the Veterinary and Food Administration and the Food and Veterinary Complaints Board. In the specific case, the Veterinary and Food Administration had made a decision under section 8(1) of the Act on Veterinary Surgeons that a veterinary surgeon had exercised care and conscientiousness in his treatment of a dog. The Veterinary and Food Administration and the Food and Veterinary Complaints Board were of the opinion that the owner of the dog was not a party to the Veterinary and Food Administration’s case concerning the veterinary surgeon. In the general case, the Ombudsman stated that animal owners cannot be considered parties to the Veterinary and Food Administration’s cases concerning violations of section 8(1) of the Act on Veterinary Surgeons. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, the interests of animal owners in such cases could not be considered as strong and worthy of recognition as the interests of the next of kin in cases concerning medical treatment of humans, where the party status of next of kin has long been recognised. J. MINISTRY FOR CHILDREN, EDUCATION AND GENDER EQUALITY The following statements on cases concluded in 2015 have been published: 2015-3. Use of sanctions against students at upper secondary schools The Ombudsman took up an own-initiative case with the Ministry of Education on the use of sanctions against students at upper secondary schools. The reason for this was a specific complaint case about a school principal’s use of sanctions against a student who had broken the school’s study and house 143