Veterinarians are on the frontline of animal welfare, but little is known about the factors that facilitate their decision to report cases of abuse to authorities. The primary aim of this study was to examine the psychological processes linked to veterinarians' reporting behaviour. We administered questionnaires to 176 veterinarians assessing the amount of training received on detecting/reporting animal abuse, perceived self-efficacy to report animal abuse, and whether they have reported animal abuse incidents to the appropriate authorities. We found that perceived self-efficacy positively correlated with suspecting and reporting animal abuse, number of hours of specialized training, and years working in practice. As hypothesized, we also found that perceived self-efficacy explained the relationship between specialized training (in hours) and reporting animal abuse. These findings highlight the psychological impact of specialized training on the veterinarians' reporting behavior. The implications for training curriculum and veterinary policy are discussed. ?