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Is Veterinary Science Necessary for the National Welfare?
THE
VETERINARY JOURNAL Editor: F REDER ICK HOBDA Y, C. \I. G., F. R. C. V.S., F.R.S .E., H O:'-lORARY
\ 'ETER I N ARY S URGE ON O FFI C IER
C AVALIERF. H ONORA R Y
~ II" I BER
DU
TO
DE I 55 . ~ I A U R I ZIO O F T il E
P RI NC I PAL O F T H r>
HI S
~IAJE S TY
THE K I "G,
~II~ R I TE A GRI CO I.E ( FR " " C E ) , E
A~ IERI C AN
R O YAL
I. AZZ AR O
( ITA L Y) ,
\,F.TE RI !\ A RY
VETEK I NARY
COLLEG E ,
ASSOC I ATION, 1.0" DOi\' .
Sub-Editor : GLADST OKE MAY ALL, i\1.R.C.V.S.
MAY, 1931.
IS VETERINARY SCIENCE NECESSARY FOR THE NATIONAL WELFARE? IF the above question was asked of any m ember of the veterinary profession, there would be but one answer, and tha t , not because of any person al advantage, b ut because we as a body know full well the cala mities which might well befall agriculture, through the breeders and organisers of large h erds, if an effi cient veterina ry insp ection was not made a t every p ort of entry where anim als a re allowed t o land. Agriculture, all over the un civilised as well as the civilised world, is the backbone of a country, and the wealth of agriculture lies in its fl ocks a nd herds. The wealth of the cattle depends on the health of th e cattle, and the health of the cattle, with its freedom from contagious disease, depends on the skilled and trained veterinarian. It is fortunat e for Great B ritain tha t she is an island, and an island with no n eighbour n earer than over twenty miles ; as when once a disease has been stamped out or otherwise got under control, it can be kept out. This ad van tage is shared by the general public as well as by those who cont rol the diseases of human beings ; for quite a number of these diseases are contagious to ma nkind, and a re readily caugh t from the p ets of th e househ old and the inh a bitants of the farm yard. It is to the skilled a nd scientifically trained veterin aria n th a t the public owe t he wholeso meness of the food they eat , and the h ealth of the animals they possess. If th e supply of graduates is not forthcoming- an d at the present time there is a great shortage- in fact t here a re barely enough to do more t han supply the n eeds of the Colonial and St ate services- this lack of qualifi ed veterina rians will , if allowed t o go on , spell disaster for agricult ure, and the fa rm anim als upon which agriculture depends. In regard t o such
214
THE VETERINARY JOURNAL
epidemics as rabies, glanders, pleuro-pneumonia, and foot-andmouth disease, to mention only three, we are at the present moment the envy of the world, as the three former are now completely eradicated, and as regards the elusive foot-and-mouth, the statistics for 1930 showed that Germany, France, Holland, Italy and Russia had many thousands of outbreaks each month, whilst the total for Great Britain for the whole year was only eight . H is to the practiced application of scientific veterinary teaching and training that Great Britain owes all this, and even if only for this reason alone, veterinary science is necessary for the nation's welfare. Agriculture is the backbone of the nation, and the farm animals are the backbone of agriculture. The wealth of the animals depends upon the healtlJ of the animals, and the health of the animals of a country depends on the veterinary surgeon. Thus do veterinary science and agriculture go hand in hand towards a common goal.
PRACTICAL HUMANITY TOWARDS ANIMALS. IN the next issue of the Journal we propose to devote the greater part (and perhaps the whole) of its pages to the above subject, and it is particularly an appropriate time just now, as the various self-styled anti-vivisection societies have been especially active again of late in their efforts to justify their existence. That some of them are" feeling the pinch" owing to the hard financial times in which we live is quite obvious, although this does not alter their unscrupulous methods of attack on certain persons, and it is time that the truth should be placed before the public. There is an old adage that" half the truth is often a lie and a-haH," and this applies very aptly to many of the statements which are issued to the general public, nine-tenths of whom just swallow these statements wholesale without any inquiry at all to verify or refute. As an example of the wrong impression which can be gained by bald statements, statements without explanation, one has only to look back to the Parliamentary news of a recent date in which, in reply to a question from a member, the reply was given that during 1930 " 450,744 experiments were performed under the Act, of which 432,474 were performed without ancesthetics. The number performed for cancer research was 25,259, of which 23,964 were withMtt ancesthetics." The above figures and statistics, if taken without investigation, appear a terrible indictment to our humanity to animals. In the next issue considerable space will be devoted to efforts to explain the true facts of the case, for we of the veterinary profession yield to no one in the efforts we make to alleviate the sufferings of animals. Truth is truth, and to be fair to the British public one should substitute the word "observation" for "experiment," and give the Act its true designation, i.e. the" Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act."
VETERINARY JOURNAL Editor: F REDER ICK HOBDA Y, C. \I. G., F. R. C. V.S., F.R.S .E., H O:'-lORARY
\ 'ETER I N ARY S URGE ON O FFI C IER
C AVALIERF. H ONORA R Y
~ II" I BER
DU
TO
DE I 55 . ~ I A U R I ZIO O F T il E
P RI NC I PAL O F T H r>
HI S
~IAJE S TY
THE K I "G,
~II~ R I TE A GRI CO I.E ( FR " " C E ) , E
A~ IERI C AN
R O YAL
I. AZZ AR O
( ITA L Y) ,
\,F.TE RI !\ A RY
VETEK I NARY
COLLEG E ,
ASSOC I ATION, 1.0" DOi\' .
Sub-Editor : GLADST OKE MAY ALL, i\1.R.C.V.S.
MAY, 1931.
IS VETERINARY SCIENCE NECESSARY FOR THE NATIONAL WELFARE? IF the above question was asked of any m ember of the veterinary profession, there would be but one answer, and tha t , not because of any person al advantage, b ut because we as a body know full well the cala mities which might well befall agriculture, through the breeders and organisers of large h erds, if an effi cient veterina ry insp ection was not made a t every p ort of entry where anim als a re allowed t o land. Agriculture, all over the un civilised as well as the civilised world, is the backbone of a country, and the wealth of agriculture lies in its fl ocks a nd herds. The wealth of the cattle depends on the health of th e cattle, and the health of the cattle, with its freedom from contagious disease, depends on the skilled and trained veterinarian. It is fortunat e for Great B ritain tha t she is an island, and an island with no n eighbour n earer than over twenty miles ; as when once a disease has been stamped out or otherwise got under control, it can be kept out. This ad van tage is shared by the general public as well as by those who cont rol the diseases of human beings ; for quite a number of these diseases are contagious to ma nkind, and a re readily caugh t from the p ets of th e househ old and the inh a bitants of the farm yard. It is to the skilled a nd scientifically trained veterin aria n th a t the public owe t he wholeso meness of the food they eat , and the h ealth of the animals they possess. If th e supply of graduates is not forthcoming- an d at the present time there is a great shortage- in fact t here a re barely enough to do more t han supply the n eeds of the Colonial and St ate services- this lack of qualifi ed veterina rians will , if allowed t o go on , spell disaster for agricult ure, and the fa rm anim als upon which agriculture depends. In regard t o such
214
THE VETERINARY JOURNAL
epidemics as rabies, glanders, pleuro-pneumonia, and foot-andmouth disease, to mention only three, we are at the present moment the envy of the world, as the three former are now completely eradicated, and as regards the elusive foot-and-mouth, the statistics for 1930 showed that Germany, France, Holland, Italy and Russia had many thousands of outbreaks each month, whilst the total for Great Britain for the whole year was only eight . H is to the practiced application of scientific veterinary teaching and training that Great Britain owes all this, and even if only for this reason alone, veterinary science is necessary for the nation's welfare. Agriculture is the backbone of the nation, and the farm animals are the backbone of agriculture. The wealth of the animals depends upon the healtlJ of the animals, and the health of the animals of a country depends on the veterinary surgeon. Thus do veterinary science and agriculture go hand in hand towards a common goal.
PRACTICAL HUMANITY TOWARDS ANIMALS. IN the next issue of the Journal we propose to devote the greater part (and perhaps the whole) of its pages to the above subject, and it is particularly an appropriate time just now, as the various self-styled anti-vivisection societies have been especially active again of late in their efforts to justify their existence. That some of them are" feeling the pinch" owing to the hard financial times in which we live is quite obvious, although this does not alter their unscrupulous methods of attack on certain persons, and it is time that the truth should be placed before the public. There is an old adage that" half the truth is often a lie and a-haH," and this applies very aptly to many of the statements which are issued to the general public, nine-tenths of whom just swallow these statements wholesale without any inquiry at all to verify or refute. As an example of the wrong impression which can be gained by bald statements, statements without explanation, one has only to look back to the Parliamentary news of a recent date in which, in reply to a question from a member, the reply was given that during 1930 " 450,744 experiments were performed under the Act, of which 432,474 were performed without ancesthetics. The number performed for cancer research was 25,259, of which 23,964 were withMtt ancesthetics." The above figures and statistics, if taken without investigation, appear a terrible indictment to our humanity to animals. In the next issue considerable space will be devoted to efforts to explain the true facts of the case, for we of the veterinary profession yield to no one in the efforts we make to alleviate the sufferings of animals. Truth is truth, and to be fair to the British public one should substitute the word "observation" for "experiment," and give the Act its true designation, i.e. the" Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act."