Presidential Address

Abstract

Extract

The veterinary surgeon in New Zealand is a member of a young profession in a young country, and I feel sure an outside observer would readily recognize many signs of his virility, independence of thought, and progressive attitude towards animal health and production. In a brief ten years, our numbers have grown from 102, of whom 44 per cent. were in Government service, to 280, of whom 16 per cent. are in Government service. Some 70 veterinary clubs, each subject to the policies of the Veterinary Services Council, which many of us feel in retrospect have proven to be both progressive and liberal, are experimenting with ways and means of providing better animal health services. The numbers of our private practitioners are growing rapidly, and, with this, progressive specialization is evident. Veterinarians are interesting themselves in artificial breeding, tuberculosis eradication, and surveys of problems in the dairy, meat, wool, and pig industries. The main diseases of our livestock are progressively being identified and control measures sought and obtained. To such developments each one of us brings a complex background of education and experience, and each one of us helps to a greater or lesser degree to improve existing methods or to develop new ones. All of those extend and improve our services to the community and make it easier for the individual veterinarian to use his particular talents most effectively.