Opening address: 47th annual conference, new Zealand veterinary association

Abstract

Extract

One of the obvious points of life today is the rapid pace of technological change. The veterinary profession worldwide, and in New Zealand, is not immune from such change. Most of the changes that professionals are now learning to live with are changes that they themselves helped to bring about. Over the last twenty years, and especially over the last ten years in New Zealand, the demand for veterinary skills and advice has increased dramatically. Prior to 1937, veterinary science in New Zealand was an infant profession. Since then the first stage was “selling” farmers an awareness of what veterinary science could do for them. The second stage saw the formation of the Veterinary Services Council, in which efforts were made to ensure equitable distribution of veterinarians, especially in rural areas. The third stage was trying to cope with demand. Today, numbers are reaching the stage at which we can afford the luxury of more detailed planning. The aim is to ensure that all facets of the potential of veterinary science for increasing live-stock production, furthering animal welfare, and in quality control of human food-stuffs, are adequately and efficiently exploited. This is the stage at which multi- disciplinary co-operation will have to be seriously considered.