VETERINARY SCHOOL

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 37, 5 January 1945, Page 2

VETERINARY SCHOOL

NEW ZEALAND'S CLAIMS LOCAL TRAINING FAVOURED A veterinary school for New Zealand is very desirable because of the. Dominion's unique system of grassland husbandry, against a background of "which the veterinarians of the future should be trained. The present, policy whereby New Zealand students are, granted substantial bursaries for training at an overseas school should continue only until the New Zealand school is in a position to supply graduates. This contention receives strong support in a comprehensive bulletin issued by Massey Agricultural College Palmerston North, which produces figures to show that 400 trained veterinarians (as against the present (>9 in active work) should be the goal of the. immediate, future; and that even with that number the Dominion would be far behind other agricultural countries, in point of practitioners' to animal population. Tlie new vision for the future, t in human as in animal medicine, should be an emphasis on prevention of diseases rather than their cure states the report. To this end 4 district veterinarians working in close collaboration with agricultural advisory services is visualised. It is urged that veterinarians should have a general understanding of the principles of New Zealand larm management in addition to a de-j tailed study of their more, highly

specialised knowledge, and be in a position to work closely with men trained in the different branches, of agricultural science, , particularly general farm and grassland management. In this way iit, is- hoped to raise the general health standard of all stock and so prevent much of New Zealand's annual stock wastage through disease. This wastage among cows and sheep is estimated at S per cent., representing about 150,000 cows and two and a half million sheep. It is claimed as significant that the greatest demand for additional veterinary services has conic from those, districts where veterinary clubs are already operating successfully and that the demand from, the dairy industry is crystallising in the vicinity of one veterinarian to every 10 000 cows. On that '5 basis dairying should immediately absorb nearly 200 graduates who could at slack periods lie engaged on the. control of bovine tuberculosis and, abortion. The sheep and cattle grazing districts would require a further appreciable number of all of whom would need five or six years of training before they would be available to farmers. On that basis, a veterinary school with accommodation for from 70 to 80 students, carrying out. their training preferably in conjunction with an agricultural college already partly equipped for the task, is necessary.