International Day of Veterinary Medicine 2023: Date, History and how to observe it

International Day of Veterinary Medicine 2023: Every year on December 9, the world recognizes veterinary medicine as an international field. It recognizes the significant efforts made by organizations like the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), whose mission is to advance a strong and cohesive veterinary industry that can protect the health and welfare of both humans and animals.

The International Day of Veterinary Medicine’s History

The first evidence of a cow that had undergone trepanation, also known as trephination—a type of skull surgery that involves drilling holes to treat injury or pain—dates back to the Neolithic era, when the practice of tending to animals and preventing and curing diseases that afflict them began. Because of the economic and military importance of horses, “horse doctoring” was one of the first formal veterinary professions to emerge in the Arabic world in the ninth century.

The Lord Mayor of London even urged the farriers, or makers of horseshoes, to establish a “fellowship” in 1356 to enhance their methods of caring for horses.

Following the outbreak of rinderpest in cattle, professionalization efforts in France gained momentum. The now-famous Claude Bourgelat founded the first veterinary school in 1762. Due to the overlap of interests between the fields, other societies associated with agriculture and industry also played a significant role in the establishment of the veterinary care profession. While America had to wait nearly a century longer for the first public veterinary college offering a four-year degree at Iowa State University, Britain opened its first veterinary school in 1790.

The American Veterinary Medical Association recently released statistics showing that there are 309,144 veterinary physicians in Europe and 133,394 veterinarians in the United States. The increase in zoonotic diseases—diseases that transmit from animals to humans—has only increased the profession’s importance on a worldwide scale.

Methods For Marking The World Day Of Veterinary Medicine

Make time for your pet’s annual physical.

It’s time to take your pets to the vet for their yearly checkup if you’ve been meaning to. Then perhaps it’s time to schedule your own examination after they have been inspected, vaccinated, and groomed! Prevention is always preferable to cure, as they say.

I’m grateful to your veterinarian.

Veterinarians carry out a vital function without receiving the same recognition as medical professionals. It’s not a bad idea to correct the record today, even though they are not paid as much as other doctors for their work. Thank them for their service by sending them a card or a note.

Go to a local pet adoption center.

You are missing out if you have never owned a pet. “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened,” as Anatole France once said. If you’ve never owned a pet before but don’t currently own one, you might want to check out your neighborhood adoption or animal shelter. Again, go ahead and make room for a cuddly creature.

5 Facts

Bourgelat began with horses as well.

The director of the Lyon Academy of Horsemanship was the person who initially established the first veterinary school.

Cows played a role in the partial cure of cervical cancer.

The Human Papilloma Virus, which causes cervical cancer in women, was vaccinated against thanks to research on diseases affecting cattle.

Chicken fueled the cancer treatment

Similarly, the first human anti-cancer vaccine was created for the poultry industry.

Pets improve our health.

Numerous studies now demonstrate that families with pets have lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and stroke risk.

The prevalence of zoonotic illnesses is increasing.

Sixty percent of newly discovered human illnesses are zoonotic, or spread by animals, particularly wildlife.

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The significance of this day

Human health and animal health are related.

Numerous medical advances in veterinary medicine have enhanced human healthcare and treatment. In addition to vaccines, organ transplants were initially developed for use in animal care.

Human illness is associated with animal illness

If we want to guarantee a healthy human population, we must be more watchful of animal health, welfare, and participation. We will probably see more diseases caused by animals if we don’t change the way we treat them.

Veterinarians should be honored.

Animal doctors are marginalized in the medical field and are not regarded on par with medical professionals who specialize in treating humans, despite the obvious connections to human health. Veterinarians play a crucial role in the healthcare industry as a whole, and this discrimination has to stop.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE DATES