Are Carcasses Political? German Veterinarians and the Modernization of Rendering Technology, 1864-1940

The regulations dealing with animal death have undergirded the autarkic aspirations of governments as diverse as revolutionary France, Nazi Germany, and the German Democratic Republic. Three recent works on "fascist," "communist," and "capitalist" pigs reveal parallels between the industrialized slaughter of animals in Germany's twentieth-century authoritarian regimes and the capitalist slaughter system in nineteenth-century America's "red meat republic." In their focus on political ideology, however, these works overlook the politics of professionalization. A late nineteenth-century relationship between state, economy, and national welfare in Germany allowed veterinarians to create a unique "slaughter culture" based on the technological, hygienic disposal of animal carcasses. This article traces the development of that professional culture through one veterinarian, Robert von Ostertag (1864-1940). He and his well-placed protégés weaponized the idea of carcasses as untapped reservoirs of raw materials to impact legislation and veterinary education, making German veterinarians the arbiters of animal remains.

Brian Theodore Wicks

As a vet working in mixed practice, he relished the camaraderie of working with colleagues, farmers and clients, and developed a special interest in cattle fertility. He was considered to be a ray of sunshine.

Personalities that shaped the profession

As part of the RCVS' 175th anniversary celebrations, the college's charity partner and custodian of its historical collections, RCVS Knowledge, takes a look at the influential roles four individuals played in the early formation of the profession.

Veterinarians at the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, 1931-72

This study traces the changing mission of the University of Toronto's Connaught Medical Research Laboratories regarding the health of animals. We argue that the early work of Connaught's veterinarians in the 1930s and 1940s focused on the care for experimental animals as well as lending veterinary knowledge to problems in human medicine and public health. This gave way to a more direct focus on veterinary products after the Second World War. Connaught was motivated to enter the veterinary field in part to capitalize upon the growing market for veterinary medicines. It met with mixed success in this endeavour. Work was initially focused on livestock medicines and later expanded into products for companion animals, reflecting broader shifts in the veterinary profession and the economic value of animals during the 20^th century.

Richard Watson

An inspirational equine veterinary surgeon with a keen interest in racing, to whom horses were a way of life. He took much pride in the success of his homebred racehorses.

Entangled Histories: German Veterinary Medicine, c.1770-1900

Medical historians have recently become interested in the veterinary past, investigating the development of animal health in countries such as France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. An appreciation of the German context, however, is still lacking - a gap in the knowledge that the present article seeks to fill. Providing a critical interpretation of the evolution of the veterinary profession, this investigation explains why veterinary and medical spheres intersected, drifted apart, then came back together; it also accounts for the stark differences in the position of veterinarians in Germany and Britain. Emphasis is placed on how diverse traditions, interests and conceptualisations of animal health shaped the German veterinary profession, conditioned its field of operation, influenced its choice of animals and diseases, and dictated the speed of reform. Due to a state-oriented model of professionalisation, veterinarians became more enthusiastic about public service than private practice, perceiving themselves to be alongside doctors and scientists in status, rather than next to animal healers or manual labourers. Building on their expertise in epizootics, veterinarians became involved in zoonoses, following outbreaks of trichinosis. They achieved a dominant position in meat hygiene by refashioning abattoirs into sites for the construction of veterinary knowledge. Later, bovine tuberculosis helped veterinarians cement this position, successfully showcasing their expertise and contribution to society by saving as much meat as possible from diseased livestock. Ultimately, this article shows how veterinarians were heavily 'entangled' with the fields of medicine, food, agriculture and the military.

From One Medicine to Two: The Evolving Relationship between Human and Veterinary Medicine in England, 1791-1835

This article offers a novel perspective on the evolving identities and relationships of human medicine and veterinary medicine in England during the decades that followed the 1791 foundation of the London Veterinary College. Contrary to the impressions conveyed by both medical and veterinary historians, it reveals that veterinary medicine, as initially defined, taught and studied at the college, was not a domain apart from human medicine but rather was continuous with it. It then shows how this social, cultural, and epistemological continuity fractured over the period 1815 to 1835. Under the impetus of a movement for medical reform, veterinarians began to advance an alternative vision of their field as an autonomous, independent domain. They developed their own societies and journals and a uniquely veterinary epistemology that was rooted in the experiences of veterinary practice. In this way, "one medicine" became "two," and the professions began to assume their modern forms and relations.

Healing Animals in an Antibiotic Age: Veterinary Drugs and the Professionalism Crisis, 1945-1970

Between 1945 and 1970, the introduction of antibiotics in agriculture forced veterinarians to articulate the boundaries of their professional identity. While veterinarians welcomed the new aid to arrest infectious diseases of livestock, they worried as farmers took animal healing into their own hands without veterinary supervision, and resented the competition from retail outlets that sold the drugs. Veterinary antibiotics also set off heated debates within the field about whether the profession should position itself as preventers or healers of disease, debates that were akin to the kinds of professional discourses among physicians and pharmacists in the same period. By calling attention to the social context that helped facilitate an increasing reliance on the veterinary antibiotics, this article helps explain the sources of present-day overuse of such antibiotics in American agriculture.

[The history of detained Polish veterinarians in Switzerland 1940-1947]

As part of the recent history of veterinary medicine in Switzerland, in Poland and in other countries biographies ofveterinarians among Polish soldiers detained to Switzerland during WWII are described. The information is derived from a number of Swiss and Ukrainian archives and personal contacts with descendants and colleagues of these veterinarians living in Switzerland and abroad.

Historical perspective of brucellosis: a microbiological and epidemiological overview

The historical process of brucellosis extends back to humankind's first contact with animals. Although brucellosis is a sporadic disease observed in animals in certain regions of the world, it is an important disease in humans that can affect many organs and systems due to the consumption of contaminated milk or milk products. Studies have shown that the presence of Brucella dates back to 60 million years ago. In 450 BC, Hippocrates described a disease similar to brucellosis. Since Hippocrates' time, brucellosis has been characterized by fever. Our aim is to investigate selfless work undertaken by scientists on the epidemiology, diagnosis and clinical findings of brucellosis until today, and to gain a historical perspective about the disease that is as old as human history, still has importance today, causes economic losses in treated animals and harms human health.

[Trichinae, pigs and veterinary public health: The introduction of the microscopic world into the scientific basis for meat inspection (Barcelona, 1870s)]

During the second half of the 19th century, Spanish authorities began developing specific programs on the safety of certain foods intended for human consumption. This paper analyses the key features that gave rise to the inclusion of the veterinarian in the administrative structure responsible for safeguarding public health. Among the aspects covered, special focus is put on the relationship between human and animal medicine at a time when growing public alarm in relation to certain zoonoses contributed to shaping the notion of veterinary public health. The appearance of a disease in pigs that was transmissible through the consumption of parasitized meat set the scene for veterinary inspection to be associated with the protection of public health. The outbreaks of trichinosis all over Spain in the 1870's proved the existence of contagium animatum in a pre-bacteriology era, and this led to the introduction of improvements in food inspection. In this sense, microscopic examination of pork products encouraged the modernization of inspection tasks undertaken by veterinarians, which had previously focused on the organoleptic evaluation of meat and fish and on unveiling fraud. The introduction of microscopes was widely accepted and established a watershed between acceptable and unacceptable methods of carrying out the examination of meat. Furthermore, this "technological" method of diagnosis brought veterinary medicine closer to other more prestigious health professions, at least in theory. Among other aspects, the acceptance of trichinae as an exogenous cause of disease contributed to 19th century doctors learning about the idea of pathogenic microorganisms from veterinarians. At a social level, the use of the microscope was seen as a way of preventing the transmission to people of an animal disease that was very much in the public eye at the time. From the political point of view, the process -analysed in this paper from the perspective of veterinarians in Barcelona- allows a glimpse of the contrast between the desire of some Catalan veterinarians to modernize their profession and what was happening in others parts of Spain.

[Training and examination of Luxembourg's veterinarians from 1797 to 1969, a special case]

The training and examination of Luxembourg's veterinarians are dictated during the first forty years of the 19th Century by the French and after by the Dutch. The legislation about the examinations of the Luxembourg's State is in effect from 1841 to 1969. In 1969, the legislation of granting degrees is replaced by the confirmation of foreign titles and degrees of higher education.