The Rural Voice, 1980-09, Page 111
1
crossbred and purebred boars for
production and reproductive character-
istics".
However, he confesses that his true
love is the horse. "One farm not far
from the clinic has some beautiful
Clydesdales which I would like to see up
close," Peter said, "but I hesitate to
just drive in because I don't want them
to think I am soliciting business." He is
planning to attend a few of the country
fairs in the hope of seeing some of the
big horses on parade. He commented:
"I really enjoyed the Atwood parade
and am amazed at the variety of
activities which go on around the
countryside."
Peter was pretty busy on the day of
the interview so this writer accomp-
anied him on a country call and
witnessed the gelding of a young pony
(actually I didn't get to see much as I
was holding a rope attached to one of
the pony's legs, which put me on the
wrong side of the pony). It was
impressive to see Peter's gentle, but
firm, approach with the pony, who was
up eating grass in less than 20 minutes
after the surgery (special anaesthetic,
Peter explained). We got back to the
Clinic just in time for him to look after a
farm dog which had been run over by a
truck. (Progress report: The dog is back
home and doing well.)
••s•sr
Dedicated and enthusiastic is the only
way to describe these vets. They accept
the fact that their work can play havoc
with their social and family life and that
they will be called out in the middle of
the night in all kinds of weather.
They have long since faced the fact
that there is an element of danger in
their work. As Ben said: "A vet needs
to be careful when working in herds
with brucellosis. And if you are working
around an animal showing strange
nervousness, you should beware of the
head. Horses can kick hard and fast and
beef cattle can squeeze you. But other
than working carefully around strange
animals, I don't think any of us think too
much about the dangers."
PREVENTION PAYS
Each of the vets we talked with is
keen on herd health programs, and is
convinced that an increasing number of
the more progressive farmers are
learning that "an ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure." And although
they expressed it in different ways, each
vet said that he or she found it difficult
to accept the fact that they were not
going to save every animal they treated,
no matter how hard they tried.
The new vets are well aware that they
must continue to study in order to keep
abreast of new developments in their
field. Jim Fairies described the various
methods by which vets can keep
up-to-date. "We subscribe to both the
Canadian and American Vet Journals.
The Ontario Veterinarian Association
offers both tapes and slides on various
topics. And there are excellent seminars
and continuing education courses
offered by the Toronto Veterinarian
Academy."
We also learned that the Ontario
Bovine Practitioners Association offers
two or three seminars a year and if you
cannot attend, you can have all of the
literature and notes sent to you. This
also applies to the American Swine
Practitioners Association. And each
year at the Ontario Pork Congress in
Stratford, the Ontario Swine Prac-
titioners meet to discuss the latest
procedures for treating swine. Then
there is the Huron -Perth Vet Associ-
ation which meets every two months.
(Dr. Karen Galbraith is the Secretary -
treasurer.)
SAME ADVICE
For students who are aspiring to
become veterinarians, these new grad-
uates had a variety of advice. Learn as
much as you can about the habits and
behaviour of animals by working sum-
mers on different types of farms.
(Animal husbandry is not part of the vet
course.)
Keep your marks as high as possible.
The percentage required to get into the
course is now 80%, but marks are not
everything. Keep in mind that the
University is looking for well-rounded
and balanced individuals who are good
communicators and who get along with
people as well as animals. You should
also be physically fit and in good health.
These may sound like a lot of
requirements to become a vet, but then
vet work requires a lot of intelligence,
stamina and self-determination. As Dr.
Galbraith summed up: "If you make up
your mind that you want to become a
vet, then stick with it (providing you
qualify) no matter what anyone says."
This area is indeed fortunate to have
attracted so many talented vets into our
midst. Hopefully, their first year here
will be a memorable one. A year from
now they will be able to look upon area
farms as (in the words of James
Herriott) "the scenes of my first
struggles where everything had hap-
pened from heady success to abject
failure." Good luck to each of them.
(Editor's note to anyone around
Newry who is raising horses: How about
inviting Dr. Peter Conlon over for a
social call on your animals, even if they
are not sick?)
T. B. ALLEN LTD.
Feed and
r�J
Fertilizer
CaII .... 482-3363 523-9606 523-4414
ALLBORO FARMS
have all requirements for • Elevating
• Drying and Storing your Corn
Call .... 523-4470
Londesboro, Ontario
THE RURAL VOICE/SEPTEMBER 1980 PG. 9