Rural areas suffer drought of food-animal veterinarians
US - A couple years back, Arthur Holevoet of Atkinson, Ill., was in need of a veterinarian to care for one of his female goats that was in distress giving birth.“It took calls to seven different vets before I got one that would work on large animals,” he said.
Holevoet’s plight underscores a problem that is facing farmers, particularly rural farmers: While there are many veterinarians to care for pets and horses, fewer and fewer are working on food animals, such as pigs and cows and goats.
“Most don’t like working on large animals,” he said. “They’re all working on dogs and cats.”
Jim Fraley, the livestock program director for the Illinois Farm Bureau said the organization has embarked on an ambitious plan to grow the livestock industry in the state.
Source: Quad-City Times
21 February 2005
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